Pleading parents want their children back. The parents and children are American. The captors are Iranian. The children, all twenty-something adults, crossed the Iran-Iraq border last summer.
The story is that they had been tourists in Kurdistan, and had decided to go hiking in an area known for its waterfalls. They ended up in Iran. And in custody.
That Iran-Iraq border is pretty ambiguous. In some media accounts, it is said to be heavily guarded. According to others, border guards get bribed and look the other way while all kinds of people and things slip across.
What’s your pleasure? Extremists? Weapons? Oil? Drugs and booze make it through, as well. Is there anything that doesn’t make it across the Iran-Iraq border?
If all this smuggling of God knows what is going on at the border, how did the three American hikers not cross paths with alcohol runners, gun runners, insurgents, and everybody else? That Iran-Iraq border is really popular. And not just with smugglers. “Coalition” troops are supposed to be patrolling it, as well.
Kids, stay away from the Iran-Iraq border. There are other, less risky places to be a tourist.
No good can come from hanging around there.
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Well Robert, something about this strikes me as odd. The fact that the Iranians are still holding these “kids” for so long, and that a trial is imminent. Generally, American or not, people like this would be let go after about a week of integration. What’s the deal here? Are they trying to use them as bargaining tools? If they are just college kids, then the U.S is not about to swap them for anyone valuable. Besides, those kinds of things are usually done under the radar. Who knows, maybe there is more to this than meets the eye.
The other is the Iran-Iraq border. It is true things get through…If you pay the right people and have “deals.” Every inch of that border is under watch by both manned and unmanned surveillance, by everyone involved. That includes mountainous Kurdistan. Trust me on this, you will be seen on either side of that border, by either the Iranians or Americans(I guess now days the Iraqis have taken over some, but I am still certain it is American tech patrolling). Much of the surveillance is automated and unmanned. You wouldn’t even know you are being seen.
So then, what is the deal here? Me thinks these aren’t just graduate students or whatever. No, they were there for some reason, and somebody sold them out. That is just speculation, of course, but it looks like they got handed over for some reason or another. Morons…
Sorry Alpha Unit, I just realized you wrote this. I should have started off “Well Alpha.” My mistake. 🙁
That’s OK. Your thoughts on this interest me. I wonder, too, if there is anything more to this story than the official accounts.