30 August 2006

Didn't sleep well at all last night. I guess back-to-back viewings of NBC's special on Katrina and an interview with our just freed colleagues on Greta gave me lots to think about.

If you didn't catch the interview, it was quite gripping. (Even if you didn't know these guys.) They talked about the abduction, how it went down, what they went through, how they were freed--and just how close our correspondent was to getting killed simply because he's an American. You can read the transcript --and watch the video--HERE

Here's just a sample, from the transcript:

WIIG (talking to his abductors): "I said, "Look, you know, he's just a journalist, he's only here to do the job. He's a friend of the Palestinian people," and tried to explain what it was we were doing there. But the interpretation between us and the boss man was so bad that I kept on hearing words that I knew were not correct. And they kept putting in Gilad Shalit and talking about, you know, the Israeli soldier that's being held captive down there. And I knew that what I was saying wasn't getting through, and it was very frustrating.

And then the conversation basically ended with them saying, You're a New Zealander. We know New Zealand doesn't kill Muslims. Unfortunately for you, you're with an American and a very, very dangerous American, and we're going to kill him.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did you know that? Did you...

S. CENTANNI: And I didn't know this, that that was the content of their conversation, until after we won our freedom. Olaf was kind enough not to...

WIIG: I didn't want to...

S. CENTANNI: ... scare me.

WIIG: I didn't want to stress Steve out.

(CROSSTALK)

WIIG: I knew right from the start that because we — culturally, that we've got something that can define difference there, that potentially, my chances of getting out of the situation were better than Steve's. And we had talked about, you know, if you get out before me. Steve had given me a note to pass on to his family members and all of that sort of thing.


As for Katrina, my friend Frolic has posted some amazing material on his blog about what some writers down there (including himself) are saying about the anniversary and the state of affairs there. It's a very interesting and eye-opening perspective--check it out HERE: