American Game Designer Sentenced to Death in Iran for Alleged Espionage

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Deusoma said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Atheism is the only way of peace, every religion has had blood on their hands at some point.

Man was beaten to death in Texas last year, after an argument with an atheist friend on the topic of religion got out of hand. We are Human beings. There will always be blood in our hands, always be rage inside us. Religion, politics, it's all just excuses for us to get angry, excuses for us to give in to our primitive urges. Civilization is only skin deep, and I encourage you to remember that before you claim anything is "peaceful".

Religion is fucking stupid plain and simple, too many acts of genocide in earths history in the name of god

Did you miss the part where it had the charge claiming "waging war on God"?

What are you on about?

@RsistncE said:

@Jimbo: Thank fuck there's someone with a brain here.

If there is, I haven't seen him yet.

The middle-east is screwed up -- where's the news here? This is what happens when religion dominates a culture.

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Deusoma said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Atheism is the only way of peace, every religion has had blood on their hands at some point.

Man was beaten to death in Texas last year, after an argument with an atheist friend on the topic of religion got out of hand. We are Human beings. There will always be blood in our hands, always be rage inside us. Religion, politics, it's all just excuses for us to get angry, excuses for us to give in to our primitive urges. Civilization is only skin deep, and I encourage you to remember that before you claim anything is "peaceful".

Religion is fucking stupid plain and simple, too many acts of genocide in earths history in the name of god

Did you miss the part where it had the charge claiming "waging war on God"?

What are you on about?

With Hekmati being found "Corrupt on Earth and Mohareb (waging war on God)," he has been sentenced to death

THAT is what I am on about. Direct from the article.

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Deusoma said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Atheism is the only way of peace, every religion has had blood on their hands at some point.

Man was beaten to death in Texas last year, after an argument with an atheist friend on the topic of religion got out of hand. We are Human beings. There will always be blood in our hands, always be rage inside us. Religion, politics, it's all just excuses for us to get angry, excuses for us to give in to our primitive urges. Civilization is only skin deep, and I encourage you to remember that before you claim anything is "peaceful".

Religion is fucking stupid plain and simple, too many acts of genocide in earths history in the name of god

I think the point he's making is that this is not something unique to religion. People have been killing over land, resources, and money throughout all of history. Religion, when you get down to it, is just another variation of "my culture is different than yours, so you must die". Religion is not inherently violent, people are; and they will be regardless of whether they believe in deities.

@jorbear said:

Modern Warfare 4: Iran and Shit.

I thought it was gonna be "Modern Warfare 4: The Call of Duty", and that it would mostly take place in South America (it's just about the only region that hasn't been done to death in other games).

@Jrad said:

The middle-east is screwed up -- where's the news here? This is what happens when religion dominates a culture.

Just because you aren't interested, doesn't mean it isn't news.

Savages...

@Meowshi said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Deusoma said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Atheism is the only way of peace, every religion has had blood on their hands at some point.

Man was beaten to death in Texas last year, after an argument with an atheist friend on the topic of religion got out of hand. We are Human beings. There will always be blood in our hands, always be rage inside us. Religion, politics, it's all just excuses for us to get angry, excuses for us to give in to our primitive urges. Civilization is only skin deep, and I encourage you to remember that before you claim anything is "peaceful".

Religion is fucking stupid plain and simple, too many acts of genocide in earths history in the name of god

I think the point he's making is that this is not something unique to religion. People have been killing over land, resources, and money throughout all of history. Religion, when you get down to it, is just another variation of "my culture is different than yours, so you must die". Religion is not inherently violent, people are; and they will be regardless of whether they believe in deities.

The Crusades\Nazis say hi

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Atheism is the only way of peace, every religion has had blood on their hands at some point.

Wrong- Communism incorporates Atheism quite a bit. And look at how much blood IT has on its hands.

Guys, atheism has nothing to do with peace or war.

Atheism = lack of belief in a god.

Noting more. Not "lack of belief in a god and philosophy of peace".

