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U.S. Hikers released by Iran

Discussion in 'Alley of Lingering Sighs' started by dmc, Sep 21, 2011.

  1. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    So, why now and what's in it for Iran?

    Also, what kind of idiot decides to hike anywhere near the Iran/Iraq border? (This assumes, of course, that they were not, actually, y'know, real spies -- if they were, then they were incompetent spies and should probably have remained in the Iranian jail as a sort of spy-Darwinism.)
     
  2. Morgoroth

    Morgoroth Just because I happen to have tentacles, it doesn'

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    Well from what I know spies are often not all that competent. A spy is not always a mastermind working in government institutions, sometimes they are just random idiots chosen because they happen to be in the right place at the right time. Russians have a tendency of having "observers" in big Finnish military exercises. Now and again it happens that there is someone "fishing" near areas of big military exercises and they just happen to be walking into camp areas looking around and well, speak only Russian. They are otherwise harmless enough and are simply escorted out of the exercise area. It's not like a military exercise with conscripted soldiers is likely to include any high level secrets that would damage our national security in a significant way.

    I find it a bit suspicious that they were hiking on the Iraq-Iranian border but still find it more likely that they were just being stupid rather than actually being spies. Authoritarian countries like Iran tend to blame all suspicious activity as espionage. In any case I'm not exactly sure why they decided to release the two but they are probably just being pragmatic and thought that keeping the two was more trouble than it was worth really.
     
  3. Darion

    Darion Resident Dissident Veteran BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    They were daredevils, IMHO. Thought they'd walk the razor's edge so they could brag to girls later on "oooh, I have been hiking in a war zone!"

    Dumbasses. I have little sympathy for that sort of macho crap.
     
  5. The Shaman Gems: 28/31
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    Well, I doubt they were spies, although it strikes me as extremely stupid to go hiking there of all places. Then again, did it really take Iran two years to determine if they were spies or not?

    So: the guys were most likely idiots, and Iran almost certainly released them for political reasons. Meh, I guess it's better than spending a lifetime (or a drastically shortened version of the above) in an Iranian jail.
     
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