Suspension of disbelief

Joe Klein of Time, normally a very clever and insightful guy -- with a strong grasp of international politics -- seems to have momentarily misplaced his skepticism and powers of critical thinking. He premises this Swampland post on

the appalling news that Iran seems to have brought espionage charges against three American hikers who wandered across the Kurdish border

It would be one thing if Joe were to back that assertion with some evidence, but as it stands it looks like Mr. Klein swallowed a whopper (intentionally or not) and is trying to feed it to us, too.

I mean sure *nudge nudge, wink wink* it's possible these 3 young Americans were just enjoying a lovely hiking holiday in Iraq of all places, and just happened to innocently mosey into Iran. But upon reflection, how likely does that seem?

Roughly as likely as, a few months prior, 2 American journalists just naively crossing a desolate frozen river into North Korea, again totally by accident. We know by their own admission that America deploys spies into these countries, so how do we suppose they get there, exactly? Of course these spies have a cover story, but that doesn't make it true.

Really, when was the last time you heard about a young American being arrested for accidentally wandering into, say, Canada? Mexico? Turkey? When Americans get caught sneaking across remote borders on foot, crossing from a war zone into a bleeding "Axis of Evil" country, they work for the CIA until proven otherwise, yeah?