Breaking - Western Woman Journalist Kidnapped in Baghdad

[Charlie Brown]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL732230.htm

[rooboy]

1. If they're describing her as a journalist then it isn't anyone from Fox.

eom.

[Wilms]

2. Slightly more, now.

Female Western journalist kidnapped in Baghdad-police

07 Jan 2006 09:06:27 GMT

Source: Reuters

BAGHDAD, Jan 7 (Reuters) - A female Western journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad on Saturday and her translator killed, police said.

They said she had been going to meet a Sunni Arab leader when she was kidnapped in the Adel district near Malik bin Anas mosque in west Baghdad.

[aquart]

3. they aren't identifying her as american, just western?

[maddezmom]

4. BBC just said a US journalist

but no info on news organization yet:shrug:

[0007]

6. Why do I smell propaganda on this one?

Is it become the term "western" is used, and that would cover half of Iraq also, as well as half the world?

[maddezmom]

5. updated info: Dulaimi denies he had an appt to meet w/ journalist

~snip~

Officials said the journalist was seized Saturday as she was on her way to interview prominent Sunni Arab politician Adnan al-Dulaimi.

A guard outside Dulaimi's office told AFP he heard gunshots fired a short distance away and rushed to find the body of a slain man.

Dulaimi however told AFP he had no appointment to meet a Western journalist.

People living in the neighbourhood, which has been cordoned off by US and Iraqi security forces, were frightened and refused to talk to journalists.

~snip~


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060107/wl_afp/iraq_060107110754;_

[Warren Stupidity]

7. Oh what a dilemma.

The media gets its bright shiny object du jour to distract us, but darn it if it isn't in Iraq. Please, all missing women are supposed to go missing someplace safe, like aruba.

On the other hand, I hope she is safe, and that her employers can negotiate her release.

[librechik]

8. Yeah--I wonder if they'll cover this 24/7?

that kind of coverage is expensive in Iraq.

[donsu]

9. why isn't she being named?

someone who we all would know?

[Marie26]

23. Probably waiting to notify her family. nt.

[rainbow4321]

10. Long article here but still no name

The rest of the article just refers to previous people kidnapped in Iraq.


http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_JOURNALIST_KIDNAPPED?SITE=TXSAE&SECTION=MIDEAST&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-01-07-06-43-17

Gunmen kidnapped a female American journalist and killed her Iraqi translator Saturday in western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said.

Maj. Falah Mohamadawi said the translator told police before he died that the abduction took place when he and the journalist were heading to meet Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the Sunni Arab Iraqi Accordance Front, in the Adel section of the city.

The neighborhood is dominated by Sunni Arabs and considered one of toughest in Baghdad.

According to Samir Najim, a guard at al-Dulaimi's office, three armed men in a red Opel four-sedan intercepted the journalist's car and shot the translator before taking her in their car and driving away. The kidnapping took place about 100 yards from al-Dulaimi's office.

[MADem]

36. Well, it would not be Jane Araf, then--she speaks arabic

and would not need a translator. Crap, who could it be?

[hang a left]

11. Tell me Christine Amanpour was not in Bagdad.

Please tell me she is somewhere else.

[hang a left]

12. I guess she wouldn't need an interpretor. Never mind. n/t

[MADem]

37. I did not know that she spoke Arabic...FARSI, yes, but I don't think

she is fluent at all in arabic. They're quite different. It could conceivably be her, but I think we would know by now if she was taken.

[colinmom71]

45. It's not Amanpour...

She's not on assignment right now. Off visiting family...

[HuffleClaw]

13. "female western" and suddenly a journalist in iraq is NEWSWORTHY

never mind all the others who've been detained, shot at, killed, jailed or simply vanished. a female western journalist gets 'kidnapped' and STOP THE PRESSES !! !

[Lori Price CLG]

14. US journalist seized in Iraq

US journalist seized in Iraq A female American journalist has been kidnapped in Baghdad and her driver has been killed. Immediately after the incident, American and Iraqi troops sealed off the area.

The pair had been enroute to a meeting with a Sunni Arab leader when the incident took place in the Adel district near the Malik bin Anas mosque in west Baghdad.

(The US terror squads in Iraq are busy little bees!)

