A leading forensic death expert and a surgical expert are now saying that the Nick Berg beheading was staged. The evidence is compelling, and I believe it might be true, but I don't think there is any especially interesting explanation for this. Maybe they botched the first video shoot or maybe he died too early. In any case, read the full article.

Over at the once-reputable Kuro5hin website, however, a writer thinks that there is something more sinister to the story. Putting together 50 anomalies surrounding the death (some of which I can now tell you are no longer true), the writer concludes the following:

"This video was possibly constructed by U.S. operatives to impact the extremely volatile political developments in the U.S. and the international condemnation around the Abu Ghraib torture photos."

I am extremely doubtful of that conclusion, but I must admit that a lot of the circumstances surrounding the case really are fishy. In my opinion, nearly all conspiracy theories (including this one) are false, and I hate to tarnish my blog with them. But if you like them, check out the second link.