Jill Carroll-Still No Word

As of now, the 28 year old free lance journalist who filed reports on behalf of The Christian Science Monitor, has not been heard from, but there can be little doubt as to the trouble she is in, assumming she is alive. Disguising herself as an Arab woman, she had travelled to the Adal section ofBaghdad, a Sunni Arab nighbohood which has a reputation as one of the toughest parts of the city, in order to meet Adnam al-Dulaimi, the head of The Sunni Arab Iraqi Accordance. Unfortunatley, al-Dulaimi was not there, but Carrolls' abdutors were, and in the process of taking her captive, killed her translator.

This in itself belies, to my mind, any indication she might have been abducted by one of the roque elements who have made kidnapping of westerners a thriving enterprise, or who would try to, anyway. These are kidnappings of opportunity, and there seems to be more to this. The abductors knew Carroll would be there, and were waiting. There is or has been as of yet no word as to the possibility of collusion with al-Dulaimi, but his absence from the area is curious to say the least.

Carroll had a reputation as strong willed and brave yet at the same time, a professional and cautious reporter. Yet, she is a woman making her way through a country that is for the most part virulently anti-Western,and certainly anti-American. And she worked for a newspaper which is an arm of a Christian denomination, however objetive in it's reportage, and even liberal in certain of it's editorial positions, it may be.

The easiest assumption to make is that she was captured by one of the pro-Saddam factions, former Ba'ath Party insurgents. If this is the case, they may try to break her will, tear down her resolve, in an effort to prepare her for an appeal via tape to an American and Western audience, possibly as a means of striking fear into the hearts of any other journalist who may tread the soil of that beleageured nation. It is easy to say she will not be so easily broken, but remember,these are Ba'athists I'm talking about. It would be no surprise were she to be brutally raped, even purposely disfigured. Or, of course, simply executed, after being forced to make an appeal for American withdrawal, which of course they would know will never be acceeded to.

Of course, she could possibly be the captive of one of the more radical Islamic factions, such as Al-Queda in Iraq, which could be even worse. Their feelings about the role of women are pretty well known, and it is unlikely they would have a high level of tolerance or sympathy for an American woman, especially a journalist, disguising herself as an Arab woman. If they are her abductors, she is probably a dead woman, whether she is presently breathing or not. They might kill her on tape, or they might not. They will almost certainly kill her, barring her being found and rescued, assumming that is still an option.

I am hoping for a miracle, of course, but I do not expect one. The only appeal to her captives would be to simply point out that to murder this woman, to mistreat her in any way, would do their cause no good, in fact would only increase the degree of civilized animosity towards them. Of course, this too would be a vain hope, probably, as in truth they probably don't care. More to the point, it's not exactly a civilized audience they are trying to reach.