A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

An end to DADT and the hikers freed from Iran

Posted: Sep 21, 2011

;

Very good things! Yea! nm - oldtimer

I only have 1 comment to make in - regards to this

[ In Reply To ..]
and it has nothing to do with politics really but....what where those morons thinking hiking over there in the first place? I mean...COME ON!!! I guess it is true that stupid is as stupid does. Of all the places to go hiking and they pick friggin Iran?

Maybe they were spies, like Iran said. - me

[ In Reply To ..]
I know we're supposed to believe the MSM that they were just hiking, but how do we know that they weren't actually spies.

That's what I was always thinking? What supposedly - college-educated, "informed" person - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
decides to go for a hike anywhere in the Middle East, especially when we're at war with them? How dumb is THAT?

Very likely, they also don't know that coffee is hot, rattlesnakes are poisonous, and that jumping out of an airplane without a parachute is not likely to have a very happy ending.

MORONS IS RIGHT!!!

I am sure that at some point in the...sm - oldtimer

[ In Reply To ..]
not-too-distant future we will see an interview or a book.

Or multiple interviews hawking the book! - nm

[ In Reply To ..]

Morons? - Really? sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Eyewitness reports from local villagers indicate the hikers did not inadvertently stray into Iranian territory but instead were abducted from the Iraqi side of the Kurdistan Province near the border by Iranian border officials. See link. They were on vacation in Kurdistan, an autonomous violence-free region, which they had been advised was an ideal place for a holiday. Of particular interest to them was the Ahmed Awa waterfall, a very popular tourist attraction.

http://www.thenation.com/article/36562/us-hikers-were-seized-iraq

I take great exception to the characterization of these three young activists as “morons”. Whether you agree with their views or not, at least they are not sitting around posting pot shots and uninformed opinions on issues they know little to nothing about. They are out there standing up for the things they strongly believe in and are making positive contributions toward solutions to what they perceive to be extremely troubling problems. They are all more than qualified to write a book about their ordeal and definitely have all earned the right to do so.

Shane Bauer graduated with honors from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies and a double minor in Journalism and Arabic in 2007. He speaks fluent Arabic and has spent a great deal of time in the Middle East and North Africa during the past 7 years. He has been living in Damascus since the fall of 2008. He is a freelance journalist and photographer whose writing and award-winning photographs have been published in the US, UK, Middle East, and Canada. Here is a list of his articles, a fairly impressive body of work for such a young a freelancer, not suggestive of a “moron” by any standard.

Iraq's New Death Squad
Death squads in Iraq, trained by the Americans and acting with total impunity.
http://www.thenation.com/article/iraqs-new-death-squad

The Sheikh-Down
How the Pentagon bought temporary stability in Iraq by funneling billions of taxpayer dollars to the country's next generation of strongmen.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2009/09/sheik-down

Darfur: Rebellion from the Margins (slideshow)
Photography and interviews from Darfur, showing Darfuris not as hapless abject victims but as active participants in an uprising for social justice.
http://shanebauer.net/site.php/multimedia/darfur_rising

Video report on Awakening Councils in Iraq.
Shane's piece for Democracy Now on disenchantment with US pay-off policies in wake of the 'surge.' Prefaced by Amy Goodman.
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/8/7/shane

Palestinian factions united by war:
One of six major stories Shane wrote for Al Jazeera.
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/war_on_gaza/2009/01/20091191545595775...

Divorcing the U.S.
Struggles from the Pine Ridge Native American reservation - the poorest county in the US. (New Internationalist)
http://www.newint.org/features/special/2008/04/01/lakota/

Shane's websites
Current website: http://shanebauer.net
Old photo site: http://shanebauer.tripod.com/

Al Jazeera Articles
Exclusive English-language interview with Hamas during attack on Gaza:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/200918155333111890....

Displaced Darfuris reject peace deal:
http://english.aljazeera.net/archive/2006/08/200849162539370717.html

Iraqi Refugees reject return offer:
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2008/10/20081029821544903.html

Tensions simmer in southern Yemen:
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2008/09/2008930142627625271.html

Syria's tepid hope in Obama:
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2008/12/200812683212600494.html

Palestinian factions united by war:
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/war_on_gaza/2009/01/20091191545595775...

Al Jazeera Breaks Israeli Media Blackout of Gaza Invasion:
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=db5f72...

