Saturday, April 01, 2006

Hold your fire

Knee-jerk media haters didn't wait a day before jumping on freed hostage Jill Carroll; I heard self-righteous boob Sean Hannity speculate that she may have been a victim of the "Stockholm Syndrome" after hearing Carroll's initial comments following her release.

No, you idiot, she was fighting for her life. What was she supposed to say? Patience is always rewarded, and now Carroll is filling in the blanks.

Former 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.

In a video, recorded before she was freed and posted by her captors on an Islamist Web site, Carroll spoke out against the U.S. military presence. But Carroll said the recording was made under threat. Her editor has said three men were pointing guns at her at the time.

"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."

In the statement, Carroll also disavowed an interview she gave to the party shortly after her release. She said the party had promised her the interview would not be aired "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," she said. "Also, at least two false statements about me have been widely aired: That I refused to travel and cooperate with the U.S. military and that I refused to discuss my captivity with U.S. officials. Again, neither is true."

You'd think someone who spent nearly three months in captivity would get at least a little leeway. Check out these comments from the producer of Don Imus' radio talk show (simulcast on MSNBC):

She strikes me as the kind of woman who would wear one of those suicide vests. You know, walk into the, try and sneak into the Green Zone.

Wonder if Carroll will get an apology.

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