Jill Carroll: “I did not speak freely”

Remember how all the asshats on the right got up in arms about the last video her captors made of Jill Carroll, the freelancer writing for the Christian Science Monitor? Apparently they really believed her when she said capitivity was plushy. Or at least, they were embittered that she emerged from captivity with her head still attached–to the point where they got to fantasizing that she was having sex with her captors and loving it.

Well, looks like Jill has something very different to say, now that she’s free:


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 co-operated. 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 co-operate with the US military and, two, that I refused to discuss my captivity with US 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.

Maybe this will teach the wingnuts not to jump to any false conclusions before the full story is known…but then again, seeing as the only thing conservatives conserve is the few brain cells they’ve got, I seriously doubt it.

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