Were any of the Americans released by Iran actually... you know... guilty?

[Smarmie Doofus]

Of spying or whatever the specific charges were?

And ... if so... does it make any difference?

Gwen Ifill (PBS) is all over every aspect of this "exchange" but that simple, obvious question is oddly absent.

[malaise]

1. Ask her about the folks in Gitmo or that horrific prison in Iraq

or anywhere in Europe where we tortured innocent people

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. The one-sidedness of US reportage...esp. in re. Iran....

is ..... well I was going to say "laughable" but it would be funny if it weren't so sad.

The same episode of PBS News Hour tonite had a whole segment of how many Iraqi *civilians* were casualties of the CURRENT war w. Isis. Had it broken down to categories. Mentioned the unseen cost: orphans, widows, wounded, PTSD, etc etc etc.

I remember the US military announcing that it wasn't even COUNTING Iraqi casualties in 2003. Civilian or otherwise.

Gosh. Those ISIS creeps are just eeeeeeeeeevil. Very, very, very evil. ( And note: That's THREE "verys"!)

[malaise]

3. The sad truth is that media in most countries only present one side

they all favor their own.

[csziggy]

4. Not sure but one oddity I found

My husband had picked up from somewhere a little book called "Who's Who in the CIA" that dated from the early 1970s. While the hostages were still being held, I looked up all the names on the released list and two were in that CIA book.

I'm not sure where that book is now - probably in some box up in the attic. I don't remember who published it and don't know if it was at all legitimate or reliable. I have no way to vet the information in it, even if I could find the book again.

But it was an interesting thing to find at the time.