What kind of dummies go hiking in Iraq?
…is what I find myself wondering about the three Americans who crossed the border into Iran and now face dire consequences (via NYT):
As tensions build between Washington and Tehran, the Iranian foreign minister said Monday that three Americans arrested in July after crossing the border from northern Iraq would be tried but did not specify the charges, according to news reports.
The minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, told a news conference in Tehran that the three had “entered Iran with suspicious aims. The judiciary will try them.”
But here’s the thing. They’re not just hikers; they’re journalists. So isn’t it disingenuous and misleading to keep acting like they were three kids out for a lark and some of that fresh mountain air?
More on the three from the web site of their mutual alma mater, U.C. Berkeley:
Shane Bauer, a 2007 honors graduate in peace and conflict studies, has been working in North Africa and the Middle East, using his fluency in Arabic, the language he minored in at UC Berkeley. He recently has produced stories on Iraq and Syria for San Francisco-based New American Media. Bauer, 27, came to UC Berkeley in August 2004, and during his undergraduate years took courses in the Graduate School of Journalism. He won the campus’s Matthew M. Lyon Prize in Photography in 2007 for his haunting photos of devastation in the Darfur region of the Sudan in Africa.
Sarah Emily Shourd, 30, transferred from Diablo Valley College to UC Berkeley in the fall of 2000 and graduated in May 2003 with a B.A. in English. An aspiring journalist, she reported a story earlier this year for New American Media on the Golan Heights in Israel.
Joshua Felix Fattal, 27, attended UC Berkeley for three semesters, from fall 2003 through fall 2004, graduating in December 2004 with a B.S. in environmental economics and policy from the College of Natural Resources.
At least two of them — Bauer and Shourd — are budding journalists, though only Bauer appeared to be on assignment (from New America Media of the Pacific News Service). The AP via Huffpo in August:
Freelance journalist Shane Bauer planned to cover the elections in northern Iraq’s self-ruled Kurdish region. His girlfriend, Sarah Shourd, was going with him on a backpacking trip.
Bauer, Shourd and Fattal have attracted support from around the world; their Facebook group with 5,782 members is called “Free the Hikers.”
Maybe State Department officials have determined that after what happened to Euna Lee and Laura Ling in North Korea, calling them journalists endangers these three further. But does anyone else wonder if it just gives Iran more ammunition? If the West had insisted on calling Lee and Ling “two chicks out for adventure and maybe some smokin’ kimchee,” the North Koreans would have called us liars and worse.
I don’t know what Fattal’s story is, but if Bauer and Shourd were young, ambitious journalists out hoping for a story in Kurdistan — as PNS claims — then shouldn’t we say so? Then we can get on with the business of clearing Bill Clinton’s schedule.
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Your headline was exactly my thought when I first heard about this incident. So while Iraq may have it wrong that they are “spies” in the traditional sense of the word, they certainly weren’t oblivious to their location and were up to something.
As the old chestnut goes, “you play with fire and you might get burned.”
Shane was NOT on assignment. Shane, Sarah, and Josh were vacationing in a tourist area.
Iraqi Kurdistan may not be an all of us choose to vacation/venture too but MANY do. Shane and Sarah live in Syria and Josh was visiting. This trip would not be unusual for those living in the area.
They were in a well known tourist area hiking in a TOURIST area viewing some fabulous scenery based on directions from locals. The are has been very peaceful for many years and was not seen as a dangerous destination. This was a weekend hiking trip they had looked forward too for some time and shared their excitement and getting to see the sites with family and friends.
IF they crossed an unmarked border, it would have been accidental.
While some may take issue with their location choice, it’s not dissimilar to hiking along the MANY unmarked borders across the world.
Friend, do you have some inside info? Why did Pacific News Service say Bauer was on assignment covering Kurdish elections if he wasn’t? And I admit I’m skeptical about your claim that “it’s not dissimilar to hiking along the MANY unmarked borders across the world.” I’m pretty sure I could do the watusi across parts of the Canadian/U.S. border and fail to cause an international incident.
