Jill Carroll Released by Iraqi Kidnappers
3 Apr 2006
Jill Carroll, a freelance reporter working for the Christian Science Monitor in Iraq, was kidnapped in Baghdad on January 7. During her kidnapping, her Iraqi translator, a 32 year-old Christian named Allan Enwiyah, was shot to death. His body was abandoned nearby by Carroll’s kidnappers, a group of Iraqi insurgents calling themselves the “Revenge Brigade.” A few days later a video aired on the Al-Jazeera network showing Carroll alive, but threatening her execution unless the United States released all of its female prisoners in Iraq within 72 hours. Subsequent videos appeared on Al-Jazeera after the 72 hour deadline showing Carroll in headscarf and Islamic dress crying and pleading for America to give her kidnappers “whatever they want as quickly as possible.”
On March 30, Jill Carroll walked into the Sunni Iraqi Party offices in Baghdad and announced that she had just been released by her kidnappers. Those present reported that she appeared composed and quite eager to talk about her 82 days of captivity. In her initial interview on Baghdad television, Carroll insisted that her captors treated her “very good.” “They never hit me,” Carroll said, “never even threatened to hit me.” According to Carroll, “It’s important [for] people [to] know that I was not harmed.”
Although Ms. Carroll’s kind words for her kidnappers and Mr. Enwiyah’s killers is bewildering, especially when coupled with her emphasis on the importance of others knowing she was not harmed or threatened by her Muslim captors, the release of an additional video subsequent to Ms. Carroll’s initial interview has turned the baffling into the unbelievable. On this video, Jill Carroll condemns the American “occupation” of Iraq and praises the Iraqi insurgents as “good people fighting an honorable fight.” Needless to say, Ms. Carroll’s video is being prominently played on Islamic websites throughout the world.
The big question is: If Jill Carroll was treated so wonderfully by her kidnappers and never threatened by them in any way, why did she make this video praising them—Muslim terrorists—and condemning her own country? Granted, since the release of the video, Ms. Carroll has changed her story. She now says she was under constant threat and forced to say what is said on the video. Still, this doesn’t explain the contradictions between her initial comments following her release and her present post-video claims. In her defense, some are suggesting that she is suffering from Stockholm syndrome, a psychological disorder sometimes found in hostages who become inexplicably sympathetic towards or even loyal to their captors.
I have no doubt that Jill Carroll has been through a harrowing ordeal, which has taken an emotional toll upon her. Like all Americans, I am most grateful for her release. The sparing of her life is, as we all know, the exception and not the rule for American hostages taken by Iraqi insurgents. Yet, the contradictory stories told by this reporter for the Christian Science Monitor raises a very important question; namely, “Who will monitor the Monitor?” If journalists, reporting on their own ordeal, can’t get the story straight, regardless of the reason, how can we trust them to get any story straight?
Don Walton
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