Jill Carroll a victim of Stockholm Syndrome?

Just yesterday we were all celebrating the fact that Jill Carroll had been released after being kidnapped 3 months ago. And I daresay we are all still happy that she is free.

But, since she has been released, some of her statements about her time in captivity have been puzzling. She has been very clear that her abductors treated her very well, and never hurt her or threatened to hurt her.

And disturbingly, I have not heard one word of concern or sympathy from her regarding her translator, who was shot twice in the head that day.

Now comes a videotape that reveals some of her thoughts regarding the US and it's involvement in Iraq. Available on the New York Times website, it reveals some scathing remarks against the US and President Bush. From the NYT article,

In a videotape posted Thursday on the Internet, made before her release, Ms. Carroll denounced the American presence in Iraq and praised the insurgents fighting here. In the video, Ms. Carroll smiled, laughed once and gestured in a seemingly relaxed manner, saying she felt guilty about being released while so many Iraqis were still suffering.

Ms. Carroll, apparently knowing she would be released, denounced what she described as the "lies" told by the American government and predicted that the insurgents would defeat the Americans in Iraq. "I feel guilty. I also feel that it just shows that the mujahedeen are good people fighting an honorable fight, a good fight. While the Americans are here, the occupying forces, you know, treating the people in a very, very bad way. So I can't be happy totally for my freedom because there are people still suffering in prisons, in very difficult situations."
www.nytimes.com...

The same words are echoed in an article in the Washington Post:
Washington Post

Now, I understand that she is still "coming down" from her experience, but it is somwhat discomfiting to read and listen to some of her comments.

Could it be that she is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome ? Or is she angry at having been kidnapped and blames the US for it? Or, since the tape was made before her release, maybe she was just saying what she knew her captors wanted to hear?

As a side note, she apparently was fed well while in captivity - she has apparently gained 20 - 25 pounds since being kidnapped.

If its good for propaganda, of course they would release after she makes a video criticizing the U.S. and praising the insurgents. Did she do it just to free herself? Maybe, lets see what she has to say in respone to the video release. If she did it because she was pro insurgent being brainwashed, then she has a problem. But as she has said, why was she kidnapped?

Originally posted by jsobecky
Could it be that she is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome ?

Tell me, why is that she must have been brainwashed if she doesn't support the US actions in Iraq?

Do you have any evidence that she thought contrary to this prior to her capture?

Originally posted by jsobecky
Could it be that she is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome ?

Absolutely.

Upon seeing her on TV these past few days, and reading what
she said (and DID NOT say). I immediately said 'Stockholm Syndrome'.

No word about them murdering her interpreter.
No word about her being so upset and scared on the film from the first
few weeks that she was held. (we all saw those clips - she was a mess).
It's like those days didn't exhist for her.
No word about the grief and stress the captors put her and her
family through, and the family of the murdered interpreter.
No word about being held against her will and how that is a crime.
The only real emotion she expressed was 'shock that their wasn't a
new government in Iraq yet'.

hmmmm. Yes, I'd definately say there is something drastically
wrong with this picture. And she needs a lot of detox from
what she has been brainwashed with. Stockholm Syndrome
is a definately probability. I said that to my husband just yesterday.



[edit on 3/31/2006 by FlyersFan]

No she is not sufferning from the Stockholm syndrome she is just talking the uncomfortable truth Americans find it hard to take. You will lose and it will be you r own fault, that´s much worse than losing to a supieior enemy.

Of course it's Stockholm syndrome!!

cuz she can't be telling the truth.

she just can't!

so it's a conspiracy to make US look bad!

/sarkasm

[edit on 31-3-2006 by Sarkazmon]

I also read that they claimed that they would kill her, after she was released, if she went into the green zone, or aided the US in any way. Perhaps she's trying to seem sympathetic in order to stay alive.


But who can say?

Originally posted by Jamuhn

Do you have any evidence that she thought contrary to this prior to her capture?

Lets see, if the first previous videos shows her scared and crying and begging for her, etc. And later on the new video shows her all comfortable, feeling she can sympathize with the insurgents. Makes you wonder. She use to be independent reporter, now its more like they turned her into a pro-insurgent reporter now.

Originally posted by deltaboy
Lets see, if the first previous videos shows her scared and crying and begging for her, etc.

I'm talking about proof that she accepted US actions in Iraq. Are you saying being afraid to die means you must support the US?

Stockholm Syndrome? Maybe.
Or, how about getting ready to sign major book/movie.magazine/whatever contracts? So, her behavior is an act

Although I'm not entirely sure this topic belongs in WOT.

