Simona Torretta, one of the two Italian hostages released days ago, has called for the pull out of Italian troops from Iraq.
AP Reuters
... [she] said guerrillas there were right to fight U.S.-led forces and their Iraqi "puppet government." ... Simona Torretta also called on Rome to withdraw the troops it sent to Iraq to support its U.S. ally.
"I said it before the kidnapping and I repeat it today, ... You have to distinguish between terrorism and resistance. The guerrilla war is justified, but I am against the kidnapping of civilians."
Describing the administration of Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi as "a puppet government in the hands of the Americans," Torretta said elections planned for January would have no legitimacy: "During my days in detention ... I came to the conclusion it will take decades to put Iraq back on its feet."
Torretta, who lived in Iraq before, during and after the U.S.-led invasion, said she wanted to return despite her ordeal -- but would not do so as long as U.S. troops were there: "I've got to wait until the end of the U.S. occupation," she said.
She said she did know whether Italy bought her freedom from the kidnappers: "If a ransom was paid then I am very sorry. But I know nothing about it ... I believe that (the kidnappers) were a very political, religious group and that in the end they were convinced that we were not enemies."
Chad at
In The Bullpen and crossposting to
Backcountry Conservative says many would call it a case of Stockholm Syndrome. Stockholm Syndrome is where a hostage or captive gains sympathy and compassion for their captors.
However, Simona Torretta is a known anti-war activist who was against the sanctions on Iraq from the start and definetley against the war. I think there is a tad of Stockholm Syndrome in calling her captors resistance fighters, but in general she would have stated the same things before the war.
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