I'd sue my travel agent

I’m off to a late start this morning because I’m still mentally on vacation. So what better story to begin with than the story of a vacation gone awry?

Swiss diplomats are trying to meet with three American hikers being held in Iran, the Swiss Embassy in Tehran said Monday. The embassy would not say whether Iranian authorities had responded to their request or if diplomats had met the Americans. Four American friends -- seasoned travelers -- were hiking through Iraq's Kurdistan region last week before three of them crossed the unmarked border with Iran, where Iranian authorities detained them. Kurdish officials identified the hikers as Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Joshua Fattal, CNN confirmed Sunday. The fourth hiker, Shon Meckfessel, stayed behind in Iraq. "My husband and I are eager for the best welfare and conditions for our son, Josh, and for the other two companions he's with," Laura Fattal of Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, told CNN Radio. "And that is our only concern, his welfare and the best conditions for him." Meckfessel, a graduate student at the University of Washington, was identified by his grandmother, who told CNN that he stayed behind because he felt sick. Meckfessel met with a consular official at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the embassy said. "My grandson has asked me not to talk to the media," said Irene Meckfessel of Carmichael, California, before hanging up Saturday. Meckfessel is in the final year of a two-year program called MATESOL, or Masters of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, according to the university. Iran's state-run media reported that Iranian security forces arrested the three Americans on Friday on charges of illegally entering the country from Iraq's Kurdistan region and that the matter is under investigation. The United States and Iran do not have diplomatic relations, and Switzerland represents U.S. diplomatic interests in Iran, which is why the Swiss are trying to meet the detainees. Friends of the travelers said that the trio have spent time or have lived in Western Europe and the Middle East. [Source: cnn.com]

I’m having a little trouble wrapping my mind around the idea that four kids sat around one day and brainstormed vacation ideas and came up with war-torn Iraq for their nature walk. I don't mean to be a dick here, or suggest that these kids deserve to face Iranian firing squads, but *cough* social Darwinism *cough*