Originally posted by Peruvianmonk
she is just talking the uncomfortable truth Americans find it hard to take.

Oh lord ... Take another look at the situation
without the anti-American sunglasses on. The TRUTH is that she
obviously has, and is going to have for a long time, many
psychological issues from being held captive for so long. She is
displaying strange and contradictory behavior. Selective amnesia
with the FACTS that her interpreter was murdered and that in the
early weeks she made video tapes where she was crying and
carrying on about being threatened with murder .. (and she was a
MESS in them) and now she says she was never threatened.
Thats in direct opposition to what she said and did in the first
few weeks before the Stockholm syndrome took over. She
praised her captors as treating her well, but of course she
'forgets' that her family and the family of her murdered
companion were put through hell. She was kidnapped and
held against her will. That's a crime. 3 months were stolen
from her. And yet not a word about how that was wrong for
them to have done this to her.

She's definately messed up. 3 months is a long time to depend
on your captors for everything - from food and water, to hygine,
to emotional support.

'Are they going to kill me today, or are they going to be 'nice'
and give me food? oh gee, it's food. Guess they are nice today.'
After a few months of 'guess they are nice today' the victim forgets
that they are victims and they cling to their captors.

You will lose and it will be you r own fault,

blah blah blah. More anti-American rhetoric. Get back on subject.
Stockholm Syndrome. Do you even know what it is??

Of course .. this strange behavior could all be a set up like
DontTredOnMe said ... selling a book. Afterall, she is a journalist.

Apparently CNN is saying she made the tape as a way to appease her captors, like a final request on their part:
www.cnn.com...

A counterterrorism expert says Carroll may have been experiencing a touch of Stockholm syndrome, a defense mechanism in which kidnap victims empathize with their captors. However, Carroll's father flatly said his daughter was merely giving the kidnappers what they wanted so she wouldn't be killed.

I thought journalists needed at least 3 sources to make such conclusions. Or, is it acceptable in mass media now to go on information provided by one "counterterrorism expert," whatever credentials they may have being unknown (just take their word for it that s/he's an expert). This is shotty reporting on CNN's part, but it still offers an alternative look for people to make up their own minds about what happened.

[edit on 1-4-2006 by Jamuhn]

Originally posted by Jamuhn
Apparently CNN is saying she made the tape as a way to appease her captors, like a final request on their part:
www.cnn.com...

There was mention on both MSNBC and FOX today claiming the very same as CNN did previously.

All are saying she did it under duress to make them happy so it is a none issue unless of course she states different once back in the US.

I'm going to cut this woman some slack. She just spent a significant amount of time in captivity. She didn't know from one minute to the next if she was going to come out of her situation alive.

Walk a mile in her shoes. Think about what it must have been like to be on the cusp of death for three months. Think about how much shorter her life may be now due to the extreme stress of her situation.

Give her some time to sort things out and get some professional help. Don't be so judgmental.

Saying that she's probably suffering from Stockholm Syndrome
isn't being judgemental about her. It's a condition and it's not
the fault of the victim when it happens.

Originally posted by deltaboy
Did she do it just to free herself

The answer is 'yes'. Pay close attention peruvianmonk!
news.yahoo.com...

Excerpt

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany - Former hostage Jill Carroll strongly
disavowed statements she had made during captivity in Iraq and shortly
after her release, saying Saturday she had been repeatedly threatened.

"During my last night in captivity, my captors forced me to participate in a
propaganda video. They told me I would be released if I cooperated. I was
living in a threatening environment, under their control, and wanted to go
home alive. So I agreed," she said in a statement read by her editor in
Boston.

"At any rate, fearing retribution from my captors, I did not speak freely. Out
of fear I said I wasn't threatened. In fact, I was threatened many times,"
she said. "Also, at least two false statements about me have been widely
aired: That I refused to travel and cooperate with the U.S. military and
that I refused to discuss my captivity with U.S. officials. Again, neither is
true."

More at the site -
news.yahoo.com...






[edit on 4/1/2006 by FlyersFan]

Thanks for the update, FF. It closes the book on this one, for me at least.

Is it me or does this girl look like she gained 20 pounds while in captivity? She was kinda cute before but now shes pretty big. Who gains weight in captivity?? Something about this whole thing doesnt smell right to me.

I initially watched this video and was very angry. But after cooling down and thinking about it, it makes perfect sense what she said and the conditions it was said under.

Ill share a quote from my favorite miliblog BlackFive

I've said nothing thus far and will only interrupt myself to say, nothing said under threat of death counts, and shame on anyone who said otherwise.