Hillary Clinton Gets A Hard Lesson In Foreign Relations With Islamists

The day that I heard that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had demanded that Iran release the American journalist Roxana Saberi I knew she had made a HUGE mistake but I guess I was hoping the Iranians weren't paying attention. Alas, they were. And now we are finding out that Hillary Clinton's lack of experience in the area of foreign relations is bringing her a big lesson in the school of hard knocks - dealing with islamist regimes. The Iranians announced today that Saberi will continue to be held in an Iranian jail and that in fact, now she will be tried for espionage. So, you might ask...why the sudden turnaround by the Iranians when it actually looked pretty promising that the Iranians would release Saberi? Well, I'll tell you...but first let's look at some details from the new charges today here at the AP and also the report from Reuters last month where Clinton stumbled big time:

An American journalist jailed for more than two months in Iran has been charged with spying for the U.S., a judge said Wednesday, dashing hopes of a quick release days after her parents arrived in the country seeking her freedom.
The espionage charge is far more serious than earlier statements by Iranian officials that the woman had been arrested for working in the Islamic Republic without press credentials and her own assertion in a phone call to her father that she was arrested after buying a bottle of wine.

"Under the cover of a journalist, she visited government buildings, established contacts with some of the employees, gathered classified information and sent it to the U.S. intelligence services," said the judge, who under security rules was identified only by his surname, Heidarifard.

Now, here's from March when Hillary Clinton laid down the gauntlet:

CPJ asked the Iranian government to ensure that she receives due process and is released as quickly as possible. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has also demanded that Tehran immediately release the journalist.

Here's the mistake Secretary of State Clinton made and why this young woman, Saberi, is now being held as a spy. When this woman was incarcerated, individuals and groups in America were outraged and started asking for support to try and get her released...and they made pleas to the U.S. government. Amateurish Hillary Clinton could not pass up this opportunity to get her famous name out there, flex some of that muscle she thinks she has and she waded right into the Iranian trap - as you saw above, Clinton demanded the release of Saberi and in that moment, Hillary Clinton had "gone all in" without even looking at what her next card was going to be.

You see, the Iranians don't give a shit about Hillary Clinton - these are the same animals that held 52 Americans hostage in the Carter years - the Iranians, like every other group of islamists do NOT negotiate and they do NOT let people go because someone asks for it or demands it. It's the way they are. Look at Hamas or Hezbollah in regards to Israel - those terror groups grab Israeli soldiers or citizens only as a means to getting what they want....usually a release of a horde of their asswipe buddies from Israeli jails. So, with a misguided statement, Hillary Clinton lowered herself into a seeming negotiation for one U.S. citizen - for crying out loud, all of America called for the release of those 52 Americans for months and months and the Iranians told us to shove it. Did Hillary Clinton actually believe the Iranians would just let this journalist go because the mighty Hillary "it takes a village" Clinton demanded it?

Here we have the person in the highest state position in our country going on personal crusades to help out a single citizen and in the end, she's made out to be a fool. Well, the game has changed now, hasn't it Secretary Clinton? The ante on the head of Roxana Saberi just went up big time and now you have NOTHING to negotiate with - oh wait, perhaps the Iranians will now ask you, Secretary Clinton, to ease some of those nasty sanctions on them in exchange for the prisoner? You starting to see how it works? I hope so.

Iran charges American journalist with espionage

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An American journalist jailed for more than two months in Iran has been charged with spying for the U.S., a judge said Wednesday, dashing hopes of a quick release days after her parents arrived in the country seeking her freedom.
The espionage charge is far more serious than earlier statements by Iranian officials that the woman had been arrested for working in the Islamic Republic without press credentials and her own assertion in a phone call to her father that she was arrested after buying a bottle of wine.
Roxana Saberi, who grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, and is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Iran, has been living in Iran for six years. She has reported from there for several news organizations, including National Public Radio and the British Broadcasting Corp.
An investigative judge involved in the case told state TV that Saberi was passing classified information to U.S. intelligence services.
"Under the cover of a journalist, she visited government buildings, established contacts with some of the employees, gathered classified information and sent it to the U.S. intelligence services," said the judge, who under security rules was identified only by his surname, Heidarifard.
"Her activities were discovered by the counter-espionage department of the Intelligence Ministry," Heidarifard said.
Saberi will stand trial next week, the judge said, though he did not specify which day.
The announcement of espionage charges got the attention of the Obama administration, which has been pushing for her release.
"We are deeply concerned by the news that we're hearing," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters at the State Department, adding that the administration has asked Swiss diplomats in Iran for the "most accurate, up-to-date information" on Saberi. Though the U.S. has no diplomatic relations with Iran, it has an interests section at the Swiss Embassy.
Officials in the woman's home state who have been pressing for action also expressed concern about the direction her case is taking.
"This is disturbing news and is certainly hard to believe," said Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota, noting that at first the government had accused her of working without accreditation. "Now the story is Roxana is a spy? I find this all very hard to believe."
The 31-year-old freelance reporter was arrested in late January. Her lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, said Saberi has been informed of the espionage charge against her and that he plans to request that she be released on bail until the trial.
Human rights groups have repeatedly criticized Iran for arresting journalists and suppressing freedom of speech. The government has arrested several Iranian-Americans in the past few years, citing alleged attempts to overthrow its Islamic government.