Viewing Raw Violence – The Nick Berg DecapitationCombat Training Principles — Secrets For Staying Alive When ‘Rules’ Don’t Apply Special Issue ‘Viewing Raw Violence – The Nick Berg Decapitation’ ****************************************************** ‘If we stigmatize violence then only the predators – Tim Larkin ****************************************************** As you can imagine I was inundated with emails concerning the video of Nick Berg being murdered by the thugs of Al Qaeda. The graphic nature of the tape had its effect — it terrorized people. I, of course, need to preface my comments by stating that I was as outraged as any other person that a civilian who truly was out there to help the Iraqi people was the target of such a brutal murder. My condolences go out to the family of Nick Berg. But this is a perfect example of why you MUST understand violence as a survival tool. We as a nation should not be shocked or terrorized by this heinous act. Outraged… yes. Scared… no! As I’ve stated many times in this newsletter, violence is just a tool. It does not care who uses it or whether it is used for good or evil. Used effectively, it works for either purpose. That’s why I have always counseled my clients to never identify with the losing end of violence when viewing images of violence. Always identify and make your observations on the winning side of the equation. If you have anything to comment on about the act, criticize whether or not the winning side of the equation was skilled at the violence they used. It is acts like the Nick Berg video where this is a real challenge for people. The key is this: identifying with the winning side of the act DOES NOT mean you CONDONE the act! It simply means you are NEVER allowing your mind to identify with being on the losing side of violence. This makes a huge difference in surviving true asocial violence. That being said, if we now look at the thugs who did the murder, we can find a lot to criticize. They are just that — THUGS. The skill level of the violence used was rudimentary. The effect was substantially lost by their incompetence in being able to cleanly behead the victim. A Samurai or even a modern day Saudi Executioner would have evoked much more terror with a sudden clean cut of the neck, then showing the head to the camera. These thugs are not to be feared, but RIDICULED! Just as you wouldn’t be impressed with a woodworker who loses control of his power tool and wrecks the wood he is attempting to cut, we must never be impressed with incompetent punks using the tool of violence. Again, if we look at violence as a tool we see that this incident was a poor use of the tool. We now can look at the wielder of the tool as an amateur and our This, I’d argue, is a much more effective and healthy way to view this horrible event. It will steel you towards violence and allow you to view it for what it Until next time, Tim Larkin |
