bRight & Early

Jim Lynch April 1st, 2006 6:12 pm

Jill Carroll, the freelance journalist held in Iraq for three months, has made a statement from Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Today’s statement is a complete reversal of the things she said immediately following her release — with good reason.

Protected by the U.S. military and far from the country where she had been held hostage, Jill Carroll strongly disavowed statements she had made during captivity in Iraq and shortly after her release, saying Saturday she had been repeatedly threatened.

[...]

“During my last night in captivity, my captors forced me to participate in a propaganda video. They told me I would be released if I cooperated. I was living in a threatening environment, under their control, and wanted to go home alive. So I agreed,” she said in a statement read by her editor in Boston.

“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.”

[...]

[F]earing 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,” she said. “Also, at least two false statements about me have been widely aired: One — that I refused to travel and cooperate with the U.S. military, and two — that I refused to discuss my captivity with U.S. officials. Again, neither statement is true.”

This statement is a breath of fresh air, and speaks well of her. Nothing I, nor most people, have experienced can give any idea of what she went through. No one should be surprised at the contrast between her words following her release, and her words now — safe and on her way to her family.

“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,” she said.

Well said.

See also: Wizbang, PoliBlog, Dr. Sanity, euphoricreality.net, Big Lizards, Captain’s Quarters

• Iraq , People
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