Jill Carroll: political victim
I've been following the reaction to Jill Carroll's release with interest of late, as I've expressed in previous posts. In one post I suggested that some people probably owe her an apology after some of the comments made about her, and in fairness some people have. No word on whether or not Don Imus has been fired yet, but there's always hope.
As you might suspect, there has been a fairly lively discussion on the topic in various places around the intergeek and it looks like the discussion, like many in these polarized times, comes down to simple politics. There still appear to be those out there that, without proof, simply have a "feeling" that there is something wrong with her release, her good treatment while in captivity, or whatever. If there is any doubt that these differences fall along political lines, check out the comment trail behind any of the articles written on the topic. This one is kind of interesting, as the author appears to take umbrage with her use of the term "insurgent" over "terrorist" in her news reports.
In Jill's own words, from the CSM article linked above, she still tries to maintain a middle ground, expressing her grief for the loss of her coworker, her anger at being held captive, and yet not condeming the entire Iraqi people for what happened to her (emphasis mine):
Or did she deserve what happened to her because of her political views?
As you might suspect, there has been a fairly lively discussion on the topic in various places around the intergeek and it looks like the discussion, like many in these polarized times, comes down to simple politics. There still appear to be those out there that, without proof, simply have a "feeling" that there is something wrong with her release, her good treatment while in captivity, or whatever. If there is any doubt that these differences fall along political lines, check out the comment trail behind any of the articles written on the topic. This one is kind of interesting, as the author appears to take umbrage with her use of the term "insurgent" over "terrorist" in her news reports.
In Jill's own words, from the CSM article linked above, she still tries to maintain a middle ground, expressing her grief for the loss of her coworker, her anger at being held captive, and yet not condeming the entire Iraqi people for what happened to her (emphasis mine):
"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 Allan Enwiya are criminals, at best. They robbed Allan of his life and devastated his family. They put me, my family and my friends - and 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 his."Note that she is angry with the people who she should be angry with, not with the entire Iraqi population, nor even all of the "insurgency". Could this middle line be part of the problem? Should she wear a flag lapel pin and sing "America the Beautiful" with every waking breath?
Or did she deserve what happened to her because of her political views?
Wow, I didn't even know she had been released. Good news.
Why is our media (generally speaking) so hostile to these people? The initial stories that came out after the release of the CPT hostages were also very negative, implying that the men weren't sufficiently grateful to their rescuers. Such stories were utter poppycock, as the hostages issued a very clear press release a few days after being freed, thanking in particular the soldiers involved. They apparantly didn't thank the people quickly enough. I'm guessing they didn't spend their time as hostages penning a glorious thank you speech, and they probably wanted to reconnect with their families for a few days immediately afterwards.
You'd think the media would be fawning all over Jill Carroll. After all, she is one of their own, even if she does actually do a little more digging when she writes a feature (or 'investigating' for those journalists out there who may be unfamiliar with the concept). Maybe they resent her desire to actually try doing a good job? She makes the Green Zone Pen Warriors look bad?
Posted by
Anonymous |
Tue Apr 04, 09:08:00 AM
Part of the problem, Bri, is the hastiness of the blogosphere. People will very quickly jump to conclusions without knowing the least bit about what they're talking about. I'm bad for it, too. As for these specific cases, the CPT organization did issue a statement that used the term 'release' not 'rescue' and did not thank the military that rescued them. This aggravated the pro-military in the right wing, and it's easy to see why. I still disagree with them, but I understand why they were snippy.
Jill Carroll has been largely lauded in the mainstream news, it's more the fringes that said things that shouldn't have been said. As I've said, the world is so politically split that these differences fall right down party lines. Almost always.
Posted by
Anonymous |
Tue Apr 04, 10:25:00 AM