Jill Carroll's Ordeal

I wanted to wait a day or so before writing about the long awaited release of CSM reporter Jill Carroll who was kidnapped in Iraq nearly 3 months ago. It was exciting to hear the good news yesterday morning that Jill had been released by her captors and was safe and unharmed. Soon after her release, a video showing Jill praising her captors' treatment of her and attacking the US occupation of Iraq as well as President Bush garnered much attention from the msm.

I heard analysts on the radio and read blogs and articles on the Internet attacking Jill, many even calling her a "traitor"! All of this less than 2 days since her release. I had my personal doubts about what Jill said, especially the part where it appears that she is praising the individuals who kidnapped her. It definitely sounded fishy. But as usual, many individuals who just want an excuse to attack liberals and anyone against the war on Iraq didn't hesitate in launching their own tirades against Jill.

As it turns out, Jill was forced to make this video as a condition for her release. I'm sure all those cowards who hurried to call her a traitor would've done the same thing in her position--anything to be released and free from captivity.

In a long phone conversation with his daughter on Friday, Mr. Carroll says that Jill was "under her captor's control."The night before journalist Jill Carroll's release, her captors said they had one final demand as the price of her freedom: She would have to make a video praising her captors and attacking the United States, according to Jim Carroll.

This is very typical of much of the media here in the US, and more specifically ultra-conservative bloggers and commentators. Similar attacks were launched against the recently released hostages from the Christian Peacemaker Team after they insisted that they are still against the War on Iraq and a military solution to the ongoing violence.

I am very happy to know that Jill is free. I cannot even begin to imagine what she has been through for that long, but we will definitely get a better idea when Jill starts talking on her own, as she did with the Washington Post stating, "It was like falling off a cliff for three months, waiting to hit the ground."

Our prayers continue for the many other reporters, diplomats, and hundreds of Iraqi citizens who are kidnapped on a daily basis by thugs roaming the streets of Iraq thanks to Bush & Co.'s lack of a plan for post-war Iraq. May God be with you and your families.

[technorati tags: Jill Carroll, Iraq, Bush, failure, Crazy conservatives]