September 23, 2005

Hostage Forced to Bash Bush

Roy Hallums will be on 60 Minutes this Sunday. Here is some of what he says in the interview, from a CBS Press release (thanks to Tall Glass of Milk):

I didn't like the videos going out," says Hallums, "because I knew my family would probably see them and I hated for my daughters to see me in that situation," he tells Stahl.

His captors also sought his family's telephone numbers to ask for a ransom, says Hallums, putting a pistol barrel in his mouth and threatening to kill him. "I knew if I gave them the number, they would call them and ask for money…and I didn't want [my family] to deal with a call like that."

Hallums was kept in a crawlspace below a farmhouse for most of the 10 months, a space he estimates at 9 feet by 11 feet and just over 4 feet high. At times there were several other hostages. "Most at any time is about nine people....You've got nine people and their breath and humidity, just living with nine people you don't know," recalls Hallums. He was blindfolded and bound the entire time.

And this from the NY Post, from the same interview (thanks to lawhawk):
A civilian contractor who was kept in a stifling crawl space by his Iraqi abductors for more than 10 months was beaten before being forced to make videos slamming President Bush for being indifferent to hostages, he says in his first interview since his rescue.
You will recall that Susan Hallums had said that the Bush-bashing didn't seem like Roy at all. His family always believed Roy had been forced to make those statements.

For past coverage, visit the Roy Hallums Archive.

By Rusty Shackleford, Ph.D. at 11:26 AM | |