[Bulwyf]

Iraq is a hostile country, it’s full of people who’d love to see western heads on a pike, or westerners hanging from the end of a rope. These people never should of been there. There’s enough things to see in places that are actually far safer than to risk life and limb for a waterfall, if that is indeed the case, of which I’m still skeptical.

[americanophile]

I don't consider the Iraqi government hostile - I don't parituclalry like them, but they're not hostile like Iran. Iraq is full of dangerous people, yes, but I'm talking about the government. Iraqi-Kurdistan, BTW, has been the most pro-American spot in Iraq, if not the entire Muslim world for some time. These kids were terribly unwise to travel there, undoubtedly have incredibly naive views of the world, but I will never side with Iran in locking them up on trumped on espionage charges and I sure won't take pleasure in it like some on this forum.

[Grizzled Bear]

Iraq is a hostile country, it’s full of people who’d love to see western heads on a pike, or westerners hanging from the end of a rope.

It wasn't that long ago that an Irish woman working for the International Red Cross was kidnapped, tortured and dismembered.

It's still a war zone.