Schane Bauer and Josh Fattal left Iran Wednesday after two years in prison there on charges of spying for the United States. Bail of $500,000 was deposited in Tehran for each. The same payment was required last year for the release of Sara Shourd, who was hiking along the Iraq-Iran border in July 2009, when they were taken into custody by Iranian soldiers.
The deposits should be called ransom, since the money is not posted to guarantee a return to face charges. Iran has offered no proof that any of the three had any connection with U.S. intelligence agencies. They deny spying or intention to spy.
That said, the fact that the three young adults, who knew each other as students at the University of California in Berkeley, were hiking along the border of Iran just for fun is difficult to accept. What on earth could they have been thinking? Iraq remains one of the most dangerous places on the planet. Iran has been an enemy of the U.S. since rebels deposed the Shah and is ruled by hard-line clerics notorious for brutality.
Perhaps the freed trio will write a book about their ordeal and answer these questions. The first $1,500,000 they earn from it should go to whomever paid for their freedom.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
