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Two Innocent Americans Finally Released by Rogue Iran Regime

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by Deckard, Sep 21, 2011.

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  1. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    It's absurd that these Americans had to endure this, but they are finally free, and some dudes in Iran get to play with $1,000,000.

    Iran Releases 2 Jailed Americans

    DUBAI—Two American hikers detained in Iran for more than two years have been released on bail of $1 million and handed over to Omani authorities, Iran's state news agency said Wednesday.

    Their lawyer, Masoud Shafiei, said earlier Wednesday that he was heading to the Tehran jail where Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 29 years old, were detained, after Iranian courts approved the $1 million bail arrangement.

    The two have been jailed in Iran since July 2009 and were sentenced last month to eight years in prison each for espionage and illegally crossing Iran's border. They have denied the espionage charges.

    "I can say that they will be free today," Mr. Shafiei had said by telephone. "I am going to the jail, and after that I think the Swiss embassy will decide when and how they will go out of Iran." The Swiss Embassy protects U.S. interests and citizen affairs in Iran, since the U.S. and Iran severed diplomatic ties after Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979.

    The Sultanate of Oman, an ally of the U.S. in the Gulf, paid the bail for the hikers' release, although Mr. Shafiei said he didn't know why.

    "I signed a paper that said Oman paid," he said. Last week, an Iranian appeals court had agreed to set bail for the hikers at $500,000 each.

    The expected release of the two hikers coincides with a visit to New York by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's for the United Nations General Assembly. This time last year, again as Mr. Ahmadinejad was traveling to New York, a third American hiker, Sarah Shourd, was also released on a $500,000 bail posted by Oman. Her case remains open.

    The three Americans were arrested along the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009 when Iran was roiling in post-election unrest. The hikers say they are innocent and were hiking along the unmarked border area when they were detained.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903703604576584351783182030.html#
     
    #1 Deckard, Sep 21, 2011
  2. DaDakota

    DaDakota If you want to know, just ask!
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    Bail, or ransom?

    Glad they were released.

    DD
     
    #2 DaDakota, Sep 21, 2011
  3. tallanvor

    tallanvor Member

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    If they are stupid enough to go hiking in Iran (or near), then they deserve to get imprisoned. This is the same thing as those dumb chicks who went to North Korea to take pictures of plants and Bill Clinton had to go over and negotiate to get them out.

    It's a pretty simple rule. Don't ****ing go near Iran or North Korea.
     
    #3 tallanvor, Sep 21, 2011
    1 person likes this.
  4. Kojirou

    Kojirou Member

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    The landscape around the border is really beautiful. Saw pictures, and some of the most gorgeous landscapes I have ever seen.

    But yeah, still idiots. God knows I would love to visit Iran someday however.
     
    #4 Kojirou, Sep 21, 2011
  5. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Member

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    Still not completely convinced they aren't spies. Either way, still glad they're free.
     
    #5 JuanValdez, Sep 21, 2011
  6. Space Ghost

    Space Ghost Member

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    Agreed! Innocent people don't do this. Even if they weren't spies, they were guilty of being stupid. They should be happy with 2 years instead of having their heads sawed off.
     
    #6 Space Ghost, Sep 21, 2011
  7. Don FakeFan

    Don FakeFan Member

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    Sneakily hiking near their (or any country's) border where soldiers are fully armed all the time?

    It takes money, guts and skills to do so.
     
    #7 Don FakeFan, Sep 21, 2011
  8. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    Can we get Troy Davis some bail now?

    Rocket River
     
    #8 Rocket River, Sep 21, 2011
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  9. DaDakota

    DaDakota If you want to know, just ask!
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    Really? Did they look Iranian, or Iraqi?

    DD
     
    #9 DaDakota, Sep 21, 2011
  10. Kojirou

    Kojirou Member

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    Pretty much the way I see it. Two white dudes who can't even speak Farsi ( if they could, they wouldn't need a translator as the article's caption describes)? That's exactly who I would send to go spy in Iran.:rolleyes:

    Not sure what's so skilled about it. I could sail to North Korea tomorrow without a whole lot of planning, and Iran is a relatively more open society. That they didn't get shot is pretty much belied by the fact that they were arrested pretty much immediately, as I would guess that Iran's border guards don't have a shoot on sight policy..
     
    #10 Kojirou, Sep 21, 2011
  11. pgabriel

    pgabriel Educated Negro

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    weren't they picked up in some remote region, maybe spying isn't the correct term.
     
    #11 pgabriel, Sep 21, 2011
  12. greenhippos

    greenhippos Member

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    illegally crossing into a country equates to innocent? Then what's all this brouhaha about all these "illegal" Mexicans crossing into out border?
     
    #12 greenhippos, Sep 21, 2011
  13. DaDakota

    DaDakota If you want to know, just ask!
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    Maybe we need to start charging Mexico a ransom?

    DD
     
    #13 DaDakota, Sep 21, 2011
  14. Space Ghost

    Space Ghost Member

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    Great point! There are lots of similarities, other than the trio never claimed to cross the border. And the Iranians holding them for ransom.

    Maybe this is a solution to our tax issues. We could run across the border, kidnap us a few mexicans and hold them for ransom.
     
    #14 Space Ghost, Sep 21, 2011
  15. da_juice

    da_juice Member

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    One can go there, there's no embargo on Americans, it was just that the hikers didn't have their passports.
     
    #15 da_juice, Sep 21, 2011
  16. Don FakeFan

    Don FakeFan Member

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    Do not do it.
    You may want to try hiking along the U.S. border first and see what happen.

    Spies have different jobs. Some spies do not have to speak a word the whole process.
     
    #16 Don FakeFan, Sep 21, 2011
  17. Don FakeFan

    Don FakeFan Member

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    They won't pay a penny for a random innocent Mexican.

    But if you catch a Mexican spy and asking for ransom, they would love to pay and might double your price.
     
    #17 Don FakeFan, Sep 21, 2011
  18. Kojirou

    Kojirou Member

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    Well, of course, I wouldn't want to do it. That's because I am not an idiot. I can't say that about these hikers. But simply getting to the border is something that doesn't take skills and money like you described - tall referenced those girls in North Korea, and Mexicans do it all the time with us.

    Sure. But a spy who doesn't look like the people he's spying on, who can't talk with them, and doesn't have the proper documentation so he can get in the country is a really, really bad spy. I'd like to think the US isn't that incompetent, and could get someone who's capable of doing that much.
     
    #18 Kojirou, Sep 21, 2011
  19. ChrisBosh

    ChrisBosh Member

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    They were surveying the area around the border so when Iran is to get invaded it is familiar territory. Theses guys don't look like the hiking type of people.....spies.
     
    #19 ChrisBosh, Sep 21, 2011
  20. GlenRice

    GlenRice Member

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    They also don't look like spies either.

    [​IMG]
     
    #20 GlenRice, Sep 21, 2011
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