1. SPS Accounts:
    Do you find yourself coming back time after time? Do you appreciate the ongoing hard work to keep this community focused and successful in its mission? Please consider supporting us by upgrading to an SPS Account. Besides the warm and fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting a good cause, you'll also get a significant number of ever-expanding perks and benefits on the site and the forums. Click here to find out more.
    Dismiss Notice
Dismiss Notice
You are currently viewing Boards o' Magick as a guest, but you can register an account here. Registration is fast, easy and free. Once registered you will have access to search the forums, create and respond to threads, PM other members, upload screenshots and access many other features unavailable to guests.

BoM cultivates a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. We have been aiming for quality over quantity with our forums from their inception, and believe that this distinction is truly tangible and valued by our members. We'd love to have you join us today!

(If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you've forgotten your username or password, click here.)

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!)

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2001
    Messages:
    8,731
    Media:
    88
    Likes Received:
    379
    Gender:
    Male
    Remove all ads!
    Link

    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.)
     
    dmc, Sep 21, 2011
    #1
  2. Morgoroth

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

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2003
    Messages:
    2,392
    Likes Received:
    45
    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.
     
    Morgoroth, Sep 23, 2011
    #2
  3. Darion

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

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2002
    Messages:
    801
    Media:
    1
    Likes Received:
    42
    Gender:
    Male
    ^ +1
     
    Darion, Sep 23, 2011
    #3

  4. LKD Gems: 31/31
    Latest gem: Rogue Stone

     Veteran

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2002
    Messages:
    6,284
    Likes Received:
    271
    Gender:
    Male
    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.
     
    LKD, Sep 23, 2011
    #4

  5. The Shaman Gems: 28/31
    Latest gem: Star Sapphire

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2004
    Messages:
    2,831
    Likes Received:
    54
    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.
     
    The Shaman, Sep 27, 2011
    #5
Sorcerer's Place is a project run entirely by fans and for fans. Maintaining Sorcerer's Place and a stable environment for all our hosted sites requires a substantial amount of our time and funds on a regular basis, so please consider supporting us to keep the site up & running smoothly. Thank you!

Sorcerers.net is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products on amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.