In response to another comment. See in context »The media often get things not quite correct…
While I do have a connection to Shane’s family…
It’s not inside information. Shane is a freelance journalist. He had recently been reporting on the Iraqi Kurdistan elections from a social aspect. Shane never expressed any interest or plans to cover anything on Iran.
While you may be able to dance back and forth on some parts of any border…other parts that would NOT be acceptable. Honestly, many are detained at the Canadian border regularly for very very minor items but after a short discussion and clarification they are sent on their way.
Either way – there was not an intent to cross the border (if they did). Shane, Sarah, or Josh’s discussions with their family and friends about this trip all noted seeing the Iraqi sites and that they’d done some checking into the general area to be sure they were going into an acceptable Iraqi area.
They were very excited for a weekend getaway to see the Iraqi Kurdistan area before Sarah had to be back to teach.
Your article makes many good points but I do take issue with the “dummies” reference. Shane, Sarah, and Josh are anything but. They are not inexperienced travelers who through caution to the wind and went hiking in a war zone. They were hiking in a tourist area visited by more and more westerners in particular. They were relying on limited research of the areas sites and directions from locals. IF they crossed a border it would not have been intentional.
I’d encourage all to visit http://www.freethehikers.org to learn more about Shane, Sarah, and Josh. I think if you know a bit about them you’ll have a much broader viewpoint.
I appreciate your passionate defense of your friends. And no one thinks these three — or anyone — deserves the treatment they’re receiving. But I don’t think the media got things “not quite correct” in this case. Bauer WAS hired to report on the Kurdistan elections. And I’m sure you’re right — he and his travel buddies probably wandered inadvertently over the Kurd-Iran border, and thus were detained. What I object to is calling them “hikers” and leaving it at that. I’m sure there are other adventurers hiking in that area, like you say. But here’s my point: if you’re a foreign journalist, especially in a tense area, then everything you do is colored by your job. It doesn’t matter if Bauer considered himself officially off-duty when he and his pals made that hike. If he was a plumber with a hiking hobby, I bet you my 401(k) that he wouldn’t find himself in hot water with the Iranians.
In response to another comment. See in context »Ordinary tourists in Iran DO get arrested capriciously, as Idesbald van den Bosch and Vincent Falleur found out in September. The Belgian tourists were taking a cycling holiday in Iran when they were arrested as suspected spies. They were held for 3 months in the same prison as the two male American hikers.
Van den Bosch is a PhD candidate in applied sciences at a school outside of Brussels. Falleur is an executive with the Dutch bank, ING.
In response to another comment. See in context »I don’t even go to the Delaware Water Gap for fear of crossing the border and buying something sales-tax free. I wouldn’t go within a hundred miles of the Iran border. Hike, assignment, stupidity–really, stay the hell away from Iran’s border.
Not that they are to blame for the harsh treatment they are no doubt receiving. It is an unfortunate situation I hope is resolved quickly for all involved.
When is a Journalist not a Journalist? Can Journalists be off duty if they’re on vacation?
This is one of those hair splitting questions that has real significance. Are they just “hikers?” Were they planning to write up their trip for a travel magazine?
I don’t know. And while I can’t condone the Iranian government’s behavior, I can’t blame them for wondering about what these people were up to as well.
The Associated Press reports online that the employer says that he was covering Kurdistan’s elections, not just vacationing.
“Shane Bauer, a freelance writer with a passion for travel, planned to spend a week covering the Kurdish elections in Iraq”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgN55eDfw0c&feature=related
I strongly oppose capital punishment, and am not interested in throwing fuel on the fire. It is just an odd story. We all make mistakes.
I strongly oppose capital punishment, and am not interested in throwing fuel on the fire. It is just an odd and scary story.
If hiking in Iraq/Iran wasn’t dangerous it wouldn’t be compelling to those who seek danger. Just because you were born in America, should not guarantee you are immune from life’s dangers. Sorry but it’s a fact Jack. The world is a dangerous place and your (American) birth is no guarantee of safety. Palo Alto software engineer shot in Rio, tourist shot on the beach in the Totugas. In the news every day.