New American Media Articles
Hamas Leader: 'We Will Not Surrender'
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=7849b6...

Yemenis Fear U.S.-Backed Anti-Terrorism Law
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=f6ccdc...

Washington is Losing its Man in Baghdad
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=cc07e1...

A Morning as an American in Yemen
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=7d281c...

Eye on the Middle East: Political Alliances Shifting Like Sand
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=466b52...

Adopting Ethiopian Orphans May Not be the Best Solution
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=8999b6...

Soap Opera Rouses Rebellion in the Arab World
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=100031...

Ethiopia Faces Famine Again
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=46b571...

Muslims in Syria Like Obama's Tone But Want New Policy
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=ae847f...

Middle East Hit by U.S. Financial Crisis
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=6d6bd7...

Al-Qaeda Violence Rises as U.S. Strategy Unravels in Iraq
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=ea34d7...

Blast in Iraq Not News Anymore
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=a1549e...

A Day in the Green Zone
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=abe8b2...

Friday Afternoon at the Shandabar
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=d3ef9a...

Corpses Gone, Fish Lure a Fisherman Back to the Tigris
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=9f967f...

A quiet election day in Baghdad
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=d2e425...

Skeptical Baghdad Street Before Elections
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=58f201...

Reporter's First Day in Baghdad
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=5cc9fb...

Israel’s Attacks Unite Hamas’ Enemies in Common Front
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=388c3f...

In Gaza, Shortage of Basic Necessities Worse Than Threat of Death
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=2f5804...

Al Jazeera Breaks the Israeli Media Blockade
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=db5f72...

Damascus Erupts in Protests for Gaza
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=ac67db...

New President Won't Bring Change to Iraq, Sadrists Say
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=76f1c9...

What will come of America'a Middle Eastern castles?
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=6142e9...

After U.S. Raid Syrians Wonder if War on Terror Has Arrived
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=0a15bd...

Syrians Ambivalent over Obama Victory
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=196081...

Most Iraqi Refugees Still Unwilling to Return, Even for Money
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=fef30c...

Damascus Reacts to U.S. Attacks
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=311b24...

Darfur Film
Songs to Enemies and Deserts (Film with David Martinez)
Movie - http://dmz2008.wordpress.com/songs-to-enemies-and-deserts/
Trailer 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-01oWr1Lx_4
Trailer 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dqLv93iRVA

The Nation
"Darfur's Divided Rebellion"
http://www.thenation.com/article/darfurs-divided-rebellion

San Francisco Bay Guardian
Hellarity Burns
http://www.sfbg.com/2008/05/27/hellarity-burns

Christian Science Monitor
U.S. Embassy hit in Yemen, raising militancy concerns
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2008/0918/p07s02-wome.html

Sarah Shourd had been living with Shane in Damascus where she taught English and was studying Arabic. She had previously taught as part of the Iraqi Student Project, a program which gives Iraqi refugee students the skills to continue their education in US schools. She penned articles on travel and social issues reflecting her time in Syria, Ethiopia, Yemen and Mexico. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in English and was an aspiring journalist. Here are links to her works.

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=e276b8706a88aca9e3a98dbbd5526d1d

http://unfetteredeyes.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/yemen-part-ii/

http://unfetteredeyes.wordpress.com/2009/01/09/all-our-love-for-gaza/

http://unfetteredeyes.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/ethiopia-part-ii/

http://unfetteredeyes.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/ethiopia-part-ii/

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-hikers-20100521...

On a visit to the Golan Heights with families divided by the occupation:
http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=3787

On the successful campaign by Syrian women to defeat a disastrous "family" law:
http://womensenews.org/story/the-world/100604/syrian-women-reflect-rare-...

Femicide and Globalization in Juarez
http://slingshot.tao.ca/displaybi.php?0079002

The Repression in Mexico Continues
http://slingshot.tao.ca/displaybi.php?0091017

Her Work
Iraqi Student Project
http://iraqistudentproject.org/

Just Cause, Oakland (fights eviction of the poor from their homes)
http://www.cjjc.org/

Writing about Chiapas - Notes from Another World
http://freeourfriends.eu/sites/default/files/notes_from_another_world.pdf

Joshua Fattal is an environmentalist who worked for three years at the Aprovecho Research Center in Cottage Grove, Oregon, which teaches sustainable living skills. From January to June 2009, he was a Teaching Fellow with the International Honors Program (IHP) “Health and Community” study abroad program in Switzerland, India, China, and South Africa. He spent his junior year of college on an IHP study abroad program in the UK, India, the Philippines, New Zealand, and Mexico and graduated from UC Berkeley in 2004 with a degree in environmental economics and policy from the College of Natural Resources. He was visiting Sarah and Shane in Damascus when they decided to go on vacation together.

