Iran held us because we're American

[SHRED]

NEW YORK (AP) — Two American hikers held for years in an Iranian prison came home Sunday, declaring that they were detained because of their nationality, not because they might have crossed the border from Iraq.

http://news.yahoo.com/freed-hikers-iran-held-us-because-were-american-203506333.html


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What world are they living in?
:shrug:


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[hobbit709]

1. Iran held you because you were either:

1. Exceedingly stupid
2. Spooks or the tools of spooks.

[emilyg]

10. +1

[Hoosier Daddy]

14. x2

[LeftinOH]

2. If they were really just harmless hikers -why didn't they opt for Switzerland...

..or maybe Vermont? The Iraq/Iran border? Seriously?

[tjwash]

3. What's next on their agenda? A backcountry tour of the Sudan? Maybe hike the pristine Somalia coast?

Its a tough job working for the NSA...they should have known the whole "plausible deniability" thing would have kicked in when they they got snatched.

[Owlet]

4. What were they doing in Iraq in the first place?

I know they said they were on some sort of a hiking vacation, but how did they get to Iraq? And why? Is there a tourist agency that specializes in Stupidly Dangerous Destinations? There was a post here a day or two ago about some German tourist who was killed in Afghanistan. I wonder if he got his tour from the same travel agency as these three.

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. Imagine being held for years without trial in a foreign country

Years in detainment far from home, sham charges against them, how could a nation do something like this?

[SHRED]

6. +10

[AverageJoe90]

15. Doesn't mean we can't condemn the Iranians, as long as we're not being hypocritical about it.

In fact, they're probably telling the whole truth. Now, if some bona-fide evidence indicates that they may have been up to no good, NSA or not, then I can consider that.

[Cali_Democrat]

17. [phone]

Thanks!

[Odin2005]

7. I am sick of people assuming they are spooks with NO actual evidence.

[CanonRay]

8. The alternative is they are incredibly stupid.

[Lurks Often]

9. I'm opting for the incredibly stupid along with really naive n/t

[Carolina]

11. And at least the Iranian gov't let them go

The US has detained countless innocents from the middle east since 2001. No charges, no trial...

[AverageJoe90]

16. It was probably a PR thing.

If Iran wasn't a country that is practically universally despised by many of the people of dozens of other nations nowadays, there is a VERY good chance they would NEVER have been let go. Even worse, they probably would've been tortured; at least most of the people in Guantanamo Bay are actual suspects(I'm NOT excusing the torture, though, that has to stop).

[Carolina]

18. I beg to differ

Have you been FOXified?! Go study some history...

If Europeans and Americans (BP and the CIA) hadn't fucked over Iran back in 1953 when Mohammed Mossadeq (variant spelling Mossadegh) -- a real Democratic socialist -- wanted to nationalize Iranian oil for Iranians, we might see a different world today. But no, BP and the US salivated over that oil and through the CIA destroyed him and INSTALLED the Shah. When the Iranians finally kicked the Shah out in 1979 (and of course he fled to NY), Khomeini came to power. He was no friend to the US for obvious reasons and came to hate US more when, in partial retribution, the US bolstered Saddam Hussein in the 8 year Iran-Iraq War... yes, Saddam was once our friend, like bin Laden, like Pinochet (after our ouster of Allende from Chile on 9/11.... 1973. Read the Shock Doctrine!!!

It's called blowback and we're creating much more to come with our wars, drones, detainments and unrelenting/unreasonable support of Israel. Spare me your comments about Iranians being so despised. Have you drunk the lamestream media's Kool-aid? A review of history (to whit this nation's founding through genocide and slavery!!!!) will show you who's brutal?

Oh and BTW, how do you know who's at Guantanamo, that "most are actual suspects?" And if so, what about due process? What about charges, what about trials? Guess you liked what you saw at Abu Ghraib

[AverageJoe90]

21. I'm sorry, Caroline, but.....

Believe me, I am anything but FOXified.

And yes, you're right, the CIA had absolutely no business meddling with Tehran's affairs in '53.
However, though, one mustn't forget exactly how the Ayatollahs got into power; it wasn't the Iranian people who put them there; in fact, it looks like it may have been none other than Mi6 and our own CIA(ironic!). Not to mention the Iran-Contra scandal in '86, when Ollie North and his buddies were caught funneling weapons to these pricks.

Here's an interesting take:

http://aangirfan.blogspot.com/2008/10/was-khomeini-agent-of-us-and-uk.html

(Please note, I do not agree with this guy on a LOT of things. But this info seems genuine.)

[Carolina]

19. And another thing

Read: What Media Coverage Omits about US Hikers Released by Iran by Glenn Greenwald

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/09/26-10

You will learn something, I hope! Perhaps one the hikers who endured horrible imprisonment will enlighten you:

Bauer then noted that they were imprisoned due solely to what he called the "32 years of mutual hostility between America and Iran," and said: "the irony is that oppose U.S. policies towards Iran which perpetuate this hostility." After complaining that the two court sessions they attended were "total shams" and that "we'd been held in almost total isolation - stripped of our rights and freedoms," he explained:

In prison, every time we complained about our conditions, the guards would remind us of comparable conditions at Guantanamo Bay; they'd remind us of CIA prisons in other parts of the world; and conditions that Iranians and others experience in prisons in the U.S.

We do not believe that such human rights violation on the part of our government justify what has been done to us: not for a moment. However, we do believe that these actions on the part of the U.S. provide an excuse for other governments - including the government of Iran - to act in kind.

[AverageJoe90]

22. Interesting article, and I'm glad they criticized the torture in the U.S., BUT......

Still doesn't change my opinion on the Iraian government, though. I have seen no legitimate evidence that the gov't of this Islamic 'Republic'(read: reich) did this out of anything but pure spite.

And yes, there are some innocent people in Guantanamo who really SHOULD be released. (although at the same time, we can't assume that everyone else is innocent too, without proof.)

[SoCalDem]

12. Adrenaline Tourism is the bane of diplomats

Those people are damned lucky to be back, and I wish they would all just get jobs & lives & drop from public eye, They did a very stupid thing, and need to think about that for a while.

The days of young-ish Americans wandering the globe at-will have been over for a very long time. Flashing a US passport no longer guarantees worldwide safety..It's more likely than ever to get you locked up & held for ransom, or killed.

They have nothing to say that should be of any interest....unless it;s a warning to others to not go hiking in a warzone/disputed unfriendly border

[hobbit709]

13. Wandering into a disputed border area is a good way to find a minefield.

[Worship Money]

20. What a surprise

We leftists are jumping at the chance to suck off the Islamic Republic.

I mean, if they're antagonists to the United States....they HAVE to be good guys, right? I forget that that's our logic in global politics.

[AverageJoe90]

23. I have to agree, sadly.