Right-wing bloggers attack freed hostage for 'treason' (Jill Carroll)

[sabra]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/03/wcarr03.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/03/ixworld.html

Right-wing bloggers attack freed hostage for 'treason'

The freed American hostage Jill Carroll arrived home after 83 days of captivity in Iraq yesterday - to a barrage of criticism from Right-wingers who accused her of showing too much sympathy for her kidnappers.

But after an emotional reunion with her family in Boston, the 28-year-old freelance correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor spoke of her loathing for the gunmen who threatened her with death "many times" during her ordeal.

She described her captors as "criminals at best" and denied allegations that she had refused to answer questions from the American military.

...

Miss Carroll has been under sustained assault from some on the pro-war Right. Bloggers and hosts on the country's influential talk radio stations have attacked her for stating that she had not been threatened during her confinement.

Others attacked her for wearing Muslim dress and the news channel CNN carried an interview suggesting that she was suffering from "Stockholm Syndrome", in which victims begin to sympathise with their captors. One blogger called for Miss Carroll to be arrested for treason.

[Bluzmann57]

1. Why can't people just leave her alone?

Let her enjoy her freedom and later on she can talk to the rest of the press if she chooses to. She has been through an ordeal which most of us will never have to and she should be free to do and say what she feels about it, without interference from anyone.

[MrPrax]

2. Wow...

Weird reaction to the posted story...

Nothing about: 'Let her enjoy her freedom'?
or 'talking to the press'?

'ordeal'?...nothing about that either (there is some backstory about Carroll being kidnapped)

"she should be free" there is that word again...

What a Beautiful Thought, Mind and Planet

Peace

-MrP

[MaryBear]

9. Your reaction makes sense to me, Bluzmann57,

when I read the post and its link. -MB

[neuvocat]

31. The republicans are traitors also.

Back in '01 they didn't hesitate to try to do the same thing to their fellow american citizens. If you were a democtrat didn't parrot some sort of pro-Bush slogan then they said that you were in league with the terrorists. They're just as bad as the Al Queda they helped to create.

[MadMaddie]

3. Those that attack her are cowards.....

They would have said and done whatever the kidnappers demanded to stay alive....I am so sick of these people attacking Americans...

They are the the very people that are anti-American and they are simply cowards.

[VolcanoJen]

27. Cowards, and Keyboard Kommandos

I can only imagine the way one of those little right-wing fucktard bloggers would crap their pants if they were kidnapped in Iraq...

[saigon68]

29. These slugs are the ones who send our children off to war

Who in the words of representative Cooksey would


Link: http://www.sikhnet.com/sikhnet/discussion.nsf/0/720e0e8f1a1ef1a287256acd005865d0?OpenDocument

U.S. Rep. John Cooksey, R-Monroe, told a network of Louisiana radio stations Monday that someone "wearing a diaper on his head" should expect to be interrogated in the investigation of terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and New York City.

Cooksey acknowledged his viewpoint raised the issue of "racial profiling."

Cooksey did not back away from his remarks Tuesday, and, in fact, restated them in slightly different terms.

"If I see someone (who) comes in that's got a diaper on his head and a fan belt wrapped around the diaper on his head, that guy needs to be pulled over."

Link: http://www.wilwheaton.net/mt/archives/000774.php

[AnnieBW]

4. They're So Willing To Attack Hostages

If the RW-ers are so willing to attack people that go over to Iraq and get taken as hostages, why don't they go themselves to prove how "safe" it is? In the meantime, STFU. She did what she had to do to survive. I'd have done the same thing.

[Roland99]

5. On one board I frequent, they're essentially calling her a coward because

she wasn't beheaded.


:eyes:

[Kagemusha]

6. I sympathize with her, but what she's said makes no sense.

If I read the article on the same subject in The Guardian correctly, she has rounded on critics saying that she was forced to say things under duress during an interview IMMEDIATELY AFTER SHE WAS FREED.

That's what the mix of the article and her words says.

I make no claim as to the truth of the matter but, obviously there is some incongruity here.

[LiberalFighter]

7. You should had provided the link to the Guardian article

so that we could read the same thing you read.

[Kagemusha]

10. I didn't think the articles were different earlier

But so scolded, I shall correct the matter.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1745616,00.html

[LiberalFighter]

35. Anything you can do to help fellow DU'ers is appreciated

It helps reduce the amount of time searching for the article. I have learned that even if they are from the same source they may not all print it in it's entirety.

