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The Release Of Jill Carroll

This column was written by CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.


I can't quite believe Jill Carroll was released.

It's the outcome we all hoped for, but hope sure has a way of breaking your heart sometimes. The pictures of her looked great. She sounded great, strong even. Purposeful. Which is pretty much Jill's story.

A freelance journalist working for the Christian Science Monitor, Jill worked with and among the Iraqi people. She wanted to tell the story of the war from their perspective. What she was doing is dangerous. No security firm working over there would ever condone it; too risky. So she worked without the safety net, which brought her closer to the story — and closer to danger.

Iraqis by the dozens get kidnapped every week in Baghdad. Many are tortured and killed. Their stories don't make the news. But their story was the very kind Jill wanted to tell.

How was she freed? Her friend, Jackie Spinner from the Washington Post, said it best: Jill always pursued the truth and in the end, Jill freed herself.


Harry's daily commentary can be heard on manyCBS Radio News affiliates across the country.
By Harry Smith
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