I haven't mentioned Jill Carroll on my blog at all to this point but probably will now with this latest news; the situation just seemed to murky to try to make sense of up till now.

Preemptive strike in case anyone comes up with a quote from the Green Zone: I can't provide a link but I know I've seen it reported that she said she was told by her captors that they had agents in the Green Zone who would kill her if she turned on them as soon as she got there.

Jim Geraghty has the quote I was remembering here.

Carroll was at first reluctant to go with an American military escort to the fortified Green Zone, headquarters of the U.S. military, her newspaper said.

Her kidnappers said the Green Zone had been infiltrated by Islamic militants and Carroll might be killed if she cooperated with the Americans, the Monitor said in a report, quoting the journalist's family...

Yeah, but ... but ... Oh! I know! Like how do we know that statement she released from Germany wasn't like, coerced or something? Once those evil storm troopers had her in their clutches they must've shot her full on Untruth Serum and told her what to say, right? I mean like, man, surely there's some explanation. Whose side are you on, anyway?

I linked from Welcome home, Jill Carroll.

I have to say that there are blogs I used to visit often and I have just lost interest in even checking in, it seems that the faster they can get nasty with someone about something the better. Any subject will do.

So far as any of us knows this girl was kidnapped and held hostage by the kind of people who lob off other people's heads. I can not imagine what this must have been like for her family, but the blogs without so much as a kiss my behind just jumped all over her.

It was spiteful and mean spirited, which seems to be par for the course these days.

But not the lizard, he is a nice lizard. I imagine him like that cute little Geicho with the Aussie accent who sells car insurance.

Although some people jumped the gun, I cannot blame them too much for that. Because some released or even rescued hostages said nasty things about Americans and Coalition forces even without duress, it's natural for some people to become somewhat cynical and think Miss Caroll was one of those hostages.

Sachi:

I don't care what other people have said, when you have spent months with the kind of people who like to cut off people's heads and dance about their mangled corpses in manic ghoulish glee there should be a grace period before the folks who are safe and sound in front of their keyboards start in on you.

I certainly ripped Jill a new one, and I apologised almost immediately afterward. I think I was so angry because of the previous behavior we have seen from rescued hostages. Remember the Japanese hostages? Their behavior was intolerable, and they deliberately put themselves at risk. They went back home to Japan in humiliation, not greeted as heroes. It was completely un-Japanese of them. Next was the Italian reporter of the communist rag she was writing for, and what a piece of work she was! She accused our military of deliberately targeting her bodyguards.She went on and on to accuse our soldiers of all kinds of atrocities. She was caught in lie after lie, and yet, she never apologised. Then we had the bizarre case of the German woman who seemed to be in on her own kidnapping, as she was found to have some of the ransom money on her. In both her case and the case of the Italian hostage, large ransoms were paid. I am sure the jihadis got alot of weaponry for the money, too. And don't forget about the "christian" peace activists. They epitimize the term useful idiots. What dolts, what thankless ingrates. And lastly, Jill. It was too much to bear. Now, having said all that, I am indeed sorry for jumping to conclusions. I truly hope the best for her.

And remember the Italian hostage who said "This is how an Italian dies" in defiance just as the terrorists shot him?

How those other people acted is not this woman's responsibility and sometimes people do act strange after being rescued. I know an old man who was held in a Japanese POW camp for almost three years. He is in his 80's and he still blames the US military for abandoning him. People do not always react the way we think they should.

I'll not apologize for reacting to the information that was available at the time. My opinion then was my opinion then, based on the information that was available then. As others have noted, previous "abductees" have shown little to no gratitude after being ransomed, including one who evidently was found having some of the ransom money on her person.

So pardon me for being cynical. I'm glad she's safe. Her interpreter, however, is still dead, and I doubt the retraction of the statement she made under duress got much air time on Al Jazeera.

I know I am getting more and more cynical myself, about blogs.

I agree with Daffyd here. If you have to bash anyone bash the dumb reporter who got a quote out of someone still getting used to the idea of being free.

When something sudden like that it can take some time to get used to the idea sometimes. Ms. Carroll adopted a pro-kidnapper POV in order to help her survive and it took her a couple days to get free of it.

Even the Italian 'journalist' deserves a break I think. Yes she has anti-American bias. But the man who rescued her was killed by American soldiers while they were escaping. It was a mistake due to the way the car was driven after the escape but it's not reasonable to expect objectivity from a woman in that position. She was wrong of course, but the rage was a very human reaction.....

Don, the Italian woman whose bodyguard was killed has repeated lie after lie in the Italian press, often making bizarre charges against the Americans. These charges were thoroughly investigated and dismissed because they were untrue. It wasn't just the way the driver was driving, but the lack of coordination on the part of the Italian government, who didn't want the Americans to know about the ransom money being paid...they didn't want another Quattocchi-style martyr.

Terrye:

I know I am getting more and more cynical myself, about blogs.

Hey!

Dafydd

Its very easy to condem someone when you havn't
walked in their shoes,and there are few blogs
that make the MSM drool and give the rest
of the good one's a black eye... Before anyone
jumps on Jill Carroll Remember "Patty Hearst"
The young girl who should have never gone to
prison...

"Don, the Italian woman whose bodyguard was killed has repeated lie after lie in the Italian press, often making bizarre charges against the Americans"

Jauhara, the Italians are an interesting bunch. I lived and worked in Trento (in the far north) for 18 months in the mid-90's.

One of my best friends is a widow from the deepest-dyed Bolognese Communista background who nevertheless is just as deeply pro-American. She was my landlady but it was a bit of a mystery to me until last year. Apparently Americans saved her father's life after WWII by giving him 'insulina' (he was diabetic). Father was grateful so daughter remains grateful - 60 years later. They can be damned good friends!

I won't excuse the Italian 'journalist' here for her lies, except to say that she started off anti-American and the fact that her rescuer was killed only reinforced her passion. For an example of Italian passion on the other side have a look at Oriana Falaci. I also remember the Lui who told his killers to 'see how an Italian dies!'.

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