A BETTER MAN THAN I

Before I start in on the film-blogging (the June Project is proceeding nicely, thank you), I wanted share something I stumbled across over the weekend It's a CNN interview (I have forgotten who pointed me there) with Michael Berg, on the topic of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death. Berg is of course the father of Nicholas Berg, who was gruesomely beheaded by Zarqawi's goons - likely by Zarqawi himself - in 2004.

The remarkable part of the interview, to my way of thinking, is this exchange:

"SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: ...I know how devastated you and your family were, frankly, when Nick was killed in such a horrible, and brutal and public way.

BERG: Well, you shouldn't be surprised, because I have never indicated anything but forgiveness and peace in any interview on the air.

O'BRIEN: No, no. And we have spoken before, and I'm well aware of that. But at some point, one would think, is there a moment when you say, 'I'm glad he's dead, the man who killed my son'?

BERG: No. How can a human being be glad that another human being is dead?"

Earlier in the interview - the first thing, actually - Berg says, "my reaction is I'm sorry whenever any human being dies. Zarqawi is a human being. He has a family who are reacting just as my family reacted when Nick was killed, and I feel bad for that." We see this from time to time: a survivor who is genuinely sad to see the cycle of killing perpetuated. There is not a single person in the world who would be able to fault Berg for dancing on Zarqawi's grave, and instead he simply asks, "How can a human being be glad that another human being is dead?"

On Thursday, I claimed that I would "not be shedding any tears" over Zarqawi, and I'll stand by that. But that was an understatement - I was frankly thrilled to see a brutal butcher like that taken off of the face of the earth.

And now I read Michael Berg, who has more reason to hate Zarqawi than any other American, asking how I can feel that way. My first reaction, sure, was wanting to shake Berg and ask him if he doesn't realize that Zarqawi's death means that fewer other human beings will die. Then I reflected. I was wrong. People are going to die whether Zarqawi kills them or not. Maybe some people will now not die who would have, and maybe some will die in their place. No-one can know.

But to rejoice in the death of a person is not the act of a moral being. I forgot that for a couple of days. What makes good people different than Zarqawi (I do not say what makes "us" different; for which "us" would I be referring to?) is the knowledge that the taking of a life should never be a joyful act. Even when it is necessary, it is not celebratory.

I would like to thank Michael Berg for reminding me of this fact.