@Meowshi said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Deusoma said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Atheism is the only way of peace, every religion has had blood on their hands at some point.

Man was beaten to death in Texas last year, after an argument with an atheist friend on the topic of religion got out of hand. We are Human beings. There will always be blood in our hands, always be rage inside us. Religion, politics, it's all just excuses for us to get angry, excuses for us to give in to our primitive urges. Civilization is only skin deep, and I encourage you to remember that before you claim anything is "peaceful".

Religion is fucking stupid plain and simple, too many acts of genocide in earths history in the name of god

I think the point he's making is that this is not something unique to religion. People have been killing over land, resources, and money throughout all of history. Religion, when you get down to it, is just another variation of "my culture is different than yours, so you must die". Religion is not inherently violent, people are; and they will be regardless of whether they believe in deities.

As much as I'd like to believe you, Islam is indeed violent for the true believers... against those they detest most- Jews, Christians, and anyone non-Muslim in nature. Thanks to the way the Quran is written, any peaceful remakrs made for those two particular groups are overruled in later sections of the book, calling for reparations, imprisonment, and even death of them as a whole.

Not what I expected to read never the less glad I did

Thats some fucked up shit

This article seems important.

Hm, yes I see the issue with this scenario and its implications, perhaps I shall join the civil/intelligent discussion in the comments.

Oh... oh god... why would you do this!?!?!?!?!

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Meowshi said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Deusoma said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Atheism is the only way of peace, every religion has had blood on their hands at some point.

Man was beaten to death in Texas last year, after an argument with an atheist friend on the topic of religion got out of hand. We are Human beings. There will always be blood in our hands, always be rage inside us. Religion, politics, it's all just excuses for us to get angry, excuses for us to give in to our primitive urges. Civilization is only skin deep, and I encourage you to remember that before you claim anything is "peaceful".

Religion is fucking stupid plain and simple, too many acts of genocide in earths history in the name of god

I think the point he's making is that this is not something unique to religion. People have been killing over land, resources, and money throughout all of history. Religion, when you get down to it, is just another variation of "my culture is different than yours, so you must die". Religion is not inherently violent, people are; and they will be regardless of whether they believe in deities.

The Crusades\Nazis say hi

Doesn't refute anything I said. Just displays how very little thought you've actually put into this.

@Meowshi said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Deusoma said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Atheism is the only way of peace, every religion has had blood on their hands at some point.

Man was beaten to death in Texas last year, after an argument with an atheist friend on the topic of religion got out of hand. We are Human beings. There will always be blood in our hands, always be rage inside us. Religion, politics, it's all just excuses for us to get angry, excuses for us to give in to our primitive urges. Civilization is only skin deep, and I encourage you to remember that before you claim anything is "peaceful".

Religion is fucking stupid plain and simple, too many acts of genocide in earths history in the name of god

I think the point he's making is that this is not something unique to religion. People have been killing over land, resources, and money throughout all of history. Religion, when you get down to it, is just another variation of "my culture is different than yours, so you must die". Religion is not inherently violent, people are; and they will be regardless of whether they believe in deities.

Take away the excuses people use for violence (like religion, land, money) and you get the real reason. Power over other people. We're still no better than a dog marking his territory then killing anything that makes it's way into the territory.

I can't wait till they get their comeuppance.  Whether it's us, Israel, or it's own people, Iran needs to be knocked down a few pegs.

@Harkat said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Atheism is the only way of peace, every religion has had blood on their hands at some point.

Wrong- Communism incorporates Atheism quite a bit. And look at how much blood IT has on its hands.

Guys, atheism has nothing to do with peace or war.

Atheism = lack of belief in a god.

Noting more. Not "lack of belief in a god and philosophy of peace".

Ahem.

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Deusoma said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Atheism is the only way of peace, every religion has had blood on their hands at some point.