Lori Price

[nashville_brook]

15. no name yet... sheesh... there can't be too many US women jouros

in iraq.

[Barrett808]

16. American journalist kidnapped in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (UPI) -- Iraqi police officials said Saturday unidentified gunmen have kidnapped an American female journalist after killing her Iraqi translator in Baghdad.

They said the driver of the bus in which the journalist and translator were riding managed to escape the incident when he fled and sought the help of a police patrol that happened to be in the same area at the time.

The woman and the translator were attacked by gunmen in the Arab Sunni district of al-Adel in western Baghdad as they were heading to meet the head of the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front, Adnan al-Dulaimi.

The name of the journalist was not released.

(more)

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/article_1074119.php/American_journalist_kidnapped_in_Iraq

[Barrett808]

17. What a freaking nightmare.

Thanks, George.

[stray cat]

18. Thats really terrible - journalists sure risk their life in Iraq

They don't get nearly enough credit.

[truth2power]

19. Negtoponte? eom

[pfitz59]

20. Yep!

El Salvador redux!

[Marie26]

28. Clueless

Sorry, what does the reference to Negroponte & El Salvador mean? You all are much more informed than I am.

[truth2power]

34. Negroponte mixed up with the death squads in Central America

during the Reagan administration. Death squads targeted the rebels and anyone who sympathized with them.

Negroponte now in Iraq continuing his little plan. I would think any journalist who wants to get the truth out about what's really happening in Iraq would be on Mr. Negroponte's hit list.

Here's a link:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1433353,00.html

"The experience of the so-called “death squads” in Central America remains raw for many even now and helped to sully the image of the United States in the region."

<snip>

"John Negroponte, the US Ambassador in Baghdad, had a front-row seat at the time as Ambassador to Honduras from 1981-85.

Death squads were a brutal feature of Latin American politics of the time. In Argentina in the 1970s and Guatemala in the 1980s, soldiers wore uniform by day but used unmarked cars by night to kidnap and kill those hostile to the regime or their suspected sympathisers. "

And this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6802629/site/newsweek/

[0007]

21. Could be orders from Negroponte. But first let's idenify this lady.

[mike_c]

22. Iraq is the Aruba of the middle east....

Lotsa sand, things get a little wild sometimes, women disappear occasionally....

[pop goes the weasel]

24. I am sick of this

Sick of every time some woman is reported as missing, we end up with a chorus proclaiming that it is not important. The misogyny that is developing among some DUers, treating every single case of a disappearance, when it involves a woman, as if it were a trifling distraction, has become disturbing.

Look, sometimes a disappearance is important, on a more than local level, when a person goes missing. Sometimes the gender of the missing person is important. I doubt that the gender of the journalist is important in this case, but I do think that it is important that yet another journalist has met foul play in Iraq. It is important when aid workers meet foul play, also. It's even important when those people are women and not men. Please apply a little judgment.

In this case, I think something fishy is going on. How is it that the translator made the claim that the journalist was going to meet with Adnan al-Dulaimi, but al-Dulaimi says that he had no such appointment?

[marylanddem]

25. I totally agree with you on the misogyny issue. But it

makes sense to me that al-Dulaimi (whoever the hell he is) might deny an appointment with a journalist - might be seen as a collaborator or maybe he wanted the conversation off the record. Too late now, anyway. I am more troubled at the lack of additional information on who this was - the blackout as it were - if it really happened.

[Marie26]

27. Is it possible they still don't know?

Apparantly they got this information from the translator who died at the scene. If he didn't mention her name, they'd have to backtrack to find out who he was working for.

[Marie26]

26. Right

I'm expecting a slew of comments any minute about whether she was blonde or not. I don't like how dismissal of the Natalie Holloway case somehow leads to dismissing any case in which a woman is harmed. The kidnapping of a US journalist would be an important story no matter what. This woman is risking her life to bring us stories about what's happening in Iraq; she deserves a little respect. As for al-Dulaimi, maybe he's worried they'll come after him next if the insurgents find out he was talking to a American journalist.

[Warren Stupidity]

30. So you tell me why the headline isn't 'journalist kidnapped'.

You are putting the blame on the wrong party here. They are using sexism and racism to play on our emotions, we are pointing that out. You are blaming us for noting that we are being manipulated.

