Iran sentences 2 American men to 8 years in jail (Berkeley Peace Studies Graduates)

http://www.startribune.com/local/128119833.html ^

[macquire]

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's state TV is reporting that two American men already held for two years in Tehran have been sentenced to 8 years in jail each on charges of espionage and illegal entry.

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal have been held since July 2009 after being taken into custody on the Iran-Iraq border.

The station's website says Bauer and Fattal, who are both 28, have been sentenced to three years each for illegal entry into Iran and five years each for spying for the United States. It's not clear if that includes time served.

They have 20 days to appeal the sentence.

[macquire]

I guess all those Peace Study classes didn't do them any good when they encountered their first hard line thug in the world...

[DIRTYSECRET]

Iran should keep them.

[ilovesarah2012]

Does anyone know what “Peace Studies” qualifies you for after graduation?

[macquire]

A job with the Obama administration.

[Starboard]

They have 20 days to appeal the sentence.

Translation: 20 days to come up with enough money to buy a reduced sentence or freedom.

[Flycatcher]

They should have taken a geography class instead of "peace studies."

Then they might have known where the Iranian border was...

[BradyLS]

I dunno. You gotta be some kind of stupid or up to something fishy to be “hiking” on the Iraq-Iran border in the middle of a big war. If they were simply guilty of being stupid, Iran won’t suffer those sorts of fools gladly. At least they let the woman go. She’s got a long wait if she was serious about one of them.

[frankenMonkey]

"Does anyone know what “Peace Studies” qualifies you for after graduation?"

Hiking mostly. Along war zones. And inclusion in the "Cindy Sheehan Useful Idiots Hall of Fame."
You can also qualify for the "Hanoi Jane Graduate Studies Program" - leads to a career at NPR.

[Baynative]

It looks like political idealism has given them a taste of reality. ... another Rachel Corrie type story.

Shane Bauer, who grew up both in Onamia, Minnesota and San Leandro, California, is a freelance photojournalist and journalist who has worked for Pacifica News Service, Mother Jones, The Nation and other left-leaning media outlets, using his fluency in speaking Arabic.

Sarah Emily Shourd, who grew up in Los Angeles, California, worked in education and social justice in Damascus where she provided educational opportunities to refugees from the war in Iraq and taught English. Shourd was released by Iran on September 14, 2010 on $500,000 bail. Shourd's bail does not require that she remain in Iran, and her case will still go to trial along with Bauer and Fattal. Shourd's mother has said she had been denied treatment for serious health problems, including a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells. In May 2011, Shourd announced that she would not return to Iran for trial, citing acute ill-health.

Joshua "Josh" Fattal, who grew up in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, an environmentalist and educator, had been from January to May 2009 a teaching fellow for the International Honors Program (IHP)'s "Health and Community" study abroad program. Prior to traveling with the IHP, Fattal lived and worked at Aprovecho in Oregon, USA, exploring and promoting sustainable living practices.

At least, as we say, "they were doing what they love."

[BradyLS]

Does anyone know what “Peace Studies” qualifies you for after graduation?

A dubious "scholar in residence" gig in an Iranian prison. That one we know!

[Lockbar]

Somebody needs to send them a DVD of “Midnight Express”. I know that was Turkey, but Iran can’t be any better.

[A_perfect_lady]

Welcome to the Real World, boys. Turns out America’s not the worst place to get arrested after all, eh?

[RadiationRomeo]

I’ve never heard a claim that these three are Jewish. If they are then that would have been part of why the Iranians freaked out so much.

[ilovesarah2012]

I have never believed they were just “hiking”. Liberals are just flat-out dumb and they do dumb things. No sympathy here.

[definitelynotaliberal]

It qualifies you for making Bush-is-bad proclamations with more sanctimony than most others.

[ken21]

i doubt that liberal-progressives of their pedigree would spy for the u.s.

i could be wrong.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

I read a profile about these two and the woman they were with, and it turns out that they are your typical America-hating Berkley activists who had left the country to live in Damascus so that they could "engage the world."

They got more than they bargained for.

[G Larry]

Does anyone know what “Peace Studies” qualifies you for after graduation?

Yes!
They’re doing it.......

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Does anyone know what “Peace Studies” qualifies you for after graduation?

Making Farsi license plates?

[BradyLS]

It looks like political idealism has given them a taste of reality. ... another Rachel Corrie type story.

Very true. At least they've lived to learn from their mistakes. I wonder how much Sarah's decision not to return to Iran played into their decision to keep her two "friends." I don't blame her decision to stay put to avoid a probable stint in prison. But I wonder if, had she gone back to face the music with her colleagues, there was a fair possibility of release for all three or a sentence of time-served.