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Saturday, August 08, 2009

The Reality Behind the Euphoria

By Diane Dimond

          Who among us wasn't moved to tears by the recent video of journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling as they stepped back on to American soil after having been held captive by the North Koreans for 140 days?
        Lee bounded down the steps of a private jet at the Burbank, Calif., airport on Wednesday, her arms outstretched to her tiny 4-year-old daughter, Hanna, her eyes locked on her husband. Ling pumped her arms in the air as she descended, then fought back sobs when she spotted her husband and her family on the tarmac.
        After being captured at the Chinese-North Korean border during an assignment about human trafficking, the journalists — employees of former Vice President Al Gore's Current TV — were subjected to a swift trial and were each sentenced to 12 years of "hard labor."
        It's wonderful these two women are now home. But at the risk of sounding like a killjoy may I just say, the truth is they broke the law — international law — and they put America in the uncomfortable position of having a two-bit dictator calling the shots for no less than our former President Bill Clinton.
        Ling and Lee are extremely lucky their boss used to serve as second-in-command in the Clinton presidency and could call on Clinton to travel to Pyongyang to secure their release. They're lucky Clinton has a friend in movie producer Steve Bing, who loaned his Boeing 737 plane for the trip. That request from Gore, by the way, may have caused some angst in the Clinton household. As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was placed in the uncomfortable position of having to downplay her husband's efforts as a "purely humanitarian effort" and not an official diplomatic one.
        Everyone involved knew the mission served as an embarrassing propaganda windfall for the despotic Kim Jong-Il, who got to have his picture taken with a most prominent American political figure. Kim is desperate for world recognition as a player on the nuclear weapons stage, and the photo with Clinton inflates his ego.
        Kim's official news agency later reported that Clinton apologized for the two journalists "illegally crossing the border and committing a grave crime against our nation." Hillary had to clean up the mess by announcing her husband had done no such thing. "That did not occur," she said.
        The lesson, of course, is if you travel to a foreign country you'd best learn the local laws and you better avoid border areas of enemy states. Three other Americans failed to heed that basic advice during their travels and are now being held captive in Iran.
        Shane Bauer from Minnesota and Sarah Shourd of California are working reporters, both based in the Middle East, and Joshua Fattal is an environmentalist from Oregon. The trio is reported to have left their hotel in a northern Iraqi city to go on a hike in the mountains along the Iran-Iraq border. Something went terribly wrong.
        Iranian officials say they were arrested for "illegal entry" and their captivity comes at a time when the government there is accusing the United States of fomenting unrest in that very area, called Kurdistan. Iran's news network had reported the Americans are "CIA agents."
        Again, a diplomatic problem created by adventurous but ill-informed American citizens who appear to have illegally broken through dangerous international boundaries.
        For the trio held now for more than a week in Iran, I'm afraid the situation may not end as quickly or as positively as it did for Lee and Ling. As with the North Korean situation there are lots of political agendas at play. And, there's no indication that Bauer, Shourd or Fattal have any sort of personal connection to anyone approaching the stature of a Gore or a Clinton, let alone with someone who owns a private jet. Without those perks, they may sit in an Iranian prison for a long time as our government makes it a point to refuse to negotiate with enemies of our country.
        And a word about the media coverage here.
        The Lee and Ling rescue made headlines because the "Rock Star Bill Clinton" was involved. I fear there will be much less coverage of the Americans held in Iran, and that also does not bode well for their return.
        So, as you make your summer vacation plans or prepare to send your college kids off for the backpacking adventure of their lives, read some news, identify the political hot spots in the world and check out the U.S State Department Web site for information on travel advisories.
        Then, wherever you go, obey the local laws.
        www.DianeDimond.net — e-mail to Diane@DianeDimond.net