I Spy
--No End in Sight, ForeignerAll journeys were return journeys
--The Great Railway Bazaar,
Paul Theroux
________________
Ranger is amused by the incident of the three hikers now accused by Iran of being spies (Three Jailed Americans Linked to US Intelligence.) It doesn't matter if they are spies or not -- what matters is that the Iranians are holding all the cards.
It would be interesting if the Iranians decided to publicly waterboard these individuals. Such an event would put the U.S. leadership in a tight position: They could not condemn the practice since it has become SOP in our interrogations (and at least two-thirds of Americans do not think it is torture.)
It would be interesting to hear how the Cheney crowd would react to such an eventuality, as they adamantly maintain waterboarding is not torture, but simply a means of coercing a good confession.
Ranger likes the bazaar.
Labels: hikers in iran, waterboarding
posted by rangeragainstwar at 7:25 AM
8 Comments:
Better yet detain them at Iran's nuclear facilities. Then put them on Iranian cable TV 24/7. When the images go to snow that's when you'll know the Israelis have bombed the nuke factories.
"Their families say the three were on a hike in the scenic Kurdish region of northern Iraq and unintentionally strayed across the border. Iran has accused them of spying and said it intends to bring them to trial."
Scenic Kurdish region, eh?
Northern Iraq, you say, eh?
"strayed" across the border to Iran, eh?
Alrighty then...these three are one of two things...
1: Spies.
or
2: Darwin Award contenders.
Can't they be both?
I feel sorry for these people and their families, but what kind of knucklehead goes hiking in Iraq???? Along the Iranian border???? If they aren't spies they possess a level of sel-absorption that defies understanding. "Oh, lets go hiking in Iraq..what could possibly happen to us? We're us, after all".
Whenever the righteous indignation comes out over these three, I simply wonder aloud what would happen to three Iranian hikers that "strayed" across the US-Canada border??? Me thinks they'd find themselves in a very unlucky place tout suite!
Then again, what ever happend to the 5 or 6 Iranian "diplomats" we picked up a few years back claiming (probably rightly) that they were IRGC agents? Are they still in a US run prison in Iraq?
Enterprising reporters would ask questions like these. Corporate shills simply mumble the press releases and stoke the outrage...
SP
SP,
I believe the EYERAINIANS that you refer to were repatriated.
jim
In addition to the comments already made re; the hikers' intelligence, I would say, if they are indeed spies, they are really lousy spies.
Maybe they are convenient fools and were set up for the purpose of creating more friction with Iran?
avedis
Avedis,
I like your proposed interpretation, but who would do this?CIA??
What possible intel could 3 hikers get from a walk on the border that satelites etc techintel couldn't gather?
This is a strange incident that is hard to add up.
jim
Jim,
Yes, spooks.
avedis
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