The Jill Carroll Kidnapping
I noticed this morning that CBS Radio News is referring to Jill Carroll's kidnappers as "militants."
Militants?
My trusty home town paper, the L.A. Times, carries the same theme: "Militants Threaten Life of U.S. Journalist." The CBS News web site uses the same terminology in a related story.
I don't want to be picky here, but aren't they "kidnappers?" Or maybe "captors?" Or perhaps even "terrorists?"
It looks like the militants picked the wrong victim this time. Al Jazeera's web site states, "Aljazeera reaffirmed its rejection of all forms of violence against journalists and demanded Caroll's immediate release," and further reports:
Carroll's former employers The Jordan Times published a Sunday editorial, stating: "The kidnappers who abducted her could not have chosen a more wrong target. True, Jill is a US citizen. But she is also more critical of US policies towards the Middle East than many Arabs… Jill has been from day one opposed to the war, to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. "The pressure on those militants who kidnapped the wrong woman to release her is growing. I hope it suceeds; I can only imagine what her family is going through. My thoughts, prayers, and heart go out to their daughter and them.
posted by Lowell Brown at 8:14 AM
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2 Comments:
This is a teachable moment. Maybe the press will learn something about terrorists: Just because you are on their side doesn't mean they are on your side.
Posted by Lee
Although of course one welcomes the calls from the Jordanian Times and AljazeeraI to release Jill Carroll, one must never fall into the trap of even hinting that there are "right" victims of terrorists and "wrong" ones. If Jill Carroll were a gung-ho supporter of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, her kidnapping would be no more justified than it is given her opposition to the war. Terrorism is terrorism. To suggest otherwise invites sympathy for those who would set off a bomb in a restaurant full of men, women and children in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, because the victims are Israeli, and therefore "right."
Posted by Ralph Kostant
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