The Repudiation

Jill Carroll repudiated statements that she made in the videos released over the past few days. She says that she was threatened and coerced.

Here's the full text of the statement, but the relevant part to the ongoing debate over Carroll's intentions is as follows:

During my last night of 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 I wanted to go home alive. So 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 - 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 broadcast or aired on television, and they 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: 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.

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.

There you have it.

UPDATE:
To address a commenter who wondered what was wrong with paying a ransom to terrorists, kidnappers, and others who would take people hostage, I would like to make the following observations. By providing ransoms or giving in to terrorist demands, one may gain the release of a single hostage, but the harm done to society at large is incalculable.

Terrorists and kidnappers realize that their tactics work, and will quickly seek to replicate the kidnappings - taking more individuals hostage, beginning an endless cycle of violence. Demands for money that are given means that these groups gain a new source of income that will quickly enhance their ability to take more hostages, become more violent, and otherwise further undermine stability of where they operate.

Similarily, terrorists will see the ransoms as a sign that they can push the envelope - to see just how much they can get away with before someone will come down hard on them. We've seen what kinds of terrorism are considered beyond the pale, and it takes a 9/11 to bring the US to take overwhelming military action when more than 3,000 people are killed in a single coordinated attack. Attacks that kill only a few hundred (US Embassys in Africa) or attacks against US military assets that kill 17 sailors (USS Cole), are tolerated and lip service paid to going after those responsible. Each successful attack, and the corresponding lack of suitable response by the affected countries, resulted in an escalation.

UPDATE:
Much is to be made of the blogging reaction of Carroll's statements made, both those while still being held prisoner and those made immediately after her release. In fact, it appears that that subject is far more relevant to blogosphere discussion (and subsequent flaming) than the meat and potatoes of her actual comments. Jill's reactions are now a mere footnote to blogging introspection by some on the Right, and the Left's near gleeful reaction to those on the Right who have either issued mea culpas or thought that Carroll had become one with the terrorists' goals and methodologies.

For some of the more thoughtful reactions, check out Ranting Profs, Rick Moran, Outside the Beltway, and Ed Morrissey.

Others blogging Carroll's statement and for further analysis, check out: Decision '08, Mac's Mind (who still counsels caution on the flogging, blogging, and recriminations until a fuller picture comes out), and Wizbang.

My prior coverage of Carroll's release can be found here, here, and here. Throughout my coverage, I've not only noted the wide range of reactions - from Left and Right, but also that drawing conclusions as to Jill's intentions requires information that only time and distance can provide (of course, I'm saying this far more eloquently now than when I was making those initial postings - which simply called for more information). Namely, I wanted to have those questions about her intentions, the issue of coersion, and related issues addressed. Some of those questions have been addressed, but the analysis will continue.

UPDATE:
Debbie Schussel is sticking to her guns - that Carroll's sympathies lay with the Islamists. See for yourself if you're willing to be swayed by this evidence. Don Surber issues a retort. Ranting Profs and Donklephant have additional thoughts.

UPDATE:
The Telegraph has a story about Jill Carroll's release and the subsequent criticism by right-wingers who took Carroll to task. The part I found interesting was this paragraph:

Miss Carroll's captivity has been more widely reported than that of any other American hostage but received considerably less attention than comparable dramas in Britain or Italy. Unlike most Europeans, Americans are convinced that they are at war with a relentless and inhumane enemy.

One of the interesting questions about the coverage of Carroll's release is that she is a journalist, and the media interest was generated by media saavy friends and family. That kept her profile higher than some of the other hostages who were taken prisoner, and the media attention on their own generates yet more attention.

Further, we've got terrorists whose ideology revolves around destroying Western society and imposing Islamic law by any means necessary. They've murdered innocent civilians around the world, including in the UK, Spain, and numerous terror cells have been broken up throughout Europe - including in France and Germany. This isn't idle threats we're talking about, but premeditated murder of countless people.


Technorati: jill carroll, hostage, kidnapping.