HEY, USA

THE STORY OF JIHAD AND JILL ENDS HAPPILY

The long and life-threatening story of “Jihad and Jill” came to a happy end last week with the surprising release of long-time captive Jill Carroll by her Iraqi kidnappers.

As you have no doubt read, she was released after consenting to make a video that praised the so-called insurgency and lambasted U. S. involvement.

Along with the release of the misbegotten tape, her captors made the instantly suspect statement that they would win their war with the U. S. because, in their words, “We’re smart.”

Let’s examine how they might and might not be what they claim.

First, we must say they might not qualify as smart because they actually thought that a tape made under the threat of imminent death would have at least a tad of credibility.

They were smart in one way and might yet be even smarter.

Apparently, at least some of them realized that, although the frazzled reporter was an American, she was a person who, in fact, had labored for the rights of Iraqis, even to what many other Americans might consider misguided excess. To kill her would clearly have been to do wrong to someone who had actually come there to tell their story.

We salute them for their wisdom. As we all know, the goodness of captives has usually not elicited mercy from their savage captors.

What would tell the entire world they really are smart is for them to put down their arms and help to build the new, free, and democratic Iraq that America has so generously and patiently given them the golden opportunity to have.

Then we would be even delighted to put them right up there with Einstein, who, though a slow learner at first, surprised everybody by how brilliant he turned out to be.

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