Just months after two American journalists were captured after somehow crossing the border into North Korea, three American students have apparently been "detained" after accidentally cross the border into Iran from the Kurdish area of Iraq. A Kurdish government official reported the students had “trekked into Iranian territory, knowingly or unknowingly, and found themselves detained by the Iranians.” It sounds ridiculous until you read about what the area is like. It is not as though there are border markings or signs saying "You are now entering Iran." The New York Times describes the area as "a popular resort and hiking area" and that " It is not uncommon to see American and other Western tourists traveling there without security guards." For the same reasons, it is a popular area for smugglers and Kurdish rebels opposed to the Iranian government.
These students were not inexperienced. They were studying Arabic in Syria so they had to be somewhat familiar with the Middle East. It brings to mind the idea which Nick Kristof floated that a person could not consider themselves truly educated if they never visited the half of the world which lives on $1 a day and visited only Paris or Sydney or Florence.
So here are the questions. Should people stick to the safe and not venture into areas which could possibly present problems? Are these students to blame for what has happened to them? Were they just stupid not to know where they were? And then, what does the U.S. do considering our relations with Iran?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The world is a dangerous place. There are evil people out there who prey and abuse the weak and naive. I'm not saying we need to hide in our bedrooms, but as we go out to explore and make our mark on the worlds, you need to be smart. There is a difference between visiting remote areas of the world and just being stupid. If you act foolishly (ie. hiking into Iran or North Korea), you must be ready to suffer the consequences. As for out relations with Iran, they don't exist as it is. Hopefully with the changes going on in Iran, internal pressure will get these students released.
ReplyDeleteBy the way... I'm planning a fishing trip off the coast of Cuba. Anybody interested in coming?
Catch and release, I assume.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the journalist were released as too small fish to keep
ReplyDelete:-) Very funny, Mike.
ReplyDelete