Reality Check 101

As of July 2^nd, there are at least seven Americans being held by foreign governments. None of them are being imprisoned for anything recognized in the United States as a crime. All of them were arrested for activities guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution as civil liberties. All of them were legally in the host country.

Andrew Tahmooressi is languishing in a Mexican jail. He was arrested after a wrong turn at the border. Tahmooressi had crossed over with legally-owned firearms but declared them to the border police immediately. This is the same country that has been guilty of over 500 incursions into the United Stated by armed military and police over the last ten years.

Alan Gross is serving a 15 year prison sentence in Cuba. Gross was arrested in 2009 while working as a sub-contractor with the U.S. Agency for International Development. He was working on establishing internet access for Cuban Jews in Havana.

North Korea now holds three Americans. Jeffrey Fowle left a Bible in his hotel room while traveling with a tour group. Kenneth Bae, a devout Christian, was arrested with almost no reason given at the time. His family has hinted that he may have been carrying some religious material. Most recently, Matthew Miller was detained after entering North Korea and tearing up his visa.

Three men are victims of Iran. Pastor Saeed Abedini was arrested in 2012 while building an orphanage. He was subsequently condemned to an 8 year prison term and has already endured severe beatings. Former Marine Amir Hekmati was condemned for “enmity against God” and for being a spy for the CIA. Robert Levinson disappeared from Iran’s Kish Island in 2011 and has not been heard from since.

All of these cases have one thing in common, a tepid if not timid effort by the Obama administration to demand their freedom. In the case of Tahmooressi in Mexico, the State Department is dealing with a supposed ally who is allowing human traffickers, drug cartels and thousands of unaccompanied children to invade the U.S. without consequences.

For the Obama administration, this all seems to be a matter of political utility and diplomatic cowering. When Private First Class Bergdahl (his genuine rank at the time he walked away from his unit) was exchanged for five terrorists, it was a matter of political calculus with the potential for huge costs to America in the future. But President Obama seemed to believe that Bergdahl was worth it.

Thousands of children have been crossing the Mexican/U.S. border in the last several weeks. Most of them are coming from Central America, traveling unimpeded for 1800 miles through Mexico, having been instructed to find a U.S. border patrol agent. It is the perfect Democrat “comprehensive immigration reform” storm. While Homeland “Security” starts a busing and dumping campaign across the nation, veteran Tahmooressi remains politically useless to the President.

And so it is with the other six Americans being held by oppressive, Obama-defying regimes. They hold no political value. They are incarcerated by scary aggressive people who might do something nasty if you stand up to them. On top of all that, what would the “international community” think?