"Aw jeez, off I go again..."
Posted on 08/07/2009 7:59:45 PM PDT by maquiladora
From the BNO Newsroom.
TEHRAN, Iran (BNO NEWS) -- Three Americans arrested in Iran after crossing into the country on a hiking trip on the Iraqi border have been transferred to Tehran, a U.S. official told ABC News on Friday.
Shane Bouer, a freelance journalist and Arabic language student from Minnesota, Joshua Fattal, a student and environmental worker from Oregon, and Sarah Shourd, a Californian writer and teacher in the Middle East, have been in Iranian custody since July 31.
The three apparently strayed off course during their hiking trip on the mountainous border of Iraq. Kurd officials met with the Iranian government on Monday where they were told the three Americans were detained on charges of "illegal entry into Iran." The group was found in Ahmed Awah, an Iranian border town.
Warnings have been given repeatedly for Americans to refrain from any travel to Iraq.
Shon Meckfessel, comrade of the detained travelers and linguistics student from Washington state, who hiked with the group previously, reported received a distressing phone call from his friends telling him, "We’re surrounded."
The Iranian Revolution of 1979 triggered a break in all diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran. The Iranian nuclear program has been a key issue recently, preventing any progress in gaining diplomatic relations between the two powers.
instant replay of DPRK journo hostages scenario, oh great...
Unless they work for Algore they are toast.
"Aw jeez, off I go again..."
Bill, Bill Clinton. White courtesy phone Please!
WTF did they hike every trail in the USof A already. why go there?
+/- on how many days before Bill Clinton is sent to Iran?
Also, nice media blackout on this story, eh?
The sacrifice of three idiots to save a country of millions? Gumby idiots. ;-)
.....apparently strayed off course during their hiking trip on the mountainous border of Iraq.
I think my "Gives a Sh*t" meter must be broken. The peg ain't moving off of zero.
Saying you’re a ‘journalist’ overseas is like saying you work for the ‘State Dept.’ here in DC. It’s assumed you’re CIA. At least the State Dept. has a website where all their employees, including foreign contractors, are named (with work addresses and phone numbers).
Saying you’re a ‘journalist’ over there is like asking for the gallows. Why in the world are people still doing that?
They just didn’t want to be accused of “hiking the Appalachian Trail”, cause we all know what that is a euphemism for...
I wonder if these 3 thought they could get footage of the riots going on in Iran,(Maybe why they were right on the border) instead of this an honest mistake @ getting lost. I feel badly for them, what a terrible place to be but I can’t imagine just going to Iraq during this time.
I hope we don’t pay ransom and sent some grovelling old disgraced president over there with a black bag like we did with the terrorist in North Korea. It is time to stop that crap. These obvious CIA agents get paid for the risks and if they get caught — that is the way it is until we can trade them for some damned “diplomat” for the terrorist state.Just go pick one up and kill them if anything bad happens to our CIA agents!!
Looks like Bill Clinton is going to be sent to Iran next... (precedence is such a b*tch)...
My thoughts exactly.
I just can’t figure out what the appeal of northern Iraq is. The State Department advises against travel anywhere in that country.
To make matters worse, the hikers knew they were in close proximity to Iran’s border.
Next time, these hikers might wanna chose some trails a little closer to home.
Just when did this seem like a good idea to these folks? They should get some award for stupidity. I am sure that the kindly government of Iran will be understanding. Maybe, if they are lucky, they can confess to some long list of imaginary evil deeds and be released.
Monkey see monkey do. This proves the fallacy of Bill Clinton’s farce.
D'uh!
All the places in the world to hike...and Iran-Iraq border?
Three less votes for Barry!
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