The Shadow Gives A Final Word on Jill Carroll

As many readers of this blog knows, The Shadow appealed to the kidnappers of American journalist Jill Carroll for most of the 82 days that she was in captivity. As you are probably aware by now, Jill was released late last week and is now back in the United States in an undisclosed location in Boston with her family.

Jill Carroll after her release
(Photo courtesy Reuters.com)

The Shadow has been troubled by many news organizations and bloggers who have attacked this young woman over a video that was made 24 hours before her release. In this propaganda video, Ms. Carroll slammed the U.S. government over the invasion of Iraq and called for the immediate withdrawl of U.S. troops. The Shadow did not take this video seriously. Ms. Carroll has since retracted everything that she said in the video.

The Shadow believes that the retraction shows the true feelings of Ms. Carroll.

To defend Ms. Carroll, The Shadow will now publish the entirety of Jill Carroll's statement, made after her release at the Ramstein military base in Germany (the statement appeared on the BBC News website):

I'm so happy to be free and am looking forward to spending a lot of time with my family. I want to express my deep appreciation to all the people who worked so long and hard for my release. I am humbled by the sympathy and support expressed by so many people during my kidnapping.

In the past few days, the US military and officials have been extremely generous, and I am grateful for their help. Throughout this ordeal, many US agencies have committed themselves to bringing me safely home.

My colleagues at the Christian Science Monitor have worked ceaselessly to secure my release, and worked with security consultants to do so. Many other news organisations, both inside and outside of Iraq, as well as many officials from Iraq and other countries, worked hard to bring about my freedom.

So many people around the world spoke out on my behalf. Thank you, all of you.

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 fevently 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.

Now, I ask for the time to heal. This has been a taxing 12 weeks for me and for my family. Please allow us some quite time alone, together.

The Shadow believes that the above statement reflects the true feelings of Jill Carroll.

There is one more issue that The Shadow must address:

As this blog has recorded the release of Jill Carroll, several comments have been added that have been very insulting to this process. While The Shadow does believe in free speech, it is The Shadow's belief that these comments were unwarranted. Comments to this blog are always welcome, but The Shadow will not tolerate racist or inciteful speech. To that end, those comments were deleted from this blog.

And to Jill Carroll, The Shadow says: Welcome Home!