His work
International Honors Program (for whom Josh worked as a Teaching Fellow)
http://www.ihp.edu/page/health_community/

Aprovecho Community (of which Josh was a co-director, and where he http://www.aprovecho.org/

Letter to Ahmadinejad from the current co-directors of Aprovecho:
http://blog.freethehikers.org/2723/letter-to-president-ahmadinejad-co-di...

His writing
The Thesis Here is that the American Empire is in Decline
http://aprovechoamerica.tripod.com/id12.html

On Becoming A Radical Social Transformer
http://aprovechoamerica.tripod.com/id11.html

Feedback from the Road
http://aprovechoamerica.tripod.com/id5.html

A Revolutionary Road
http://aprovechoamerica.tripod.com/id7.html

Gandhi is an Anarchist:
http://calpeacepower.org/0201/gandhi_anarchist.htm

Similar Messages:

Jun 07, 2014
to return to war against US: (The Daily Caller; June 6, 2014) The deepest concerns of critics of President Obama’s decision to release five Taliban commanders from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl may be coming to fruition. One of the commanders, Noorullah Noori, has plans to return to Afghanistan to resume fighting against the U.S., according to NBC News which spoke to another Taliban commander. http://news.yahoo.com/report-freed-taliban-comm ...

Oct 31, 2014
BO would rather release detainees from Gitmo and trade terrorists for a deserter. ...

Feb 02, 2010
Senator McCain used to say he listened to the top military brass about Don't Ask Don't Tell. He said that more than once and said he would listen when the top military brass came to him and said DADT should be overturned. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, did that today. McCain changed his mind. His reaction to Mullen and Bob Gates, the Defense Secretary, telling the Senate Armed Services Committee that DADT is not effective was the opposite of the pos ...

Sep 25, 2012
(CBS/AP) TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has test-fired four missiles designed to hit warships during a drill near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, an Iranian military commander said. The missiles were fired simultaneously and hit a "big target" the size of a warship, sinking it within 50 seconds, Gen. Ali Fadavi of the powerful Revolutionary Guard was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency. The Fars report late Monday was the first indication of an Iranian military exercise ...

Aug 07, 2016
reveal that Iran’s nuclear deal would not only lift constraints on Iran’s nuclear program after the nuclear deal, but it will also do so before the deal expires as it makes it easier for Iran to achieve its nuclear ambitions. According to the secret agreement, the deal would pave the way for Iranian leaders to advance their nuclear capabilities at a higher level and even be capable of reducing the break out capacity from one year to six months long before the nuclear agreement ends. ...

Oct 12, 2010
America's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which bans gay men and women from serving openly in the US military, suffered a potentially crippling blow tonight after a federal judge ordered a halt to its enforcement. The move, which could bypass political deadlock on the measure in Washington, sprang from a court case brought by a Republican gay rights group – the Log Cabin Republicans. US district court Judge Virginia Phillips ordered an immediate worldwide injunction on the ...

Nov 25, 2013
Just before the sun rose on Geneva on Sunday, international negotiators emerged to announce Iran and world powers had reached a deal to curb Iran's nuclear program for six months while the two sides work out a permanent, more sweeping solution. Today, the deal is being called historic. USA Today says it may be President Obama's most unlikely and most meaningful foreign policy victory during his time in office. In short, it is the first time in about a decade ...

Nov 29, 2009
I only posted the first couple paragraphs and am posting the link to read the rest of the article. I believe Iran WANTS to provoke war with outside forces; namely, us, so they can tell their people we are the infidels. Hopefully, the U.N. (that's a laugh), will be able to stop them without us having to jump in there. There's no way we can bring peace to the world on 3 major battles. "TEHRAN -- Iran's government will build 10 new sites to enrich uranium, President Mahmo ...