[Marie26]

31. Because if they didn't put "female journalist," people would assume

they're referring to a man. Same how articles will refer to Gemany's "female chancellor Merkel." The default is male, so articles will refer to the subject's gender to let people know that they're talking about a woman. I'm not sure it's sexist or racist for a US journalist to get more coverage in the US. Italy, for example, covered the story of their cpatured journalist far more than the US did. It's natural for a country to report more on their own citizens. At any rate, right now this story is nothing more than a 2-paragraph report on the wires, so let's not go overboard on predicting a media frenzy yet.

[Warren Stupidity]

32. Somehow her gender is not relevant. nt.

[MADem]

39. I agree and if it is who I think it is (and hope not)

she is a damn good journo who has sent back some good stuff, and has been fairly prolific in her output. The Chinese are reporting it is a woman named Jill Keiliey or some such, but they are taking that from the guys at Al Jazeera and translating it from Arabic to Chinese to English.

I'm thinking of Jill Carroll...

Anyone reading this, please keep it kicked for the morning crew...

[Marie26]

46. See post #40 below. nt

[NoSunWithoutShadow]

49. It is Jill Carroll.

Please, Send good thoughts her way.

[saigon68]

52. JILL CARROLL @Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0426/p01s03-woiq.html

Toughest commute in Iraq? The six miles to the airport.

By Jill Carroll and Dan Murphy

BAGHDAD – Samson has been delivering supplies to US military bases for a year. It's a good business that sends him to Baghdad International Airport daily. He reads Psalm 91 before every trip.

[Marie26]

54. I'm so impressed with the reporting she's been doing

And with her bravery & humanity. In her stories, she always tried to give a real sense of not only the political changes in the region, but also of the everyday struggles of Iraqis & US soldiers as they try to deal with this new Iraq. I want to send my best wishes to her & her family.

Some more stories by Jill Carroll:

"Violence Threatens Iraqi Coalition" - http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0106/p07s02-woiq.html (filed Jan. 6)
"Iraqi women eye Islamic law" - http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0225/p07s02-woiq.html
"An American activist who dared to help Iraqi victims" - http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0418/p07s01-woiq.html

[Warren Stupidity]

29. Gee perhaps 6months of missing white woman in aruba

while thousands of men women and children of color go missing without a trace of interest from the media - for example there are still something like 6,000 people missing from New Orleans - has led some of us to believe that we are being used by the media, and that the media, the whoremedia, the bought and paid for journalism of the establishment is engaged in deliberate deception and manipulation. It is not misogyny to make note of the absurd sexist/racist propaganda used by the whoremedia to manipulate us. I reject your entire hypothesis.

[pop goes the weasel]

42. You don't even know that she is white

but on the basis of her gender, you are ready to denounce any interest in her case.

[Warren Stupidity]

43. you are putting words in my mouth.

I am not denouncing any interest in the case, I am noting that our media uses race and gender to manipulate us, to elicit irrational emotional reactions, to create a climate of fear that they then use to sell us war and fascism.

But go ahead and explain to me why 6,000 men women and children, mostly of color, missing from New Orleans, are of no interest, while one female journalist missing in Baghdad is a headline. Better yet, explain why one missing white woman in Aruba was a media obsession for something like six months.

Basically I'm going to point out the media manipulation used to confuse us, to distract us, and to deceive us, no matter how unpopular that makes me. It is one of my missions in life. I'm in a war on stupidity here, and it is a fight to the death.

Cheers.

[Marie26]

44. Far from the media feeding frenzy you've been predicting,

there's actually a media blackout on this story, so you can probably stop whining about it now.

[hang a left]

33. Any updates on this story?? n/t

[Garbo 2004]

35. Not much. The UK Telegraph has a more recent article. It's not that no

one knows who she is, but apparently the media are trying to keep a low public profile on that for the moment, perhaps so that attempts at negotiations can proceed without a glare of publicity. She's not a household name.

An American journalist was abducted yesterday in Baghdad as she drove through the notorious kidnap blackspot where the British aid worker Margaret Hassan was snatched.