Man was beaten to death in Texas last year, after an argument with an atheist friend on the topic of religion got out of hand. We are Human beings. There will always be blood in our hands, always be rage inside us. Religion, politics, it's all just excuses for us to get angry, excuses for us to give in to our primitive urges. Civilization is only skin deep, and I encourage you to remember that before you claim anything is "peaceful".

Religion is fucking stupid plain and simple, too many acts of genocide in earths history in the name of god

Did you miss the part where it had the charge claiming "waging war on God"?

What are you on about?

With Hekmati being found "Corrupt on Earth and Mohareb (waging war on God)," he has been sentenced to death

THAT is what I am on about. Direct from the article.

Yeah, but your just enforcing the point I made to begin with.

I have a feeling that the confession was forced. I mean we as a country have had some off the walls ideas before, but employing a game developer to make pro-america propaganda video games for the middle-east, then sending him TO the middle east doesn't really make sense. Wouldn't they want him home so that maybe he could, I don't know, MAKE IT? This is clearly the death of an innocent man, and hopefully someone can think of something with ought sparking more feuding.

@Meowshi: Have you ever seen any part of the Western media ever come out and say "Yeah, you know what, they're right on this occasion, hewasspying for our intelligence services..."?

Maybe this ex-US Marine was in Iran researching for a video game, or maybe he was spying. You don't know he wasn't just because Alex Navarro said so, or because 'Iran is so crazy, guys!' or whatever it is the news is pumping out 24/7 over there at the moment in order to establish a plausible casus belli the US public will swallow (again).

@Bourbon_Warrior: That it was all about religion to begin with?

Want to know how they hang ppl. in Iran? They don't drop a hatch and snap your neck, they do it the nice slow way, with a derrick. You piss and shit all over yourself till you strangle. theres your 'it's all relative' arguement for you. Because humans simply cannot do absolutes. And Manning I understand has gone through some sanctioned sleep deprivation of sort..some kind of convoluted bs. It pissed me off hearing about it, but I do not fool myself about where I am better off, for here at least I can be pissed off.

Sooner or later, for good reason or bad, it's going to come to a head with the Iran gov't.God help the ppl, all of them, especially those who tried to stand up for real change..

@Meowshi said:

@Jimbo said:

What's the penalty for espionage in the US?

Irrelevant. We don't consider naughty video games "espionage".

@RsistncE said:

I'm loving the Iran hate-fest going on in here. It's almost like people are being intentionally ignorant of the fact that the US has done way worse shit than Iran. Oh wait, they are being intentionally ignorant. Waiting now for someone to parrot the "BUT THEY WANTS TO DESTROY ISRAELS!!1!1!" line.

I'll bite. Tell me how current day United States policies are worse than those of Iran. I'll wait.

How is that irrelevant? Iran is accusing him of espionage and is sentencing him to death. That's the exact same penalty that the US government would impose on someone they accused of being a spy also.

So let's not sugarcoat this: what you're really trying to say is, "The US government is totally honest and forthcoming while the Iranian government is not." Is the Iranian government totally honest and forthcoming? I doubt it. Is the US government totally honest and forthcoming. I doubt it. Anyone who lives in a country that sentences spies to death needs to think a little before they start talking shit about Iran.

When you say policies I'm assuming you mean actions. I guess you forgot about Iraq and the 100,000+ dead bodies that accompany it. Whoops.

I hope to hell this doesn't go down such a dark path. As much as we may speak down on some of the attempts by particularly the Army to put out titles that are a bit questionable, this Marine almost certainly did nothing wrong, and most certainly nothing he deserves to die over.

On top of that, I have to wonder how much influence a video game would have in a place like Iran, that is really the part of the claim that bewilders me the most.

There was a teacher at my high school who found himself in Iran, ended up being pretty brutally interrogated because they thought he was a spy. I forget what he taught but it was pretty definitely clear he was not a spy.

My thoughts go out to Hekmati. Semper Fidelis, and come home safe.

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@Meowshi said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Deusoma said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Atheism is the only way of peace, every religion has had blood on their hands at some point.