Thanks for linking.

[VTMechEngr]

8. She wasn't sure she was truely free.

She was afraid they would still come back and get her or kill her if she trashed them at the Islamic party office.

[Kagemusha]

11. That's a good explanation and I'd have liked to have heard it earlier

And louder.

And more often.

And it's sad that the fact this was not done has left a vaccum for these sordid attacks to thrive in.

I don't blame the woman herself one tiny bit - she's gone through enough. But she was doing work for a newspaper. They should've had her back here. They should've anticipated these attacks.

[MaryBear]

12. See the post re: Jill's Statement in this Forum

[Garbo 2004]

14. She was "freed" to the Sunni Iraqi Islamic party, who wanted to to make a

video for their "records," not for broadcast. For all she knew the party had connections to the people who kidnapped her. (The IIP has been said to have connections to "insurgents.") Think she felt truly safe and able to speak freely in their custody?

[Kagemusha]

18. I never said she wasn't, but it needed to be said.

The early news reports simply left a hole wide enough to drive a truck with "TREASON" painted on the side through. That's not good.

The IIP really acted sleazy here too...

[keopeli]

13. This type of hypocrisy really annoys me.

What is the difference between this American freelance journalist and a prison of war?

The captive soldier is held as an enemy combatant. We have tortured our Iraqi war prisoners.

This American civilian hostage, in an attempt to promote America's First Amendment free press in a war zone that we started, was berated and humiliated by her captors, but she was not tortured.

Hmm...

I'm not surprised that there are people willing to make their prejudicial comments public, insulting her for respecting the culture where she was at the time. Remember, she was trying to be inconspicuous when she was in Iraq. As a woman with sensitivity and intelligence would do, she wore traditional Muslim clothing where such a custom was expected of women.

Now, maybe you are a woman who has visited this type of culture. Did you wear a headscarf? Many do. The journalist Yvonne Riddley, who was raised in England singing in the church choir, found herself captured by the Taliban. You should read her story. She converted to Islam and now works for Al Jazeera, which is a representation of free press ideals in the Muslim world and based in Dubai, of the Dubai Ports scandal that Bush supported so strongly as trusted friends.

Still, others don't agree with this behavior. Take Condaleeza Rice and Karen Hughes, who met with Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority, to discuss developing US policy so that the issue of returning women to equal status under the law would be a nonnegotiable issue in forming any new government in Iraq. (Read the Time article about Burkas for more.)

I don't believe there's anything to be ashamed of by refusing to wear a burka while in these fundamentalist cultures.

In the church I grew up in, which was fundamentalist Christian in the extreme and proudly so to this day, there was a time when a woman could not wear pants to church or mutilate her body by piercing her ears. That was an enforced custom, punishable by shunning from the community. Nobody would have tortured someone for such behavior, but she certainly would have been shunned.

To be fair, men had appearance restrictions as well, such as tattoos and piercings. However, exceptions were made because of the redemption of being baptized and the desire to increase membership. Men raised in the church didn't qualify for such exceptions.

In Muslim countries, these communities are larger than they were where I grew up. The US had communities of this size, with laws enforcing dress codes and corporal ethics, just 3 generations ago. That's my grand and great-grandparents.

If a Pakistani had come to town, the gentleman would have worn clothing appropriate to our culture. Think Ali Hakim in the musical Oklahoma!

In 387 AD, St. Augustine traveled outside his religious culture and discovered that the citizens of Milan did not fast on the Sabbath (Saturday). Concerned about what he should do, he wrote to the head of the Roman Church in Milan, St. Ambrose, who replied, "When I am at Rome, I fast on a Saturday; when I am at Milan, I do not. Follow the custom of the Church where you are." This wise philosophy for Christian travelers became an English idiom - when in Rome, do as the Romans.

Why? Out of respect. I had my ear pierced in college - a rebellious act that I recall fondly in spite of the social pangs it caused, which were few and isolated to just a few individuals that I knew. But, I knew that this type of behavior wasn't accepted in my family's home. And so, out of respect, I never wore any ear jewelry when I was visiting my family. This decision was definitely passive, because the real problem was the piercing itself, not the jewelry. I guess I didn't have the courage of other women in my generation who forced their community to deal with these issues by confronting them head on with the church elders, and winning their case. Instead, I depended on my theory that these cultural norms were so threatened by the revelations of the cultural revolution of the 60s and 70s that advocates would rather stay silent about their dissent rather than risk more confrontations. And, I was right.