The woman, a freelance correspondent in her mid-twenties, was taken from her car by gunmen who shot dead her Iraqi translator. Neither victim is being identified for scurity reasons. Police said the attack took place in the Adel district of west Baghdad, a Sunni neighbourhood said to be controlled by Saddam Hussein loyalists and religious extremists.

The area is notorious for kidnappings, and the spot where the victims were attacked is understood to be within 100 yards of the place where Mrs Hassan, 59, was abducted in October 2004. Mrs Hassan was later murdered.

The exact circumstances remain unclear, but it is understood that the woman was en route to seek a meeting with a Sunni Arab leader, Adnan al Duleimi, when the kidnappers struck.

Full article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/08/wirq08.xml&sSheet=/portal/2006/01/08/ixportal.html

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Marie26]

40. I found this too - but I'm not sure we should post this

Apparantly her news organization is still in the process of negotiating for her release & doesn't want her identity to be revealed for another 48 hours. A Daily Kos diary redacted her name after receiving this plea: "At this time, I believe the reporter's news organization has asked that she not be identified. If her news organization and its security consultants believe that publicly identifying her is not in her best interest, we must respect that. We are talking about her life. This person is a friend of mine. I am begging you to please delete this diary or her name." http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/1/7/115145/2252. The diary referred to a Kuwaiti newspaper that had originally included an Arabic version of her name, but later removed it from the story. So I decided not to post here what I'm pretty sure is her name (the same name you surmised). I don't know what's the responsible thing to do. DU is hardly the AP, & something posted here probably isn't read by a whole lot of people. It's definitely already out there, at least in the Arabic press, but if the news organization wants it to be kept quiet, it seems like that should be respected given the danger she's in right now.

[Garbo 2004]

41. It may make no practical difference, but I wasn't comfortable posting her

identity after seeing some blogs refraining from doing so. Undoubtedly the corporate media knows also but is not releasing her name at this time. Although I saw one European publication that did.

[MADem]

47. At this stage of the game, the only people kept in the dark are AMERICAN

citizens--I hardly think the 'terrists' are so stupid that they rely on our lousy state-controlled media as the purveyors of truth and justice. Al Jazeera was the first out of the gate with the name (and they run a 24 hour news cycle too); and no doubt the 'evildoers' or 'insurgents' or whatever their title-du-jour is this week have that channel, and Al Arabiya, et. al., hardwired into their remotes as "favorites." The 'terrists' know what the deal is, and who the reporter is, and who took her, and who the translator was who died, and which outlets she works for; the only people out of the loop vis a vis this sad story are us chickens.

Think about it--the suppression of this story does one thing, and one thing only: it prevents anyone from talking about it on THIS SUNDAY's political programs. They're hoping to resolve it before it becomes a hot topic in the coming week, and if it ends badly, pray that other bad news (Abramoff, DeLay--those are done deals anyway) take precedence over this new awfulness. Push it to the back, make it go away...shhhhhh!! National security, or something like that. Yea, right.

Back in the day, at the start of this misadventure, we were OUTRAGED when soldiers were captured and interviewed around the time of the Jessica Lynch business. We were APPALLED when people were being beheaded. We were SICKENED when reporters were being murdered. Now, this shit is happening so often, to so many; the country is NOT SAFE; that when we hear a story like this, we are no longer OUTRAGED at the 'terrists' but instead tend to direct our ire at the stupid fucking monkey who got us into this mess in the first place.

Mark my words, the story suppression has more to do with the Monkey's poor showing in the polls than anything else. The rest of the world ALREADY KNOWS.

[Garbo 2004]

48. Really think this would have been a big topic in the Sunday shows?

People can't discuss a journalist's kidnapping and the dangers in Iraq without the journalist's name? In the last few days alone hundreds have been victims of violence in Iraq. Plenty of public evidence that Iraq is not safe for the average Iraqi citizen, journalists, foreigners, police and military. They don't need the journalist's name to discuss that. If the increasingly deteriorating situation in Iraq isn't a hot news topic it isn't because they don't have one specific name to talk about. There are thousands of names.

And of course the "terraists" and many others already most likely know who she is and who she works for. But her friends and family are concerned that more high profile public attention might make her more valuable a catch and thus make it more difficult to secure her release, if it is possible to get her released at all. They're simply in fear for her life and concerned about her chances for being released; I doubt they give a rat's ass at this point about the little emperor's polls.

