I'm cool with that, too...
I'm finding a real hard time feeling sympathy for Jill Carroll, the reporter who was abducted in Iraq.
Let's go through a couple things.
She's a woman.
She's an American.
She's a freelance reporter for The Christian Science Monitor.
Oh yeah, IN IRAQ.
Can't imagine none of these things are good.
The Monitor reported:
"A few months after the US invasion, she left Jordan for Iraq, prompted by the desire to show to as vast an audience as possible the human tragedies caused by the war and the hardships of the Iraqi people."
"The kidnappers who abducted her could not have chosen a more wrong target."
Um, I'm thinking terrorists don't do a background check on the American reporters before they kidnap them.
And here's what gets me, it's possible that some soldiers may have to put their life on the line to save her. As if the soldiers don't have enough to worry about, they may have try to save the life of someone who shouldn't even be there.
If she is released, and she goes back over, and gets kidnapped again -- and that would be no surprise to me -- I hope the U.S. government does nothing to help.
As it looks right now, the government isn't getting involved, and I'm cool with that, too.
You put yourself in a volatile situation, you have no one to blame but yourself.
Let's go through a couple things.
She's a woman.
She's an American.
She's a freelance reporter for The Christian Science Monitor.
Oh yeah, IN IRAQ.
Can't imagine none of these things are good.
The Monitor reported:
"A few months after the US invasion, she left Jordan for Iraq, prompted by the desire to show to as vast an audience as possible the human tragedies caused by the war and the hardships of the Iraqi people."
"The kidnappers who abducted her could not have chosen a more wrong target."
Um, I'm thinking terrorists don't do a background check on the American reporters before they kidnap them.
And here's what gets me, it's possible that some soldiers may have to put their life on the line to save her. As if the soldiers don't have enough to worry about, they may have try to save the life of someone who shouldn't even be there.
If she is released, and she goes back over, and gets kidnapped again -- and that would be no surprise to me -- I hope the U.S. government does nothing to help.
As it looks right now, the government isn't getting involved, and I'm cool with that, too.
You put yourself in a volatile situation, you have no one to blame but yourself.
Expunged by Stewie at 1/19/2006 08:35:00 PM
7 Comments:
Exactly. She put herself in danger. I am guessing that she very well could have turned down the assignment at the risk of losing her job or not. Being affiliated with something like 'christian' inthe business title doesn't exactly make the Iraqi people want to throw a parade in your honor. They are pissed about the U.S. being there and now there can be some trumped up support for the war because a non-soldier died. An innocent American (who didn't need to be there in the first place) lost her life. Just overlook the fact that she is there to make money telling the tales of war with a nice christian spin on things.
Why exactly was she there?
What does a Christian chick in Iraq have to report about?
"It's hot as Hell over here!"
Gee, thanks. Even though Iraq has mostly cold winters. Heh.
You know what makes me sick is that it would not surprise me if several American soldiers put their lives on the line to try to save her. And of course, it would not be a surprise if at least one of them died during this effort.
And you just know that once she's back safely in the U.S. (where she should have fucking stayed) she'll be a big ol' media whore with nary a mention of the sacrifices the soldiers made on her behalf. And there will be a fucking made-for-TV movie, with some cheesy-ass name like "Christian Under Fire: The Jill Carroll Story" (because every made-for-TV movie needs a colon in the title). And that movie will be played on the Lifetime channel in perpetuity. Spare me.
And call me cynical, but I can't help but think that she went over there thinking she'd get a fucking Pulitzer.
So we're all in agreement. Stupid chicks deserve whatever they get. I been saying this all my life...
There is no need to go name by name, as I agree with each one of you.
Chris, she is a freelance reporter. I don't know exactly how that works, but I have a feeling she went over there because everyone else was too smart not to go themselves.
hmmmmmmmmmmm..............
now - you do need to know a couple of facts - she went over there BEFORE the war started (a year prior),
and she was 'targeted' (and assessed... they did know who she was) as she was going to a pre-arranged interview. The interviewee 'conveniently' didn't show, and when she was heading back to the hotel, that's when the very well-coordinated kidnapping took place.
But - being an American - she should have gotten her ass out of Iraq when the US Consulate & State Department started telling people to get the hell out. I agree with the rest of what you say. It's unfortunate - her situation, but she put herself in that situation...
norman
"hmmmmmmmmmmm..............
now - you do need to know a couple of facts - she went over there BEFORE the war started (a year prior),"
That's kind of misleading.
"In the February/March issue of AJR, Carroll wrote that she moved to Jordan in late 2002, six months before the war started, "to learn as much about the region as possible before the fighting began."
From:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/09/carroll.profile.ap/
Before the fighting began? WTF?
Bush put Iraq on the "hit list" as early as January 2002. In October of 2002, "Congress authorizes an attack on Iraq."
In March of 2003, Bush declares war on Iraq.
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/iraqtimeline2.html
But, let's face it, Iraq was a hot bed well before Bush declared war on it and well before she went over.
"and she was 'targeted' (and assessed... they did know who she was)"
Let me clarify my post--I don't doubt she was targeted as an American reporter. Or even as a foreign reporter. But I question how much background they do, or is being a reporter good enough for a kidnapping. Either way, it doesn't matter. She put herself in the situation. No one else.
She is far from innocent in this, and she shouldn't be defended as if she is. She shouldn't be defended at all. Her kidnapping is 100% her own fault.
Don't take that as me wishing ill on her, but I don't have sympathy for her, either.
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