Man was beaten to death in Texas last year, after an argument with an atheist friend on the topic of religion got out of hand. We are Human beings. There will always be blood in our hands, always be rage inside us. Religion, politics, it's all just excuses for us to get angry, excuses for us to give in to our primitive urges. Civilization is only skin deep, and I encourage you to remember that before you claim anything is "peaceful".

Religion is fucking stupid plain and simple, too many acts of genocide in earths history in the name of god

I think the point he's making is that this is not something unique to religion. People have been killing over land, resources, and money throughout all of history. Religion, when you get down to it, is just another variation of "my culture is different than yours, so you must die". Religion is not inherently violent, people are; and they will be regardless of whether they believe in deities.

As much as I'd like to believe you, Islam is indeed violent for the true believers... against those they detest most- Jews, Christians, and anyone non-Muslim in nature. Thanks to the way the Quran is written, any peaceful remakrs made for those two particular groups are overruled in later sections of the book, calling for reparations, imprisonment, and even death of them as a whole.

You can find some pretty deplorable stuff in the Bible too. People interpret their religious texts differently, and it's not fair to paint all Muslims under one brush. I honestly don't care what the Quran says. I care about what the individual follower of Islam believes and values.

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@Meowshi said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Deusoma said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Atheism is the only way of peace, every religion has had blood on their hands at some point.

Man was beaten to death in Texas last year, after an argument with an atheist friend on the topic of religion got out of hand. We are Human beings. There will always be blood in our hands, always be rage inside us. Religion, politics, it's all just excuses for us to get angry, excuses for us to give in to our primitive urges. Civilization is only skin deep, and I encourage you to remember that before you claim anything is "peaceful".

Religion is fucking stupid plain and simple, too many acts of genocide in earths history in the name of god

I think the point he's making is that this is not something unique to religion. People have been killing over land, resources, and money throughout all of history. Religion, when you get down to it, is just another variation of "my culture is different than yours, so you must die". Religion is not inherently violent, people are; and they will be regardless of whether they believe in deities.

As much as I'd like to believe you, Islam is indeed violent for the true believers... against those they detest most- Jews, Christians, and anyone non-Muslim in nature. Thanks to the way the Quran is written, any peaceful remakrs made for those two particular groups are overruled in later sections of the book, calling for reparations, imprisonment, and even death of them as a whole.

the old testament has a bunch of crazy ass rules, so I don't get your point; there's terrible stuff in all those books, but people don't follow all the rules, because some of the rules are quite archaic.

This is so messed up

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto: I dont even understand what point your trying to make, I said all religion is fucking stupid, you reply with someone being sent to death for acts against god. MY POINT EXACTLY

AMERICA!

Wow. Normally when I hear the politicians yelling about a nuclear Iran being a terrible thing, I consistently underestimate their claims. It's things like this that really scare me about Iran getting a nuclear weapon. This is so unnecessary and just plain terrible.

@OneAndOnlyBigE said:

That's fucked up

Was anyone else completely unaware that this guy was involved in game development up until now?

@Meowshi said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Meowshi said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Deusoma said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Atheism is the only way of peace, every religion has had blood on their hands at some point.

Man was beaten to death in Texas last year, after an argument with an atheist friend on the topic of religion got out of hand. We are Human beings. There will always be blood in our hands, always be rage inside us. Religion, politics, it's all just excuses for us to get angry, excuses for us to give in to our primitive urges. Civilization is only skin deep, and I encourage you to remember that before you claim anything is "peaceful".

Religion is fucking stupid plain and simple, too many acts of genocide in earths history in the name of god

I think the point he's making is that this is not something unique to religion. People have been killing over land, resources, and money throughout all of history. Religion, when you get down to it, is just another variation of "my culture is different than yours, so you must die". Religion is not inherently violent, people are; and they will be regardless of whether they believe in deities.

The Crusades\Nazis say hi

Doesn't refute anything I said. Just displays how very little thought you've actually put into this.

