Freed U.S. Journalist Lands in Germany

Associated Press ^ | 1 April 06 | MATT MOORE

[SkyPilot]

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany - Smiling broadly, journalist Jill Carroll arrived Saturday under U.S. military protection in Germany, the first stop on her return to the United States after 82 days in captivity in Iraq.

_{28-year-old U.S. journalist Jill Carroll, left, is welcomed by Base Commander, Col. Kurt Lohide after she landed at the U.S. Airbase in Ramstein, southwestern Germany, Saturday, April 1, 2006. Carroll was a hostage in Iraq for 82 days and was released last Thursday. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)}

Gone was the Islamic headscarf and dress robe she had worn as a hostage. Instead she was wearing jeans, a bulky gray sweater, and a desert camouflage jacket.

Col. Kurt Lohide, commander of the 435th Air Base Wing, welcomed her to Ramstein.

"I'm happy to be here," she said.

Carroll, a 28-year-old freelancer for the Boston-based Christian Science Monitor, was seized Jan. 7 in western Baghdad by gunmen who killed her Iraqi translator.

She was dropped off Thursday at an office of the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni Arab organization, and later escorted by the U.S. military to the Green Zone, the fortified compound in Baghdad protecting the U.S. embassy and other facilities. She was said to be reluctant to go to the Green Zone because her kidnappers had told her it was infiltrated by insurgents.

A U.S. Air Force C17 Globemaster brought Carroll from Balad Air Base near Baghdad to Ramstein Air Base in western Germany. Carroll was seated in the cockpit of the plane, which was also carrying several soldiers wounded in Iraq.

As the aircraft came to stop, she cast a bemused look at the bevy of television cameras waiting on the tarmac. That expression had changed to a big grin, though, by the time she got off the plane.

She was wearing the usual Western garb _ jeans and sneakers _ and carrying a flight bag. Her hair _ uncovered _ was pulled back in a ponytail. As journalists watched from a distance, Lohide escorted her to a waiting van.

Ramstein officials said she was taken to a hotel at the air base but was expected to leave for Boston later Saturday on a flight out of Frankfurt.

After she was gone, the wounded soldiers were brought out of the rear of the plane on stretchers for transport to the U.S. military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

It wasn't clear why the kidnappers, who called themselves the Revenge Brigades, released Carroll. They had demanded the release of all female detainees in Iraq by Feb. 26, and said Carroll would be killed if that wasn't done.

U.S. officials did release some female detainees at the time, but said it had nothing to do with the kidnappers' demands. On Thursday, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the United States is still holding four women.

Carroll has said her kidnappers confined her to a small, soundproof room with frosted windows but treated her well. Although her captors issued televised threats to kill her if American forces did not release women prisoners, she said she was never threatened or harmed.

On Friday a video posted on an Islamist Web site showed her speaking out against the U.S. military presence.

"Tens of thousands ... have lost their lives here because of the occupation," she said in the video. "I think Americans need to think about that and realize day-to-day how difficult life is here."

She said the insurgents were "only trying to defend their country ... to stop an illegal and dangerous and deadly occupation."

The Monitor's editor, Richard Bergenheim, said that Carroll's parents, who spoke to her about the video, told him it was "conducted under duress."

[ThirstyMan]

"We won one."

Absolutely! We have individual battles and we have a war. The bad guys may have won a minor battle by forcing her to say good things about them...

but don't we all recall one weeping video that she produced passionately begging for her life?

Now isn't it obvious that she was lying when she said,

on her pre-release captivity video,
clothed in Islamic garb,
being held at the Sunni party HQ,

that she was well treated?

[Feiny]

I am giving her the benefit of the doubt until it is proven otherwise. I truly hope she was not harmed & that she was treated well.

[Tulsa Ramjet]

"she wasn't too upset about her interpreter being killed."

I wonder if her book deal proceeds will go toward his family.

[SouthWall]

Dumb male alert.

Is the streak of red in her hair there after her days in the "Captivity Hilton"? Would it last that long?

Did the insurgent host dye it for her return?

Just don't know these things

[MC Miker G]

"I hope she steps in front of a bus at the airport."

