I was reading this article on those released hikers being held in Iran on charges of spying. I'm interested in how you guys feel about this issue. As for my own feelings, I'm glad they made it back BUT...
http://news.yahoo.com/freed-hikers-iran-held-us-because-were-american-203506333.html
I don't think they should of been "hiking" in Iraq in the first place while a war is being waged by our government. As someone who traversed the roads on a daily basis in Iraq(03-04)I can tell you that the place was always a warzone especially at night. It didn't matter if we were being stealthy or not either. I actually had a few Kurdish friends in Northern Iraq close to Turkey. That being said, I would never take a hike even wearing full battle rattle without worrying about being attacked for just being American.
I'm reminded of another story that happened years ago when an American Jew came over here to the warzone, but landed in Israel first and got that stamped on his passport. The man was beheaded for being a Jew, not because he was American. This was one of those live broadcasts they used to display to scare us. Anyways when this happened I felt bad for the family and friends of this idiot, but I couldn't help but feel this guy deserved it for being so stupid to arrive in a Muslim country with a Jewish passport and as an American Jew unescorted.
These two instances really bothered me because of the extreme retarded nature of the person doing them. Do you guys agree?
Edited, Sep 26th 2011 11:47am by ShadowedgeFFXI
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No.
"The Rich are there to take all of the money & pay none of the taxes, the middle class is there to do all the work and pay all the taxes, and the poor are there to scare the crap out of the middle class." -George Carlin
Yes, they were being the epitome of self-centered, naive, privileged Americans and hopefully two years in an Iranian prison and the threat of execution helped straighten out their sensibilities. but, it looks like it hasn't taught them anything.
publiusvarus wrote:
we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.
First, I'd just like to say that somebody being innocently foolish or naive does not make them "deserve" a beheading.
Yes, they were being idiots, and it appears that they didn't learn the proper lesson. Wasn't one of them a freelance journalist? I don't know what motivated them to be over there, but I'm sure that on some level it was done deliberately because of the danger involved.
I'm guessing that you think they're CIA spooks.
Yes, they were being idiots, and it appears that they didn't learn the proper lesson. Wasn't one of them a freelance journalist? I don't know what motivated them to be over there, but I'm sure that on some level it was done deliberately because of the danger involved.
I'm guessing that you think they're CIA spooks.
I'll agree that it was a foolish place to go hiking. I've no idea if they're CIA or not; if they are then they picked a good enough cover for me since they wouldn't be the first young white dudes who assume everyone will love them once they see how different these white dudes are compared to the rest of the white dudes.
I can't agree with their treatment but I suppose that's what made their choice foolish.
I can't agree with their treatment but I suppose that's what made their choice foolish.
Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
Eske Esquire wrote:
First, I'd just like to say that somebody being innocently foolish or naive does not make them "deserve" a beheading.
Yes, they were being idiots, and it appears that they didn't learn the proper lesson. Wasn't one of them a freelance journalist? I don't know what motivated them to be over there, but I'm sure that on some level it was done deliberately because of the danger involved.
I'm guessing that you think they're CIA spooks.
Yes, they were being idiots, and it appears that they didn't learn the proper lesson. Wasn't one of them a freelance journalist? I don't know what motivated them to be over there, but I'm sure that on some level it was done deliberately because of the danger involved.
I'm guessing that you think they're CIA spooks.
I have no idea actually if they were CIA or not. I'm only questioning their intelligence at this point. I'm also not implying someone deserves a beheading for being foolish, but by that same token, I won't feel sorry for an idiot either. Anytime you go somewhere dangerous, you should be doing a risk assessment. It could be downtown to an area that is dangerous or has corrupt cops.
I'm not sure of their professions though. I don't care enough to dig for that info. All I do know is how dangerous Iraq is any foreigner including the press. Our unit had to rescue a lot of the press who found themselves captured, mostly from Europe. They knew the risks and they believed they were covered as a reporter. Unlike these hikers who were too stupid to stay out of a country in the middle of a war. I don't believe they were CIA agents because the CIA agents I worked with were well armed and these guys were bumbling hikers. If they found weapons and spy equipment, they would of been killed for sure. It's obvious these hikers didn't even have GPS considering they got lost. I used my GPS a lot back in those days. Most of the time, I was only 7 miles from the Iranian border according to our location on the map. I'm glad to see nobody is defending these idiots.
Jophiel wrote:
I'll agree that it was a foolish place to go hiking.
I'm not so sure.
the article wrote:
Bauer and Shourd were living in Damascus, Syria, when Fattal came to visit and the three went hiking.
They were apparently already living in the middle east and may have had some ties to the area. This differentiates them from the average naive "privileged" American who might fly out to Iraq for an "adventure".
They were idiots, so no sympathy for their ordeal or relief for the outcome.
George Carlin wrote:
I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.
Damascus is almost a thousand miles from the Iranian border. Why not just go hiking in Syria instead of in a war zone in another country a thousand miles from where you live?