Not really as the Nazis were killing Jews that were German citizens just as The Crusaders were going after "witches" in their own townships all in the name of Christ almighty

@RsistncE said:

@Meowshi said:

@Jimbo said:

What's the penalty for espionage in the US?

Irrelevant. We don't consider naughty video games "espionage".

@RsistncE said:

I'm loving the Iran hate-fest going on in here. It's almost like people are being intentionally ignorant of the fact that the US has done way worse shit than Iran. Oh wait, they are being intentionally ignorant. Waiting now for someone to parrot the "BUT THEY WANTS TO DESTROY ISRAELS!!1!1!" line.

I'll bite. Tell me how current day United States policies are worse than those of Iran. I'll wait.

How is that irrelevant? Iran is accusing him of espionage and is sentencing him to death. That's the exact same penalty that the US government would impose on someone they accused of being a spy also.

So let's not sugarcoat this: what you're really trying to say is, "The US government is totally honest and forthcoming while the Iranian government is not." Is the Iranian government totally honest and forthcoming? I doubt it. Is the US government totally honest and forthcoming. I doubt it. Anyone who lives in a country that sentences spies to death needs to think a little before they start talking shit about Iran.

When you say policies I'm assuming you mean actions. I guess you forgot about Iraq and the 100,000+ dead bodies that accompany it. Whoops.

It's irrelevant because what they are killing people for isn't actually espionage. This man is being executed because he makes video games. As an aside, I don't really think execution should automatically be the deciding punishment for espionage.

And no, I'm not saying "The US government is totally honest and forthcoming while the Iranian government is not." I'm saying that the two are not comparable. The US government is about as honest as any other major world power, while Iran is a festering shithole. When we start killing our game developers, maybe you'll have an actual point.

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@Harkat said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Atheism is the only way of peace, every religion has had blood on their hands at some point.

Wrong- Communism incorporates Atheism quite a bit. And look at how much blood IT has on its hands.

Guys, atheism has nothing to do with peace or war.

Atheism = lack of belief in a god.

Noting more. Not "lack of belief in a god and philosophy of peace".

Ahem.

Sure. Enforcing any belief is wrong. But that there exists a possibility enforcing of a belief does not say anything about the belief itself. Nowhere is there atheist scripture that says to punish theists.

Again, atheism just means "lack of belief in a god".

I iran if you made a game where women would be the lead character they would hang you... Not surprise here, terrible Country.

@Jimbo: I'm not actually US Citizen but I think this situation is shitty and deplorable (but doesn't excuse the xenophobic comments)

So middle eastern governments and/or the CIA are corrupt and another (probably) innocent man dies as a result. Shocker!

....blah, blah, blah, be athist, because its right, etc. etc. People are dumb for believing in God, blah, blah, same stuff different day.

This story is an absolute horror, and just goes to show, that while the US isn't perfect, they wont run up in your home and hold you hostage and sentence you to death, for shits and giggles.

@Bourbon_Warrior: @Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto: I dont even understand what point your trying to make, I said all religion is fucking stupid, you reply with someone being sent to death for acts against god. MY POINT EXACTLY

By your logic, all white people are serial killers because Jeffrey Dahmer was a serial killer. What you apply to religion could apply to race, or sex, etc. just as easily. Awesome job stereotyping, asshole.

Christ. Sentenced to death?

@Meowshi said:

@RsistncE said:

@Meowshi said:

@Jimbo said:

What's the penalty for espionage in the US?

Irrelevant. We don't consider naughty video games "espionage".

@RsistncE said:

I'm loving the Iran hate-fest going on in here. It's almost like people are being intentionally ignorant of the fact that the US has done way worse shit than Iran. Oh wait, they are being intentionally ignorant. Waiting now for someone to parrot the "BUT THEY WANTS TO DESTROY ISRAELS!!1!1!" line.

I'll bite. Tell me how current day United States policies are worse than those of Iran. I'll wait.

How is that irrelevant? Iran is accusing him of espionage and is sentencing him to death. That's the exact same penalty that the US government would impose on someone they accused of being a spy also.