[MADem]

50. It's mainly because of who she is, what she has done over there thus far

and her reputation (which is very good and reasonably well established for one so relatively young, in the big scheme of things). Once they put a face to a name, things change in the mind of the public. Slap her pic up on the screen and she would be "Topic A" (not to quote Tina Brown unduly). Folks would want to know what happened to this lovely young woman.

She is no newcomer to the scene. Her stuff is quite substantial, and it is pretty straightforward, too. You can tell she didn't get any BushCo stipends for favorable reporting, to put it bluntly.

[Garbo 2004]

53. You evidently have more faith than I in the "fair and balanced" school of

TV punditry practiced on political talk TV and news coverage if you think her good reputation would necessarily survive treatment at their hands, if they covered the story to any substantial extent. And I suspect you may also overestimate the esteem in which journalists are regarded by the general public.

A kidnapped journalist in Iraq (especially one who isn't an Administration shill and actually does her job) is no Lacy Peterson or missing coed. She wouldn't be regarded or treated in the same fashion by cable "news" networks and the ever present pundits and commentators. To the extent her reporting and experiences gave the lie to the Administration's positive picture of Iraq, she would be fair game. Her reporting wasn't the rosy-colored glasses type favored by the Administration and their fellow travelers. She was sympathetic to the Iraqi people's plight and reported on it. She subjected herself to danger (i.e. she wasn't holed up in a journalist hotel and surrounded by gov't minders/paid security), actually associated with Iraqis, got to know them and went to areas where those evil insurgent types hang out. A short step from there after the usual Faux News treatment to "Hell, she was probably an insurgent sympathizer herself." You can see how it could go and worse. The phrase "political football" (and don't think that couldn't possibly happen, we've had so many instances to date) comes to mind.

[MADem]

55. She is a beauty, though, in addition to being smart, savvy, and honest

And when all of that high-fallutin' 'serious journalism' crap fails, a beauty with a smile like sunshine who is VERY articulate to boot, is a ratings winner. It's harder to tar someone with a track record like hers--she is respected within the community, simply because she doesn't get all ideological in her reporting--she writes really well, and gets all aspects of whatever she is covering. Read some of her stuff, and you will see what I mean....

[Garbo 2004]

60. Well I recall seeing Marla Ruzicka trashed posthumously.

By any reasonable standard, a remarkable person to be praised and honored for her humanitarian work. Young, attractive and idealistic. Her parents are even Republicans. But that didn't save her from being trashed after her death by those with an agenda. They didn't like the attention she got, the unpleasant truths revealed by her work and even death. So they trashed her.

No one is above being "swift boated." They turned Kerry, a decorated war vet, into a lying coward who connived to get medals with self inflicted wounds (oh, they were just scratches). Joe Wilson, a (Republican) hero in Baghdad during Gulf War I, into a liar and Dem operative. Cindy Sheehan, a grieving mother who wants to end the killing and deaths, into a traitor.

Carroll would not be immune from the same treatment if it suited their purposes and agenda.

[saigon68]

51. Adios

[MADem]

57. Yo, Saigon 68, that was MY post

I posted her name, and a link to a citation that named her. I expressed concern for her safety, and that was it. Nothing inflammatory at all.

But some anonymous person over at Kos claimed to know her and went on and on how it was "dangerous" to give Americans her name (the Italians, French, Germans, entire Arab world, Japanese and friken RED CHINESE had it within an hour after the event, though--and it was being reported every 20 minutes on Al Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, both in the ME and on the international Arab channel here in the US) but hey, freedom isn't free here....so my post got deleted.

Whatever!! The horse is out of the barn, now. The CSM has released the info.

Convenient how the ALITO nom will push her off the front page now. Not that that could have been the reason for not letting AMERICA know what the rest of the world has known for over two days....

[Marie26]

58. Not sure about that

I really highly doubt that was some anonymous person on Daily Kos. I think it was a friend who was genuinely concerned about her safety. Not one single American news outlet released her name, nor any in Europe to my knowledge. Even the Arabic media quickly removed the name. (Try finding it at Al-Jazeera). Only a couple news sites actually posted it - in Kuwait (also later removed) and China (picking up an earlier version of the Kuwaiti story).

