I’d say “Never attribute to the CIA that which is equally well explained by stupidity,” but the sad fact is that there’s historically been a lot of overlap between the two.
More seriously - I’m surprised that people are saying they suspect these people were actually spies. The world is full of foreign-affairs nerds, folks. Plenty of people study Arabic, plenty of people hike, and there’s no shortage of people with no common sense. Further: What, exactly, is the intelligence value of a ground-level hike through the outskirts of a sparsely-populated border region?
Yeah. I speak several languages, love photography, travel extensively, and am an avid student of both Chinese and west African culture. Occasionally I do travel to politically sensitive areas. Does that make me a spy?
Perhaps it is the easiest way to get into the country or to communicate with people inside. Makes as much sense as people really wanting to see the outskirts of Iran at great personal risk. Personally, I can’t understand why anyone would dismiss the possibility of them being spies. If they were actually spies,who do you think would have behaved differently?
To answer the op I have a bit of sympathy for them either way. They were probably just doing their job, but it is a tough job.
Define “sympathy.” I can look at it on the TV and go, “Ah shucks, isn’t that terrible?” But I’m not exactly going to hold a candle light vigil for them.
I had my best friend many years back on one of his frequent trips to Thailand decide to sneak into Cambodia for a few days because he “thought it would be cool.” I can’t speak to the political situation now, but I have to imagine it’s still a pretty bad idea to try sneaking in a place like that, even post Khmer Rouge. I suppose I’d sympathize if he got caught…a bit.
They get zero sympathy from me. They’re morons. Darwin in action.
There’s no risk in joining the Peace Corps. Why would they think that? Discomfort, maybe, but there’s no physical risk.
Incidentally, the Peace Corps (as risk-free as it is) at least has a purpose. The military involves real risk and has a purpose. Hiking on the border of Iran has no purpose at all. It’s just stupidity for stupidity’s sake.
Only you know whether you’re a spy or not. But it might make you look like a spy, if you were ever caught crossing a national border in one of those politically sensitive areas “accidentally,” without authorization, and in defiance of advice given to you by locals. And you should consider the extent to which your activities make you look like a spy, when venturing near the border of a nation which enjoys rattle sabres with your own, and which you know WILL take you prisoner and put you in an unpleasant prison if you’re intercepted. .
There’s a difference between wrongly accused, which these hikers probably were, and being unjustly accused (accused without reasonable foundation), which they weren’t.
Do you guys really have no sympathy for people who risk their lives to bring us intelligence on enemy powers? I mean, it isn’t nice, but would you really rather do without them? Spies aren’t ever heroes? (I mean, the CIA has done some shady stuff, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t do anything we need.)
Not that I’m saying these people are spies, just that I’m surprised that if they were there are people who’d have less sympathy for them than if they were idiots.
I have a few former Peace Corps friends - and while it certainly varies from posting to posting, I certainly wouldn’t call Corps duty risk-free. One of my friends was posted to Chad, for Ford’s sake - she had to evacuate a couple of times due to wacky adventures by rebel goups. (Of course, they no longer send people to Chad, for precisely that reason). And the traditional bout of malaria/dysentary/etc can be thoroughly nasty.
I’m not saying people shouldn’t join the Peace Corps - far from it! - but it’s worth recognizing that Corps volunteers do knowingly take on some real risks.
Sure, but that doesn’t mean we should just tolerate the crazy fucks who disrespect human life and put the blame on their victims for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s insane.
What tolerate? They didn’t violate someone’s borders to grab the “spies.” There is a BIG difference between “wrong place, wrong time, no fault of their own” and what these dumbfucks did.
Not that it’s the most dangerous thing in the world, but there is plenty of risk. I’ve known a number of people who sustained serious life-threatening injuries during their service. I don’t think I’ve gone into it much on the Dope, but I got hurt extremely badly during a robbery, and it’s only sheer luck and a matter of inches that my injuries didn’t kill me or leave me permanently paralyzed.
Being a foreigner in an extremely poor area makes you a target for violent crime, and I’ve got some hair-raising stories of narrow escapes and quite a few who did not escape and were injured, raped or killed. The “The day I got attacked with a machete” story is a classic that most PCVs have a variation on.
Living conditions, like taking motorcycle taxis or living in a potentially unstable mud house, can expose you to a great deal of risk. Many Peace Corps countries have a lot of infectious disease, and quality medical care may be a long way or nearly non-existant. Many people catch serious life-threatening illnesses, such as malaria, and occasionally someone does die of medical complications related to their service.
Finally, while Peace Corps takes safety and security very seriously, things can change quickly in developing countries. Volunteers can and do get thrown in jail, caught in riots, held hostage, evacuated under fire, etc.
Peace Corps takes health, safety and security very seriously and in my experience does a great job doing what they can to minimize risk. But the risk is always there. Peace Corps volunteers are putting their health and life on the line to serve their countries and their adopted communities. Obviously I’m a bit biased, but I think we all should show them some respect for what they’ve gone through.
I’ve known a lot of Peace Corps too, and I’m also familiar with third world countries. I spent two years in Liberia, which was an unstable country to say the least. Peace Corps volunteers are watched out for pretty well, and are gotten out if necessary. When’s the last time you ever heard of a Peace Corps volunteer getting kidnapped or killed? Have you ever?
I have a fair amount of sympathy for them. They were stupid for crossing the border, but they don’t deserve what happended to them. The Iranian government is being ridiculous.
I can’t believe people seriously think they were CIA. That’s on a par with 9/11 truther nonsense. The CIA has drones and satellites. They don’t need to send three scruffy kids to poke at rocks along the Iranian border.
I’m not really familiar with this case. Did they trespass or were they there legally? If they were there legally, no matter how dangerous or unstable the area, the blame goes to the crazies and not the victims IMO.
ETA: I’m responding to the question in a more general sense anyway, since that is how the OP framed it, mentioning this case only as an example.
It seems that the hikers told the owner of their hotel, and perhaps others, where they planned on hiking. Broadcasting your plans to the locals, some of whom may be Iranian spies or at least willing to sell out an American tourist, would seem to be beyond stupid for a spy.
Looks like he was killed in a robbery. People get killed in robberies in the US too.
I had people try to rob me a couple of times too when I was in Africa. Americans are targets. I took care of my fucking business, though. Except for that time the cops did it. I tried, but it’s hard to fight four cops. I got my ass kicked and my wallet jacked.