So let's not sugarcoat this: what you're really trying to say is, "The US government is totally honest and forthcoming while the Iranian government is not." Is the Iranian government totally honest and forthcoming? I doubt it. Is the US government totally honest and forthcoming. I doubt it. Anyone who lives in a country that sentences spies to death needs to think a little before they start talking shit about Iran.

When you say policies I'm assuming you mean actions. I guess you forgot about Iraq and the 100,000+ dead bodies that accompany it. Whoops.

It's irrelevant because what they are killing people for isn't actually espionage. This man is being executed because he makes video games. As an aside, I don't really think execution should automatically be the deciding punishment for espionage.

And no, I'm not saying "The US government is totally honest and forthcoming while the Iranian government is not." I'm saying that the two are not comparable. The US government is about as honest as any other major world power, while Iran is a festering shithole. When we start killing our game developers, maybe you'll have an actual point.

It isn't irrelevant because you don't know if he was spying or not. Additionally the fact that Kuma admitted to doing some contract work for the US government makes the waters a lot murkier. At the end of the day, the state should never be killing individuals, but that belief of mine doesn't mean that I'm going to stand by and watch one country berate another for enacting a policy that it has in place also.

Iran is a festering shithole? This must mean you've been there right? I mean after all, no one would be stupid enough to gobble up the donkey shit the mass media shovels out on a daily basis, would they?

The US kills civilians of other nations all the time. Where have you been for the past 100 years? Since you decided that you need to start whistling and walk away from my Iraq example, how about this one?:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655

Or does that not count because the people on board weren't all video game developers?

@killr0y said:

@Bourbon_Warrior: @Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto: I dont even understand what point your trying to make, I said all religion is fucking stupid, you reply with someone being sent to death for acts against god. MY POINT EXACTLY

By your logic, all white people are serial killers because Jeffrey Dahmer was a serial killer. What you apply to religion could apply to race, or sex, etc. just as easily. Awesome job stereotyping, asshole.

Dont butt into a conversation when adults are talking, I was replying to someone that was stupidly trying to make a point against me that was my point in the first place.

I got nothing against people that are religious, just one religion pointing out that another religion is stupid when theirs is based on fairy tales too. Like when Christians laugh at Scientologists when their religion actually makes 1000x more sense than earth being created in 7 days but still no sense at all.

I love Mudkips.

Considering the past relationship of the CIA with Iran (i.e. Coup of 1953), the fact that he was a U.S. Marine, and the latest episode of Kuma titled "Assault on Iran" I find it hard to sympathize with his situation. He should have known better. As someone who (luckily) moved from Iran to the U.S. I can't remotely understand how he could have visited Iran. It's idiotic.

In the old days when the Soviets were the "evil empire", this would all end with an exchange of prisoners. "My bad, you caught me. You give us our guy, we'll give you yours."

Theocracies, though tend to be less flexible. These are places you don't want to visit.

I love how every time something like this happens in the Middle East, people immediately start blaming religion, as if religion is the reason why people do bad things when some of the worst genocides in history were committed by nonreligious people (i.e. Mao, Stalin are good examples). Things like this happen because of tyranny and despotism, not because of religion. So the answer naturally isn't to denounce religion but to promote democracy.

Also, I find it hilarious that people are so quick to blame religion for the acts of tyrants when religion was a fundamental reason why the founding fathers believed that all people were born equal and hence "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights."

Well damn...

This is why I love Giant Bomb. News stories with personal takes. Last paragraph of the article hits the nail right on the head.

@OneManX said:

....blah, blah, blah, be athist, because its right, etc. etc. People are dumb for believing in God, blah, blah, same stuff different day.

This story is an absolute horror, and just goes to show, that while the US isn't perfect, they wont run up in your home and hold you hostage and sentence you to death, for shits and giggles.

Maybe not, but they can now detain you indefinitely without a possibility for trial, if you're suspected of terror.