It's not like this was an American censorship thing - this blackout was followed in almost all foreign media as well. Do you think the entire world news media would respect this request without a good reason? I suspect that shortly after the initial wire report went out, another wire report was sent to all news outlets asking the media not to report her name. This request didn't come from the Bush Administration; it came from her own paper, the Christian Science Monitor. Her newspaper was trying to negotiate her release, and was therefore asking the media not to publicize her identity. This isn't about protecting Bush; this was about protecting her safety. Even when the Christian Science Monitor released her name, they did so reluctantly and only because it had "already been circulated." Are you sure you were really doing her a favor?

I know you have good intentions, but you seem to believe that this blackout was part of some conspiracy to protect Bush. I just can't feel the same. Maybe in spite of everything, you're right; but I wouldn't feel confident enough to go against her newspaper's wishes. I know it's mostly a principle thing, because DU is probably not that widely read. And I am glad that they've finally released her identity. Now that it's out, people can learn more about the stories she's been writing, and we can all hope she comes back safely & keeps doing some great reporting.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001808253

[MADem]

59. All I know is this

They were saying her name on Arab tee vee. One outlet called her Jewel Caroll, the other called her Jill, but they were saying her name, repeatedly. The horse was already out of the barn over there.

Indeed, the horse was out of the barn more than TWO DAYS AGO in Europe--see this Jan 07 Italian article which notes the reporting of the event in Kuwait http://notizie.virgilio.it/notizie/search/index.html?filter=foglia&nsid=11822822&mod=foglia as well as this 01/08/06 article in L'Unita (both articles were also carried as written in other papers): http://www.unita.it/index.asp?topic_tipo=&topic_id=46626 Even RAI, the state news arm, had it on Sunday: http://www.rainews24.rai.it/Notizia.asp?NewsID=59066 Even if you do not read Italian you can get the gist. Here's another cite, same date, in Spanish:
http://www.periodistas-es.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3147

The only ones kept in the dark were us Americans--and that is reflected in the headline of the article you cite: Abduction of American Reporter in Iraq Blacked Out By U.S. News Outlets. I genuinely have no idea if there was a conspiracy or not, but I just found it curious that the rest of the world knew--despite this fiction the US media is pushing that there was a world news blackout, there wasn't--while America, the supposed land of free speech, was unwilling to carry the story when everyone else already had it--as though the kidnapper/terrist/insurgents don't do a thing until they read it in our lousy state-controlled media. There is this silly sense that her kidnappers are somehow idiots, and do not have internet access or the ability to determine which outlet, among others, this woman files for (the "CHRISTIAN" Science Monitor). I just do not buy the rationale, and I find it even more curious that MSNBC just now noted that U.S. security personnel "made the suggestion" to the U.S. media over in Baghdad to keep this whole thing on the Q.T. Today, we know the news of her, and today the Alito fireworks start up in earnest. The news cycle has only so much room....what to cover?

Maybe I am excessively, cynically, suspicious, but I think my suspicions have been justified by the actions of this misadministration and in the way the wipe their asses on our Constitution and civil liberties. I just do not BELIEVE them anymore.

In any event, I am hoping she gets out of there safe and sound. She is, as I have noted elsewhere, a real treasure.

[NoSunWithoutShadow]

61. As you said "A Real Treasure", here, locally too

http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-16/113690761414580.xml&coll=2

Gunmen kidnap native of Ann Arbor in Iraq
Community High graduate is working as freelance reporter for Christian Science Monitor

Tuesday, January 10, 2006
BY PATRICK QUINN AND KEN MAGUIRE
The Associated Press

Ann Arbor native Jill Carroll had just been laid off from a newspaper job and decided it was time to fulfill her dream of going to the Middle East to cover a war.

"All I ever wanted to be was a foreign correspondent,'' Carroll wrote last year in the American Journalism Review. "It seemed the right time to try to make it happen.''

(She was laid off from The Wall Street Journal.)

(Please pray/wish/hope/think for her safe return.)

[Tight_rope]

56. Just yesterday I was they haven't snatched anyone in awhile!

I need to bite my tongue.