Jill Carroll is alive

Jill Carroll is still alive, after being held hostage for over a month. A new video was shown on private Kuwaiti TV station Al Rai TV in which she says that she is fine, and calls for help saying "please just do whatever they want," and "time is short."

Her abductors have set a deadline of February 26. The kidnappers are demanding the release of all female prisoners in Iraq. They say they will "implement punishment stipulated by religious law," which shows how irrational these people are. What has an innocent journalist done to deserve any punishment? How is she associated with what they are fighting against?

It is unthinkable that anyone would intentionally harm someone like Jill Carroll. In the video she says "I am with the mujahideen. I sent you a letter written by my hand by my hand, but you wanted more evidence, so we are sending you this letter now to prove I am with the mujahideen."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters "We continue to make every effort to secure her release, to see that she's back safe and sound with her family and her coworkers."

The United States has released five Iraqi women prisoners since Carroll's kidnapping, but say these had nothing to do with the kidnapping. Four others are still in custody.