Just Reporting?


American journalist Jill Carroll is being kept as a hostage by Muslim terrorists. They will behead her unless U.S. forces release all female criminals being held prisoner in Iraq. Al Jazeera has released new footage of Jill begging for her life, a sign of hope for many who thought she was surely already slaughtered by "pious" Muslims. Al Jazeera has long claimed that it is not supporting the Muslim terrorists but rather "just reporting" the news. Moreover, Al Jazeera has claimed that it is the Western media who are distorting reality in their reporting by failing to condemn America in all of their stories (which, as we all know, the media often does and by and large certainly does not support directives of the Bush Administration or propagate for them).

CNN reports that in airing this new video footage of Jill pleading for her life upon the deaf and merciless ears of the Muslim terrorists, Al Jazeera has silenced the footage and all that can be heard is the voice-over of some Al Jazeera reporter. Now here's the rub: CNN claims that in the video, Jill is literally sobbing for her life. Sobbing. What possible reason could Al Jazeera have for airing this video but without sound? Could there be any other reason than to soften the blow for millions of less-terror-oriented Muslims to see the fruits of their supposedly more pious terrorist brethren? How can it be said that Al Jazeera is not aiding the terrorists when not only do they give them a worldwide soapbox from which to preach but also mute the sounds of a sobbing and helpless female victim whose head will soon be viciously sawed off in front of the camera to be aired on Al Jazeera?

It seems to me that if anything could arouse the sympathy of Muslims, it would be the sound of a woman sobbing for mercy. (At least I would hope so. I might be wrong about this, but if I am, then what does that say about Al Jazeera's viewers?) Anyway, Al Jazeera has muted the sound because it doesn't further the agenda of the Muslim terrorists; rather, it could actually cause disgust among Muslims at what the Muslim terrorists are doing and demanding.