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"Iran jails U.S. "hikers" as spies for 8 years"

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brianleepainter

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It will be interesting to see the official government response. I don't necessarily feel bad for these guys. Did they really think hiking in Iraq, along the Iran border, was a great idea? I'll be doing a stand-up comedy tour in N. Korea next month, wish me luck!

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I don't necessarily feel bad for these guys. Did they really think hiking in Iraq, along the Iran border, was a great idea? I'll be doing a stand-up comedy tour in N. Korea next month, wish me luck!

Right, same as the reporters who were trying to sneak over the North Korean border and were caught and detained, then to embark on a sympathy tour in the US after a miracle save thanks to former President Clinton. !! Anyone wanting to tour the world should read Jim Roger's account of doing it twice. It's a pretty realistic intro of what to expect and plan for. It doesn't hurt to have endless cash at your disposal with which to bribe sub-civilized governments, and other ghetto gangs of the world.

Not to downplay the awfulness of Iran and North Korea...

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Right, same as the reporters who were trying to sneak over the North Korean border and were caught and detained, then to embark on a sympathy tour in the US after a miracle save thanks to former President Clinton. !! Anyone wanting to tour the world should read Jim Roger's account of doing it twice. It's a pretty realistic intro of what to expect and plan for. It doesn't hurt to have endless cash at your disposal with which to bribe sub-civilized governments, and other ghetto gangs of the world.

Not to downplay the awfulness of Iran and North Korea...

For all of it's short comings, the Vice Guide to Travel is pretty entertaining and a great lesson in how to grease the skids. I recommend the specials on N. Korea and Liberia.

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I don't necessarily feel bad for these guys. Did they really think hiking in Iraq, along the Iran border, was a great idea?

Well, I do feel bad for them.

By what standard of justice do they deserve ten years in prison, or even the two years they've already served?

Perhaps they were stupid and naive, but that doesn't mean that they deserve what a theocratic, totalitarian government has done to them. Faulting them, suggesting that they have gotten what they deserve, is like faulting a young woman who gets raped because she was in the wrong area at the wrong time.

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Well, I do feel bad for them.

By what standard of justice do they deserve ten years in prison, or even the two years they've already served?

Perhaps they were stupid and naive, but that doesn't mean that they deserve what a theocratic, totalitarian government has done to them. Faulting them, suggesting that they have gotten what they deserve, is like faulting a young woman who gets raped because she was in the wrong area at the wrong time.

I'm not saying they've gotten what they deserve, but they certainly couldn't have expected to get any more. Hiking along a highly militarized border in a war zone? Traipsing into a country without American consular or diplomatic relations? This means no rights or recourse. Did they think State Department Advisories were works of short fiction?

This isn't comparable to a woman getting raped in a shady neighborhood. This is shear stupidity.

Either that or they're spies. :thumbsup:

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  • 4 weeks later...

Iran to free US hikers jailed for spying (The Guardian - September 13, 2011):

"The Washington Post quoted president Ahmadinejad as saying that Bauer and Fattal were granted a "unilateral pardon". "I am helping to arrange for their release in a couple of days so they will be able to return home," he told the paper in an interview in Tehran. "This is of course going to be a unilateral humanitarian gesture."

The US network NBC, which also interviewed the president on the same day, said the Americans will be released in two days."

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But then again...

"Iran’s Judiciary Clouds Fate of American Hikers"

"The Iranian judiciary on Wednesday contradicted an assurance by Iran‘s president that two Americans arrested two years ago while hiking the Iran-Iraq frontier and imprisoned on espionage charges would be freed as a humanitarian gesture, the state news media reported.

...

"On Wednesday, the state media reported that “Iran’s judiciary has refuted recent media reports on the imminent release of two American nationals that were convicted of committing espionage against the Islamic Republic for the U.S. government.

“The two Americans are going to stay in prison for a bit longer. Reports of their imminent release are wrong,” a judiciary official was quoted as saying."

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Supposedly, they have now been freed, leaving Iran for Oman, "Freed American hikers leave Iran for Oman" (CNN)

Probably just a coincidence, but, "The two men's release comes a day before Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is due to speak at the United Nations General Assembly in New York."

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