BrownDuck wrote:
They were apparently already living in the middle east and may have had some ties to the area. This differentiates them from the average naive "privileged" American who might fly out to Iraq for an "adventure".
This might change people's mind that the hikers weren't "privileged", however a person who lived in the Middle East should know how dangerous it is to live there. Syria is dangerous too, but nowhere as dangerous as a holy war between infidels and terrorists. There were instances when we got to downtown Baghdad and just stroll the city. A couple of times we'd have lunch, shop around, or just explore. All these times when we were "exploring", the chance of being attacked was extremely high. Americans stick out like a a sore thumb and our clothes isn't the main reason. I was attacked by some Pakistani guy at a Kuwaiti gas station just because I was American. He jumped the counter and tried to stab me for no reason other than my nationality. The fact that these idiots lived there like I did just shows their lack of smarts. Iran is a very paranoid country. They would often shoot at us when we got close to the border. We'd fire back at them and that would be that. It's just the way things are. These 3 idiots should of known better, especially the girl.
feelz wrote:
Damascus is almost a thousand miles from the Iranian border. Why not just go hiking in Syria instead of in a war zone in another country a thousand miles from where you live?
I don't know either, but the hikers did say they were friends with the Kurds that live in Northern Iraq. The Sunni and Shiite people don't like the Kurds, but the Kurds typically like Americans. I know I got along with the Kurds more than the Sunni or Shiite people so take that for whatever it's worth.
Turkish Kurds don't like Americans.
George Carlin wrote:
I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.
No people should not be beheaded or incarcerated simply for being ignorant.
We want our species to thrive, no?
We want our species to thrive, no?
Alma wrote:
I lost my post
lolgaxe wrote:
Turkish Kurds don't like Americans.
First pass into my read read this a 'Kurdish Turds'.
Alma wrote:
I lost my post
BrownDuck wrote:
Jophiel wrote:
I'll agree that it was a foolish place to go hiking.
I'll grant that it may have been slightly less moronic for them than it would be for me but it still doesn't strike me as a great idea. Of course, I'm operating on the hindsight that they were caught and imprisoned.
Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
Elinda wrote:
No people should not be beheaded or incarcerated simply for being ignorant.
We want our species to thrive, no?
We want our species to thrive, no?
I'll say that if we're gonna go that route, I know a few that we could nominate.
Edited, Sep 26th 2011 3:01pm by Eske
Elinda wrote:
No people should not be beheaded or incarcerated simply for being ignorant.
We want our species to thrive, no?
We want our species to thrive, no?
I hardly think that beheading and imprisoning a few dumb people is going to endanger the future of the human race. The yellow and brown people are more than making up for any losses.
Jophiel wrote:
I managed to be both retarded and entertaining.
Demea wrote:
Elinda wrote:
No people should not be beheaded or incarcerated simply for being ignorant.
We want our species to thrive, no?
We want our species to thrive, no?
I hardly think that beheading and imprisoning a few dumb people is going to endanger the future of the human race. The yellow and brown people are more than making up for any losses.
One could argue that weeding out a few dumb people actually improves the likelihood of our species thriving.
Donate. One day it could be your family.
An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come. Victor Hugo
An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come. Victor Hugo
We have awards and webpages dedicated to celebrating the natural deselection of the dumb.
George Carlin wrote:
I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.
Elinda wrote:
No people should not be beheaded or incarcerated simply for being ignorant.
We want our species to thrive, no?
We want our species to thrive, no?
Not the stupid, ignorant ones.
publiusvarus wrote:
we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.
I'm glad they were released, if for no other reason because their family can rest easy now.
I honestly didn't follow the story too much.
I find it more interesting that the OP probably has some
conspiracy theory about the situation.
I honestly didn't follow the story too much.
I find it more interesting that the OP probably has some
conspiracy theory about the situation. We just have to hope the stupid/ignorant people have some sort of rare gene. That way when we find out they're resistant to Ricin or HIV or something we can extract their DNA and play with it. With a little luck they can have value to society in pill form.
More on-topic, I'm not convinced the hikers were the smartest of people. It's nice they're out though.
Edited, Sep 26th 2011 12:51pm by someproteinguy
More on-topic, I'm not convinced the hikers were the smartest of people. It's nice they're out though.
Edited, Sep 26th 2011 12:51pm by someproteinguy
That monster in the mirror, he just might be you. -Grover
Belkira the Tulip wrote:
I find it more interesting that the OP probably has some conspiracy theory about the situation.
conspiracy theory about the situation. His Excellency Aethien wrote:
Belkira the Tulip wrote:
I find it more interesting that the OP probably has some conspiracy theory about the situation.
conspiracy theory about the situation. Yeah, but he's still new to me, so I still find it semi-interesting.
There are dumber people out there that have done much dumber things than this and survived. No big deal really.
Quote:
"This was never about crossing the unmarked border," Shane Bauer told reporters in a New York hotel. "We were held because of our nationality. We do not know if we crossed the border. We will probably never know."
for ****'s sake throw them back.
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