Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Will Iran Ever Set Free The Timberland Two? Will Mahmoud And Hillary Ever Become BFF's?

Jennifer Rubin
David Ignatius
"Michele Bachmann is for people who find Sarah Palin too intellectual. She is pure. She is always completely fact-free. She said the Founding Fathers worked tirelessly until they got rid of slavery. So from now on Thomas Jefferson’s slaves will be known as friends with benefits." – Bill Maher, on Jay Leno
"President Obama described himself as an eternal optimist. He then explained that he's the kind of person that sees the country as 'half employed.'" – Conan O'Brien

"A man wearing an Obama mask robbed a bank. Either that or Obama has an exciting new plan to reduce the deficit." – Conan O'Brien


The two US hikers who were recently sentenced to eight years jail time for spying in Iran have been used as a political football for the past two years. The three factors punting them around the field have been the religious ayatollahs, the military Revolutionary Guard, and the current government of friends and cronies surrounding the President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. When Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal were about to be sentenced, Mr Ahmadinejad tried to use his influence to get a light sentencing, with an eye of eventually releasing them "on humanitarian ground." The ayatollahs pretty much control the judiciary, and didn't appreciate his meddling, hence the eight year sentence.

Two days ago, Anne Curry asked him about the fate of the two hikers. Ahmahdinejad replied that they would probably be released by Thursday. This was assumed to be a stunt to create some instant goodwill for his annual pilgrimage to New York City and the UN general assembly. Today, the Iranian judiciary denied that they would be released anytime soon, that reports were still under review. One possibility under review was that the hikers would be released if a $500,000 bribe per person was given to the judiciary.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring, or if Shane and Joshua will ever see the sky outside of an Iranian jail cell for awhile? Will it take sending someone like Bill Clinton to Tehran to razzle dazzle the rubes, or will the hardliners mellow out once Ahmadinejad leaves the country? Perhaps Mahmoud will ask for asylum after giving his speech to the UN, or he might become the new BFF of the US State Dept, and together the two of them will solve the Syrian problem and the Palestinian situation. It may not be that far-fetched because Ahmadinejad is actually considered a moderate in Iran, A moderate who cheats at elections, but that is just age-old tradition, doesn't everyone in Asia and Africa cheat at elections?
Surrounded by enemies at home, he could easily turn to an outside source for n ally.

As for the two hikers, I don't believe that they were actual spies, just very stupid young men. what gives any weight to the spy story, is that the four young people were living in Damascus, trying to make a living that included independent journalism. They decided to fly to Turkey and to travel into Iraqi Kurdestan. The Kurds had been advertising for tourists to see "the other Iraq," and even made commercials that aired on CNN. Near the Iranian border was a famous waterfall and picnic spot that our intrepid hikers decided to visit. The fourth member of their group was sick and decided to stay at the hotel they were staying in during that fateful day. Despite signs posted at the hotel to beware and not go over the border, three of our hikers did just that while exploring the paths above the waterfall. Whether they were tricked across the border or not depends on whom you wish to believe...



The hot ticket next week won't be the next Republican debate, rather it will be the General Assembly of the UN. I keep getting conflicting stories if Mahmoud Abbas will petition the Security Council for recognition or not. The US and Israel don't want this to happen, and I've read that neither does Hamas, though they haven't given any coherent reason. So, the Security council route may have been nixed, but admitting Palestine as an observing nation to the General Assembly will most assuredly happen.

Protests and rioting is expected to happen in Gaza, Jordan, and possibly Egypt and Turkey. Israel already has allowed riot gear to be sold to the Palestinian Authority, and what a distraction it all will make, so that the world might ignore the monsoon flooding now happening in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, with the horrible loss of life being revisited on the region...



Also, next week the new book on Sarah Palin will be published by Joe McGuinness, called The Rogue. It's already drawing press and criticism from people who haven't read it. Joe dishes dirt on affairs, scandals, and a whole lot more that he obtained while living next door to the Palins in Wasilla, Alaska. And the best part is that it wasn't ghost-written...

“People around here don’t give a shit about Sarah anymore. They’re burned out on all her drama.”

— current Wasilla Mayor Verne Rupright, from THE ROGUE, by Joe McGinniss.




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