The news that Jill Carroll is free is cause for joy. At my urging, the Anglo-American Press Association of Paris--I sit on its steering committee--joined with Reporters Without Borders to campaign for her release. Without the worldwide campaign to free her, Jill might not have survived her ordeal--a lot of other hostages have not, including most recently Tom Fox.

Watch out, however, for Bush allies and other apologists for the war in Iraq to begin attacking her soon. Jill is a brilliant journalist, but she was never a sucker for the trap of falling back on "journalistic objectivity" when the truth about the invasion of Iraq and its effect on the Iraqi people was staring her in the face. The highest form of objectivity is telling the truth, even if the truth comes down heavily on one side or the other.