Jill Carroll

Thankfully, American journalist Jill Carroll was released from captivity and she is safe.

Apparently, being held hostage by Brigades of Vengeance for three months wasn't all that bad.

Among the comments Carroll has made since her release:

"I was treated very well." (LA Times)

"They never hit me. They never even threatened to hit me." (LA Times)

"I was allowed to read a newspaper only once and watch the television once just to make me aware of what was happening outside." (Aljazeera.net)

"I had very good treatment. They never hit me. I was kept in a safe place with nice furniture, plenty of food. I was allowed to take showers." (Aljazeera.net)

"I was treated very well; it's important people know that. They never threatened me in any way." (New York Times)

"All I can say right now is I am very happy." (New York Times)

Here is the transcript of an interview conducted by Baghdad Television in Iraq. It aired on CNN. This interview is cited as the source for the quotes above.

I don't get her comment, "They never threatened me in any way."

Wasn't Carroll aware of the threats to kill her and all the deadlines?

Of course, today is a day of rejoicing. Carroll will be reunited with her family and friends.

I would expect her to be elated right now. I'm sure she's in a whirl.

Maybe after a while, she'll recall that not everything about her three months in captivity was hunky dory.

Flash back to January 30, 2006.

CAIRO, Egypt -- Al-Jazeera aired a new videotape Monday of kidnapped U.S. journalist Jill Carroll, showing her wearing a headscarf and weeping as she purportedly appealed for the release of female Iraqi prisoners.

...The video had no sound, but the Al-Jazeera newscaster said Carroll appealed to the U.S. military and the Iraqi Interior Ministry to free all women in their prisons and said this "would help in winning her release."

...If the date is correct, it would be the first sighting of Carroll since a Jan. 20 deadline her captors set in an earlier video, threatening to kill her if all Iraqi women weren’t released from U.S. and Iraqi prisons. The deadline passed with no word on her fate amid widespread calls from Iraqi and Islamic leaders for her to be freed.

At one point, Carroll’s cracking voice can be heard from behind the newscaster’s voice. All that can be heard is Carroll saying, "... hope for the families...." Al-Jazeera did not report that the video set any deadline or include any threats.

Did it look like Carroll was being treated "very well" in that video?

Sobbing and pleading, she seemed to be under extreme duress.

I found it terribly disturbing to watch her beg like that.

An editorial from the Boston Herald puts Carroll's kind words for her captors in perspective.

But no one should confuse her humane treatment - regular meals, use of the shower - to be compensation for the violent ambush that claimed the life of her translator, nor for the months her family and colleagues spent in agony while her captors puzzled over whether to make good on their threats to kill her.

No, Carroll’s captors get no points for not roughing her up, for not killing an innocent journalist - for using terror and violence to punish a woman whose personal commitment to bringing the stories of the Iraqi people to the world was well known.

Carroll said, "I was treated very well; it's important people know that. They never threatened me in any way."

In spite of the emphasis being placed on Carroll's wonderful treatment, I think it's important for people to remember what her captors are really about.

That's what is important for people to know.