Replies

Who in his right mind goes “hiking” on the Iran-Iraq border?

IIRC, these folks are more or less activists.

Spies?

Who in his right mind goes “hiking” on the Iran-Iraq border?

I guess the same type of people who pleasure boat off the coast of Somalia.

S*&^-stirring Liberal knuckle heads who aren’t satisfied with the garden variety ‘I Hate America’ in the MSM and are running around in third world s&^t holes like Iran to trump up something more dramatic....that’s who!!

They were where they should NOT have been

Background: The three Americans are anti-war, social justice and Palestine Solidarity Movement activists. They had been living and active in the Middle East, and were on holiday in Iraqi Kurdistan, an autonomous region of Iraq free from the sectarian struggle that dominates much of Iraq. They had been advised of the suitability of the region for a holiday by friends who had been there and through Internet research; and were recommended the Ahmed Awa waterfall, a popular Kurdish tourist destination, by a number of local people whilst they were in Sulaymaniyah. After visiting the waterfall, they continued walking within what they believed to be Iraqi Kurdistan, up to and including the time they were detained by Iranian border guards.

Shane Bauer, who grew up both in Onamia, Minnesota and San Leandro, California, is a freelance photojournalist and journalist who has worked for Pacifica News Service, Mother Jones, The Nation and other left-leaning media outlets, using his fluency in speaking Arabic.

Sarah Emily Shourd, who grew up in Los Angeles, California, worked in education and social justice in Damascus, Syria where she provided educational opportunities to refugees from the war in Iraq and taught English. Shourd was released by Iran on September 14, 2010 on $500,000 bail. Shourd's bail does not require that she remain in Iran, and her case will still go to trial along with Bauer and Fattal. Shourd's mother has said she had been denied treatment for serious health problems, including a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells. In May 2011, Shourd announced that she would not return to Iran for trial, citing acute ill-health.

Joshua "Josh" Fattal, who grew up in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania,[17] an environmentalist and educator, had been from January to May 2009 a teaching fellow for the International Honors Program (IHP)'s "Health and Community" study abroad program. Prior to traveling with the IHP, Fattal lived and worked at Aprovecho in Oregon, USA, exploring and promoting sustainable living practices.

Various media outlets and bloggers have confused Fattal with another Joshua Fattal, a student that has written for the teen supplement of a Jewish paper, the Yeshivah of Flatbush in Brooklyn, New York.