I completely understand the idea of a hiking vacation.
I also understand the need to promote a certain amount of tourism for Iraq.
But really, just how pig ignorant do you have to be to want to take an unarmed hiking vacation on the edge of a war zone in an area that runs along the border of Iran?
Shon Meckfessel, a University of Washington graduate student traveling in northern Iraq, didn’t go on an ill-fated hiking trip because he had a cold — a twist of fate that prevented him from mistakenly wandering into Iran where three companions reportedly are detained.
Meckfessel’s companions Friday afternoon sent him a text message saying they had crossed the border into Iran and were surrounded by Iranian soldiers.
One of the missing Americans has been identified as Joshua Fattal, of Cottage Grove, Ore. The two other captured Americans are Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd, both from the San Francisco Bay Area, according to media reports.
The seizure of the Americans comes at a time of tensions between the United States and Iran over the Islamic Republic’s controversial recent election and its role in the Iraq conflict. The United States and other Western countries also have had long-standing concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its hostility against Israel.
The Swiss Embassy in Tehran was working Sunday to learn more about the Americans’ fate through its contacts with the Iranian Foreign Ministry, spokeswoman Nadine Olivieri said. Switzerland has represented U.S. interests in Iran since American diplomats were taken hostage at the embassy in Tehran 30 years ago.
When your hiking trip involves negotiations through the Swiss Embassy, you are suffering from “Epic Vacation Fail”.
There’s something else at work here. I recall a story on Fox a few days ago when these three were first apprehended saying that when arrested, they had given their occupations to their captors as “blogger”, “activist” and “student”.
Something strange about that, or maybe it was whackomullah disinformation.
Less likely to be BS was the strange fact that they spent 3 days and nights holed up in a shithole hotel just inside Kurdistan. Waiting for what? Some sort of contact from Iran?
This whole thing doesn’t pass the smell test. My guess is that they were going to try to get to Teheran and join the dissidents there for some merrymaking against the Imadingdong regime.
I vote we let the Iranians keep them.
Sounds like an occasion where the Farsi phrase, “Let’s all study with the Ayatollah.” would really come in handy.
I don’t know about sneaking in to aid the dissidents, this is the sort of stunt leftists pull.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Time will tell.