Freed hikers

[Anonymous]

I'm not big on conspiracy theories but who the hell goes hiking along the Iraq and Iran border? There has to be more to the story. Are these 3 really a bunch of morons?

[Anonymous]

I don't think there's more to the story -- other than they screwed up by going without tour guides. But all of them were pretty familiar with the middle east. The area they were hiking is known for its tourism.

http://trip.worldtravellist.com/2011/07/kurdish-tourism-iran-iraq-border-attracts-hikers-travelers/

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not big on conspiracy theories but who the hell goes hiking along the Iraq and Iran border? There has to be more to the story. Are these 3 really a bunch of morons?

When they were first arrested, I thought that it was likely that they were involved with espionage of some sort. Now, I think they were just innocently naive. The list of people they thanked for their release included Hugo Chavez, Sean Penn, Noam Chmosky, Mohammad Ali, Cindy Sheehand, and Desmond Tutu. That group is unlikely to go to bat for spies.

[Anonymous]

I don't think conspiracy has anything to do with this. They probably didn't cross the Iranian border, but they went a little too close to it. All three of them seem very nice, just not very savvy.

[Anonymous]

I hope our spies are better than that.

[Anonymous]

Bad spies. Maybe spies in training. No-one would go on a leisure hike in that area. I could believe a fraternity initiation or something like that, but, c'mon. Spies.

[Anonymous]

They said they blamed politics on their being held hostage. You know what I blame? Their stupid asses for going hiking in Iraq. There are just some things you don't do, and I think hiking in Iraq along the Iranian border rates right up at the top of that list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They said they blamed politics on their being held hostage. You know what I blame? Their stupid asses for going hiking in Iraq. There are just some things you don't do, and I think hiking in Iraq along the Iranian border rates right up at the top of that list.

THANK YOU! Two of them majored in Peace & Conflict Studies at UC Berkeley, which gives you a hint. They thought it would be fun to go hiking and do some free-lance journalism. Not naive. Arrogant and stupid. Rule of thumb -- if America is engaged in military ops in a country, it's probably not the best vacation spot. Double rule if you are anywhere within 100miles of a country deemed an enemy of the U.S.

[Anonymous]

THANK YOU! Two of them majored in Peace & Conflict Studies at UC Berkeley, which gives you a hint. They thought it would be fun to go hiking and do some free-lance journalism. Not naive. Arrogant and stupid. Rule of thumb -- if America is engaged in military ops in a country, it's probably not the best vacation spot. Double rule if you are anywhere within 100miles of a country deemed an enemy of the U.S.

Exactly. It's a pretty big world. Is there nowhere else to go hiking? Morons. And look at all the resources this stupid incident ate up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They said they blamed politics on their being held hostage. You know what I blame? Their stupid asses for going hiking in Iraq. There are just some things you don't do, and I think hiking in Iraq along the Iranian border rates right up at the top of that list.

THANK YOU! Two of them majored in Peace & Conflict Studies at UC Berkeley, which gives you a hint. They thought it would be fun to go hiking and do some free-lance journalism. Not naive. Arrogant and stupid. Rule of thumb -- if America is engaged in military ops in a country, it's probably not the best vacation spot. Double rule if you are anywhere within 100miles of a country deemed an enemy of the U.S.

ITA

[Anonymous]

I had also found it suspicious initially that they were "hiking" but now I believe it. I agree with the PPs. They made really stupid (arrogant) choices. I don't find their naivete charming or evocative of sympathy. Going to an Iranian prison is a horrible punishment but they really ought to have known better than to embark on that kind of trip and get lost. Dumba**es.

I find our (Americans') response to their imprisonment and then release very interesting. In contrast, several years ago some Japanese religious missionaries went on some kind of trip to Iraq and were captured. The Japanese government openly criticized them, stating that Japanese citizens were warned not to go to Iraq and that these were the natural consequences. They were eventually rescued and returned to Japan but their "homewarming" was one of shame in Japan where they were not warmly received. And the Japanese government made them reimburse the gov't for the flights!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had also found it suspicious initially that they were "hiking" but now I believe it. I agree with the PPs. They made really stupid (arrogant) choices. I don't find their naivete charming or evocative of sympathy. Going to an Iranian prison is a horrible punishment but they really ought to have known better than to embark on that kind of trip and get lost. Dumba**es.

I find our (Americans') response to their imprisonment and then release very interesting. In contrast, several years ago some Japanese religious missionaries went on some kind of trip to Iraq and were captured. The Japanese government openly criticized them, stating that Japanese citizens were warned not to go to Iraq and that these were the natural consequences. They were eventually rescued and returned to Japan but their "homewarming" was one of shame in Japan where they were not warmly received. And the Japanese government made them reimburse the gov't for the flights!

I didn't know that. Wow. I really respect the Japanese for that.
*I know there is a lot of snark on DCUM--the above was not meant in a snarky way at all.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP who mentioned the Japanese hostages in Iraq. Here's a link to an article about them:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/22/international/asia/22CND-JAPAN.html?pagewanted=all

They were publicly shamed upon return, even though their activities in Iraq had included helping street children in Baghdad. Kind of harsh considering they narrowly survived being kidnapped by bad guys. I respect them more than these three privileged American hippies (and I say that as a very left-leaning open person) who wanted a vacation near the Iraqi-Iranian border.

[Anonymous]

That's really who they openly thanked uPon their release? Any chance we can send them back?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's really who they openly thanked uPon their release? Any chance we can send them back?

Any chance that Sean Penn or Chomsky would know if they were spies?

I get Jeff's point as to Tutu.