Iran sentences American man to death

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

The US once tried an extraction in Iran. It failed and people died.

[slim 1,530]

The US once tried an extraction in Iran. It failed and people died.

Where do you think I got my plan?

It would be vastly different this time. We have the technology to do a lot better this go 'round. Look at the recent bin Laden raid in Pakistan. It was easy. Iran would be the same.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

The guy is not stupid. He's an American who looks like an Iranian. He has an Iranian name. He has military intelligence training. He's a spy. This guy knew exactly what he was doing, and it wasn't hiking and it wasn't visiting grandma. He made his own bed, and I wouldn't do a thing to prevent justice to be served.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

The guy is not stupid. He's an American who looks like an Iranian. He has an Iranian name. He has military intelligence training. He's a spy. This guy knew exactly what he was doing, and it wasn't hiking and it wasn't visiting grandma. He made his own bed, and I wouldn't do a thing to prevent justice to be served.

Agreed. It's the same with those three hikers that the Iranians busted last year. None of their stories ever matched up...not even close. You play, you pay.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

The US once tried an extraction in Iran. It failed and people died.

Yes, but we got Nightline out of it.

[slim 1,530]

The guy is not stupid. He's an American who looks like an Iranian. He has an Iranian name. He has military intelligence training. He's a spy. This guy knew exactly what he was doing, and it wasn't hiking and it wasn't visiting grandma. He made his own bed, and I wouldn't do a thing to prevent justice to be served.

So if he's working for the US government don't we have a duty to extract him?

You're basically saying cops deserve to be shot in the line of duty. Soldiers blown up. Nurses get AIDS.

Think about your position. Seriously. Here's a guy working for us. For all of us. Yet you're saying, "So what?"

[Kang 22]

Being a US citizen of Iranian extraction(no pun intended) in Iran is worse than being a Muslim American

My heart out to his family though I believe he is a spy

[slim 1,530]

Being a US citizen of Iranian extraction(no pun intended) in Iran is worse than being a Muslim American

My heart out to his family though I believe he is a spy

Even if he is a spy... do we just let them execute this guy?

I think many of you have been watching too many movies. This is an American man. He's going to die. Soon.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

So if he's working for the US government don't we have a duty to extract him?

You're basically saying cops deserve to be shot in the line of duty. Soldiers blown up. Nurses get AIDS.

Think about your position. Seriously. Here's a guy working for us. For all of us. Yet you're saying, "So what?"

I see your point, but how many times is the CIA going to get someone into this predicament? They keep getting busted and this happens. If anyone should fish this guy out it should be the CIA. Let them get their arses shot off for their screw ups.

[scotinmass 588]

Even if he is a spy... do we just let them execute this guy?

I think many of you have been watching too many movies. This is an American man. He's going to die. Soon.

They'll give him a reprieve. They'll hold him for a few months. The US government and the Iranian government will puff up their chests for a while. Then they will let him go home once again proving how humanitarian the Iranians are!

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Even if he is a spy... do we just let them execute this guy?

I think many of you have been watching too many movies. This is an American man. He's going to die. Soon.

Do we know where he is?

[aaron2020 11,651]

This man is an American. He is being held by a hostile government. He deserves and is entitled to have his government help him. Period.

Unfortunately, Amir is caught up in the nuclear/sanctions/assassinations of scientists/Tom Clancy tension that is ongoing between the US and Iran. He could be a US spy or a pawn in the global game of who has the bigger sets of balls.

However, it is never a good idea to travel to a hostile country if you have ever worked for the CIA. From the news, it appears he has current connections to the US military and possible provided translation work for the CIA. Not a bright idea to go to Iran if you have these connections.

While Amir may have made a questionable call in traveling to see his grandmothers, he is an American. I have no doubt that the US government is working hard to bring him home.

--------------------

P.S. It's not unusual to travel to visit family for four months. I grew up in the US and felt that I was living in two different cultures - an American life while I was outside the home and a Vietnamese life when I got home. My sense of cultural identity was all screwed up - was I an American or a Vietnamese? When I was 28 years old (the same age as Amir), I quit my job and traveled to Vietnam for six months. I met my grandmother, uncles, aunts, etc. I made a real connection to my family and developed a better understanding of the cultural changes my parents had to accept in moving their children to the US. Ultimately, I realized I missed home and returned to the US.

I presume that many children of immigrants who lived divided lives at school and at home would love to travel to their parents' home country for an extended period of time.

Edited January 11, 2012 by aaron2020

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Slim,

I know where you are coming from, but let me give you my take on it.

If you work as a plumber, you'll have to assume that at some point you'll have #### on your hand.

If you work as a firefighter, you'll have to assume that at some point you may get hurt on the job.

If you work as a soldier, you'll have to assume the risk that at some point you'll get shot.

If you work as a spy, you'll have to assume the risk that at some point you'll get captured.

We all try to avoid getting hurt, and take measurements to prevent this from happening, and I'm sure the spy did this as well. But a special job demands a special commitment and is paid well over minimum wage. Sure the U.S. should try to get him out of there, but only with diplomatic means, not by force. Even if we don't like these guys a bit, we have to accept that they are a sovereign nation with their own law. What do you think the U.S would do with an Iranian spy caught over here? They would torture him . . . correction . . . would use enhanced interrogation methods on him and then ship him out to Guantanamo Bay.

We howl that Iran may have nuclear weapons, but we are cool with Israel having them as well, and France, and Germany, and ourselves of course. That's hypocracy in my book. If some Americans with Israel passports get hiking inside Iran, I don't buy this story for a second. If they were not spies, which I believe they were, they deserve to go to jail for stupidity. If they don't procreate, at least the human gene pool benefits from it.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Regardless of what this dude was doing over there (who visits grandma for four months?) we have to go in and get him before he's executed.

He is an American.

I went and visited my gradma for six months in Vietnam.

For children of immigrants who live divided lives - the American culture while out of the home and a foreign culture when at home - traveling to the "home country" to sort out their cultural identity is common. While I was at school, my friends and teachers expected me to be "American." When I got home, I was expected to be "Vietnamese." I was all screwed up as to whether I identified myself as an American or a Vietnamese living in America.

At age 28, I quit my job and went to Vietnam for six months.

I can completely understand why at age 28, Amir, the son of Iranian immigrants, would want to have an extended visit to his parents' home country.

[scotinmass 588]

Slim,

I know where you are coming from, but let me give you my take on it.

If you work as a plumber, you'll have to assume that at some point you'll have #### on your hand.

If you work as a firefighter, you'll have to assume that at some point you may get hurt on the job.

If you work as a soldier, you'll have to assume the risk that at some point you'll get shot.

If you work as a spy, you'll have to assume the risk that at some point you'll get captured.

We all try to avoid getting hurt, and take measurements to prevent this from happening, and I'm sure the spy did this as well. But a special job demands a special commitment and is paid well over minimum wage. Sure the U.S. should try to get him out of there, but only with diplomatic means, not by force. Even if we don't like these guys a bit, we have to accept that they are a sovereign nation with their own law. What do you think the U.S would do with an Iranian spy caught over here? They would torture him . . . correction . . . would use enhanced interrogation methods on him and then ship him out to Guantanamo Bay.

We howl that Iran may have nuclear weapons, but we are cool with Israel having them as well, and France, and Germany, and ourselves of course. That's hypocracy in my book. If some Americans with Israel passports get hiking inside Iran, I don't buy this story for a second. If they were not spies, which I believe they were, they deserve to go to jail for stupidity. If they don't procreate, at least the human gene pool benefits from it.

Agreed!