The Christian Science Monitor journalist was grabbed of a Baghdad street on January 7, and her translater was killed. Here is a portion of the CSM statement about her release today from their Jill Carroll Update page:
After her release in Baghdad Thursday, Jill Carroll was dropped off near an office of the Iraqi Islamic Party, according to Iraqi police. From there, she was able to speak with US officials, and was briefly interviewed by Baghdad TV. She said she was treated well by her captors, and they never threatened her. She also said she did not know why she was kidnapped. [...]
Richard Bergenheim, the editor of The Christian Science Monitor, issued the following statement today after learning of Jill Carroll’s release.
We were thrilled to hear that Jill Carroll has been released and will soon be back with her family. People all over the world have been working and praying for this. We can assure you that she is receiving good care and that her family will be meeting with her soon.
Few will ever know how many people have been working day and night for this result. Jill’s fellow journalists, her good friends in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East, the Iraqi and American governments, leading clerics throughout the Arab world, and political leaders in Iraq have pursued every venue possible to return Jill to the arms of her family. Jill will also soon discover that people all over the world, of all faiths, have been praying for her release.
Her interview after her release played on Fox has her oddly defending her captors, making it clear that she was treated well, and not tortured. She was never hit, she says, was in a safe room, nice furniture, given clothes and food. Well that’s very nice, but I also vaguely recall videotapes released by the savages where Carroll was hysterically sobbing to be saved (see my Religion of Ghouls post), otherwise she would be killed. Of course that’s psychological torture.
When it comes to what brought about her release, here is a bit of the Reuters report:
Bergenheim said there were no negotiations before Carroll’s release and he had no knowledge of U.S. military involvement.
Many others, however, were involved, he said.
“There have been people all over the world working night and day to obtain this result. Jill’s fellow journalists, her good friends in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East, the Iraqi and American governments. Leading clerics throughout the Arab world and political leaders in Iraq have pursued every avenue possible,” he said.
He urged that similar efforts be made to obtain the release of all hostages held in Iraq.
Let’s hope this is what worked. While it’s thrilling she’s safe, the thought of more money flowing to these maniacs enabling them to kill more innocents would be disturbing. The CSM at this point says they don’t know why she was released, and while there is some rumor of a ransom, the CSM says it was not involved if there was one. As there are more details on this I’ll bring it to you. I’m afraid (and I hope I’m wrong) that Carroll is another “hostage” who has more sympathy for the savages than for the good Iraqis trying to defeat scum that steals people off the street. Let’s hope she’s a bit more condemning about her not-captured kidnappers, and that no money changed hands.
Fox News has more plus video. And via PJM, Natasha blogger and friend of Jill Carroll, write about the release at Mental Mayhem.
Related Posts:
Bloggers Campaign for Jill Carroll
The Religion of Ghouls
Tammy,
We listen to you every day. Please keep up the push for people to write or call their Senators.
We agree with you WHOLEHEARTEDLY that this immigration problem is pure insanity.
We sent the following letter to Sen. Frist & Alexander today
March 30th 2006
Senator Bill Frist
509 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Senator Frist
The purpose of the legislative branch of our government is to pass laws that serve the best interest of our Nation’s citizines. I challenge anyone to make a logical case that giving amnesty to 12 million illegal aliens is in the best interest of the legal residence of the United States. Setting aside for a moment that they are Federal felons simply by being on our soil. The cost to legal residents of this country in terms of education, health care, law enforcement, and terrorist threats are staggering.
The long term solution to this problem is to secure our borders and stop this invasion. We have the technology and the resources to do it; what we lack is political integrity and courage.
Sadly, the only logical conslusion one can come to is that those who support this legislation are shamelessly pandering to the Hispanic vote; doing what’s best for the party instead of what’s best for the country and the legal residents they represent. In the final analysis the only influences I have are my political contributions and my vote. I assure you that any elected official who votes for any kind of amnesty for illegal aliens will get neither. Nor will they get the support of anyone I can influence.
Respectfully,
Tom Davis
Friendsville, TN
America needs a New Revolution!!
Three months is a long time. Perhaps she’s suffereing from Stockholm Syndrome.
Again, another wildly inappropriate reaction to kidnapping. Is it just that these people are grateful to be alive, combined with the natural human tendency to block out bad memories that causes this to occur? Or is Jill complicit in her own kidnapping, and played along with it the whole time. One hates to level that kind of accusation, but the response is WIERD!!!
This kidnapping of Jill Carroll by these savage beasts has had to have taken a toll on her sanity. Mabye the reality of her being free has not hit her yet not to mention she may want to be far, far away from the Hell hole she was in before she is comfortable speaking, I just don’t know. Time will tell.
You’re right Tammy, the Abe Lincoln axiom applies “You can fool some of the people all of the time…â€
I’m so happy that she is safe…believe me I am happy for Jill and her family…but I’m afraid I agree with Political Junkie…I’ve always had a gut feeling that she might be a sympathizer…time will definitely tell…but I won’t be shocked if we find out she was ‘friends’ with one of her captors even though it sounds awfully ‘Hollywood’
I’m sorry, but I really feel that some of these journalists have no business being in certain areas of Iraq. So when they get kidnapped, begging for the release of many horrible people they are not only adding to the military’s work load, but are also sort of saying that their lives are more important than those of others who could potentially be affected if the scum of the earth is released. Thankfully, we haven’t released anyone just to get a journalist or some other moron that has no business being in Iraq, but it does piss me off it does seem to happen on a regular basis. So if she does hold positive feelings for her captors, and if it’s not Stockholm Syndrome, she needs to get her head examined!
Remember Patty Hearst.
I retract my previous comment about Jill Carol possibly being complicit in her own kidnapping. Her own recent statement, copied from Michelle Malkin’s website follows below. I will take her at her word:
During my last night in captivity, my captors forced me to participate in a propaganda video. They told me they would let me go if I cooperated. I was living in a threatening environment, under their control, and wanted to go home alive. I agreed.
Things that I was forced to say while captive are now being taken by some as an accurate reflection of my personal views. They are not. The people who kidnapped me and murdered Alan Enwiya are criminals, at best. They robbed Alan of his life and devastated his family. They put me, my family and my friends–and all those around the world, who have prayed so fervently for my release–through a horrific experience. I was, and remain, deeply angry with the people who did this.
I also gave a TV interview to the Iraqi Islamic Party shortly after my release. The party had promised me the interview would never be aired on television, and broke their word. At any rate, fearing retribution from my captors, I did not speak freely. Out of fear I said I wasn’t threatened. In fact, I was threatened many times.
Also, at least two false statements about me have been widely aired: That I refused to travel and cooperate with the US military and that I refused to discuss my captivity with US officials. Again, neither is true.
More:
I want to be judged as a journalist, not as a hostage. I remain as committed as ever to fairness and accuracy–to discovering the truth–and so I will not engage in polemics. But let me be clear: I abhor all who kidnap and murder civilians, and my captors are clearly guilty of both crimes.