Feb 11, 2010
From Tehran Times: Iran knows the location of U.S. missile defense shields in region: generalTehran Times Political Desk TEHRAN -- Iran is fully aware of the locations of the U.S. missile defense shields in the region, Brigadier General Ahmad Miqani said on Tuesday. The missile shields have been based around Iran for some time now, Miqani told reporters. He said the establishment of the missile shields is part of the plan to promote Iranophobia among regional nations, adding that the ...

Dec 30, 2014
"I believe in diplomacy, I believe in dialogue, I believe in engagement." Not your father's presidency in the my way or the highway or I'll just invade, rape, pillage and charge the taxpayers to build you back up. But, seriously, he doesn't sound too close to realizing an embassy in Iran, but he is headed in the right direction. ...

Jun 25, 2015
BO has been warned over concessions by his own people, including former senior advisers, as well as other world leaders. Once again, it's all about him and his way or the highway. What a blight on America! ...

Sep 15, 2015
Iran should be believed when it signed the "nuclear deal", but Iran should NOT be believed when they promise to annihilate Israel and attack America. I sometimes wonder if Obama and everyone else on the left is suffering from a mass case of dual-personality disorder, because I simply cannot make sense of it. ...

Dec 29, 2009
Note both statements of each woman in the highlighted paragraphs. I don't know much as Islam, but it seems to me that they have to make those statements when being accepted into the religion. "Anastasia who was a Christian girl accepted Islam in an Iranian Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey on Sunday. She is Turkmen and now is living in Istanbul. The new-Muslim girl said she has a good feeling for accepting Islam, adding she consciously accepted Islam because she studied ...

Feb 08, 2014
http://www.businessinsider.com/iran-sending-warships-close-to-us-border-2014-2 ...

Jul 21, 2015
x ...

Oct 08, 2015
First they miss ISIS targets. Now they hit Iran. Interesting... ...

Dec 15, 2010
see link. ...

Nov 08, 2012
Iran fired on an unarmed U.S. drone last week as it was hovering in international airspace, the Pentagon announced Thursday . Spokesman George Little said the incident occurred Nov. 1 at 4:50 a.m. ET. He said the unarmed, unmanned drone was conducting "routine surveillance" over the Persian Gulf when it was "intercepted" by Iran. He said the MQ1 Predator drone, which was not hit, was not in Iranian airspace. Little said the U.S. government has protested to the Iranians. As ...

Aug 03, 2016
This was done in secret under cover of darkness in an unmarked jet and the money was not in US dollars. Is it too secret? Is that why MSM is not reporting on it? The Boy King doesn't want the minions to know?? WAKE UP, AMERICA!!!! ...

Sep 20, 2013
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/09/19/obama-rouhani-united-nations-iran/2838577/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomWorld-TopStories+(USATODAY+-+World+Top+Stories) ...

Jan 12, 2014
Iran nuclear deal takes big step forward. ...

Feb 02, 2017
Obama White House, the Trump administration went on record Wednesday to accuse Iran of being in violation of the landmark nuclear agreement as a result of its recent test of ballistic missile technology, according to a senior White House official, who said that Iran has officially been put "on notice." Retired Gen. Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's national security adviser, accused Iran of breaching international accords governing the nuclear agreement. He lashed out at the Islami ...

Sep 21, 2014
I think we're screwed. Not today, but soon. Link ...

Mar 10, 2015
on international law. ...

Apr 09, 2015
. ...

Apr 17, 2015
Watch it until the end, long but worth it. ...

Sep 20, 2015
She is toast...or maybe just stuck in the toaster to never pop out. She lied her way through the debate, and now this has reappeared. http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/16/carly-fiorina-hp-sold-millions-dollars-products-iran/ ...

Dec 30, 2015
‘Highly provocative’: Iran rocket launch near US ship latest challenge for Washington http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/12/30/highly-provocative-iran-rocket-launch-by-us-ship-latest-challenge-for-washington.html ...

Jan 24, 2016
Now they have all that money, Iran is going to purchase over 100 jetliners - from Airbus, not Boeing. Obama has to be his father's idiot son. ...

Jun 13, 2017
to thwart terrorist financing operations. As Obama pressed ahead with the Iran deal, those operations lost funding and were “systematically disbanded,” according to former U.S. State Department official Dr. David Asher. Asher’s stunning testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee last Thursday was ignored by the MSM. Now the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world is on the brink of a nuclear weapon thanks to Obama. ...