It seems there are/were some people out there who accused recently-released hostage Jill Carroll of being unAmerican because of statements she made while in captivity. It should have been the universal assumption that any statements she made while held hostage were made under duress, and Miss Carroll's subsequent statements confirm that assumption.
In a video, recorded before she was freed and posted by her captors on an Islamist Web site, Carroll spoke out against the U.S. military presence. But Carroll said the recording was made under threat. Her editor has said three men were pointing guns at her at the time."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.
"Things that I was forced to say while captive are now being taken by some as an accurate reflection of my personal views. They are not."
Anyone who's angry with her for things she said with a gun to her head is an idiot.
I disagree. A more accurate statement would be the following:
I did not realize that her comments were made under duress. I am happy that she is now safe, and has repudiated what she was forced to say.