That's sweet. If that happens, she won't be able to tell us the real story of her ordeal, and you can keep on calling her a traitor without worrying about the facts getting in the way.

[sheikdetailfeather]

My brother (retired army Sgt. Major) sent an email this morning saying the following:

"HI;

IT REALLY STEAMS ME TO SEE AMERICAN SOLDIERS HAVING TO RESCUE PEOPLE LIKE JILL CARROLL AND OTHER PEACENIKS THAT GET THEMSELVES INTO TROUBLE IN IRAQ.

IT'S OBVIOUS TO ME THAT JILL CARROLL IS ABOUT ONE GOAT SHORT OF BEING A JIHADIST HERSELF."

[OldFriend]

She's an American after all. Would you rather she'd been beheaded?

Perhaps she's grown past her naive ideas about the world, given that her companion interpreter was murdered in her kidnapping.

[American Quilter]

She should make a statement clarifying her comments.

Yes. I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt on this--I've occasionally been (correctly) rebuked here for jumping to conclusions on too little evidence--but if she doesn't speak out soon, I'll be joining those who condemn her.

[cardinal4]

I remember how the left mocked Jessica Lynch. By comparison she looks pretty darn good. She won the admiration of her captors, never said anything negative about the US, was grateful to her rescuers, and surprisingly, seems more intelligent than the elite, but foolish, Carroll.

Thats how I see it as well..

[The Westerner]

Probably the female soldiers helped her with the dye job. After 3 months, the roots would be longer. No, it looks new. I also think that smile is a smile of relief. She looks more "real" than when she was under their control.

[zook]

You're absolutely right about this. I am just plain happy that she was released. Were it my daughter, or son for that matter, I'd want her to say anything to protect her life and be freed from captivity. Snide and smug belittling of her just makes FR look a bit bad.

[cgbg]

I will give her the benefit of the doubt--for now.

But if she is really on our side I expect her to take on her media buddies and kick them in the rear end--after her experience nothing less is acceptable.

[booann777]

I am giving her the benefit of the doubt until it is proven otherwise. I truly hope she was not harmed & that she was treated well.
___________________________________________

Me too. Consider one theory... she is kidnapped, treated well to be used as a TOOL by these terrorists, who certainly know how to manipulate the press on all sides.

Lots of smiling, and maybe "chubby" cheeks goes a long way to make the ugly Americans look like we are throwing stones, esp when she has been treated well and can only say that to the press because they did treat her well.

And lets not forget about the "code" that hostages have toward one another, i.e., she will most likely to continue to echo exactly what they want us to hear under duress of other beheading of her captured allies.

I don't expect her tune to change for these reasons. But she may... I hope.

Terrorists know how to use a female Christian Science aid worker to control the media and as such, world opinion for an indefinite amount of time. It was planned from the first and will be milked to the last. Of course the "Christian" identity is perfect.

She is an important tool for the terrorists, and if successful, many more will come out and say how well they are treated because Americans are ripe for picking.

Thanks for listening... Just one of many possible scenarios.

[zook]

And you, of course, wrote back to remind your brother that she's a legitimate journalist for the Christian Science Monitor, not necessarily a "peacenik," right?

[LoudRepublicangirl]

Probably the female soldiers helped her with the dye job

Since she states her captors allowed to shower she may have used henna which is a very common herb in the middle east used to color hair. It would give her that reddish tint to her dark hair and I think it does last longer than our commercial hair colors.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

a tough call...the length to the roots is about right for 2 to 3 months.

I think this should be a first analysis for Katie Couric this Monday! Or maybe Timmy russert could have Paris Hilton on to discuss this issue on Meet the Depressed. I mean, there isn't anything else going on in the world, huh timmy?

[Huck]

Dittos.

[Minus_The_Bear]

"Hostages' usually don't pack on the lbs like Jill managed to. Fat and happy. I'm surprised that people are still ignoring the death of the translator when Jill can read and write Arabic! Why did she need a translator?

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

And what facts would those be? Her getting cozy with jihadists? Her trashing her own country? Please enlighten me, I'm sure it'll just impress the hell out of me.