My point in this little story is that fundamentalist and religious norms that are truly cultural prejudices and injustices are resolved within their own community. Anyone outside that community has no influence whatsoever. An outsider who wishes to visit and has an invitation to do so would be wise to respect the local customs, even if they seem odd or unjust.

And, I'll go one step further. A visitor to one of these cultures has a moral obligation to either conform or stay at home.

Doesn't that sound like the way Jesus would behave?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/03/wcarr03.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/03/ixworld.html

[Briar]

24. Let's not forget that

the authorities of the time did not at all approve of the way Jesus behaved. He got much the same sort of response Professor Kember and his fellow hostages did when they were released.

Of course, now that Ms Carroll is expressing hatred of her captors, she's back with the programme.

[Zorra]

15. The RW chickenhawks need to "prove their manhood" by

denigrating yet another woman that has more "balls" than they do

Why aren't these pro war pro Bu*h pro death pro all that is wrong with the world blowhard cowards fighting for their beloved leader in their wonderful war?

Oh yeah...because they are the chickenshit CHICKENHAWK REPUBLICANS.

[anitar1]

16. Sounds like some lobotomies could be performed

to calm these folks down for the rest of their lives.

[quiet.american]

17. Uh-huh! n/t

[TaleWgnDg]

19. What do you say to closed-minded Freepers?

.

What do you say to closed-minded Freepers? Besides "get a life!" ? Ooops. Of course. "Get a brain, Morans(sic)!"

Or why not try being kidnapped by so-called "Iraqi 'Insurgents'" merely to see if these "morans"(sic) and their "hugh"(sic) egos wouldn't sing how marvelously well they are being treated as they're being taped for Al-Jazeera News!

Talk about brain-dead!

[ShockediSay]

20. AS IF ...

fill in the blanks or leave as is

AS IF is my 2d favorite answer

my favorite is

BULLSHIT!

[truthisfreedom]

21. hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate,

hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.

hate. right wing hate machine.

[Vinca]

22. Tell Rumsfeld to pay attention.

This is what happens when you torture people: they say whatever you want them to.

[Minnesota Libra]

23. What is it these idiots don't get? She was held against her will saw.....

....her photographer killed, and at the very least psychologically tortured if not physically tortured as well. So why would anyone take what she said while still held against her will at face value?? What is so hard to understand about the fact that we all have our endurance limits?? Plus, she said that her captors said they beat her up before making that video and told her if she made the video she might be set free. Darn right I'd spew their idiot message right then and try to correct it later. So what do neocons not get about all that??

[FlaGranny]

26. Didn't these evil freepers say the same about

John McCain's prisoner of war days (in 2000)? These freepers are little men with big egos, little empathy and no courage.

[Bassic]

25. What the fuck is wrong

with these idiots brains? What reality do they fucking live in?

[superconnected]

28. The right wing wants the verdict of treason brought down on everyone

from vegans to pregant 13yo's. Why bother asking the American taliban how they feel, or be surprised when it's a pitbull response.

Were I in her situation, I'd have danced and sang any tune they wanted to avoid torture, let alone death.

John Kerry and McCain aren't patriotic enough for the freepers. They worship Bush as some military hero. How much credibility can we give the insane.

[onenote]

30. here's what's really bothering the RW about this...

Carroll has acknowledged that, under the threat of torture and possible death, she said things she didn't believe. Exactly why torture is an unreliable means of extracting information. So if you're a RW'er who loves to defend torture, you have to attack Jill.

onenote

[arikara]

33. Bingo!

We have a winner!

:toast:

[leesa]

32. Their hero Bush commits outright treason, they don't notice. Their hero

Bush ditches his mitlitary service after dodging service in VietNam. He's a proven coward. They don't notice. What great character judges these people are.

[bunkerbuster1]

34. Best line in the story: "Unlike most Europeans...

Americans are convinced that they are at war with a relentless and inhumane enemy."

That's not especially fair to the ever-growing majority of Americans who believe this Administration is a disaster, but it's illuminating nevertheless.