The border, at that time, was heavily reinforced with a deep ditch and towering fences on each side. The pair was well inside Iraq and it would have been impossible for them to have accidentally wandered into Iraqi territory.

After they were taken to Baghdad, they were tried as spies and received a sentence of eight years in prison. The Clinton administration then began their coverup efforts. Spokespeople said they were not spies. The main reason given for their innocence is that they did not have roadmaps with them at the time of their arrest.

Most Americans bought that argument. However, there is one aspect that few people took into consideration: spies do not go on a mission with roadmaps. They have memorized exact locations. If a spy used a roadmap, he/she would be put in the same category as Inspector Clouseau of Pink Panther notoriety.

With two of its citizens in Iraqi hands accused of spying, one would think the U.S. would have been a little humble in their attempts at getting them released. No such luck.

According to Dougles Jehl, author of "Americans in Iraq Given 8-Year Term," of the March 26, 1995 edition of the New York Times: "The swiftness and severity of their punishment prompted strong condemnation from the Clinton administration, which had warned only on Friday that Iraq could serve no purpose in holding the men."

On March 27, 1995, the ante was raised. Steven Greenhouse wrote an article for The New York Times, "U.S. Vows to Press Hard on Iraq to Free Americans," in which he said: "Two Republican presidential candidates, Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana and Patrick Buchanan, said that the United States should consider using military force to release the two men."

All the while this story gained headlines, the U.S. press called them "hostages." There is a huge difference in meaning between the words "hostage" and "prisoners," but the subliminal message created by calling them "hostages" raised the ire of the U.S. citizenship.

On March 30, 1995, the Iraqi government allowed a Polish diplomat and a reporter for CNN to visit the pair in prison. They stated that the prisoners were in good health.

On July 17, 1995, Bill Richardson, who is a current candidate for the U.S. presidency, and, at the time a U.S. Congressman, visited Baghdad to try to obtain the release of the pair. Saddam Hussein granted a pardon and allowed them to leave Iraq.

Despite the act of goodwill on behalf of Saddam Hussein, the U.S. kept up the barrage of insults toward Iraq. Then Secretary of State, Warren Christopher assured the public that the U.S. promised nothing in exchange for the pair’s release.

When Bill Richardson returned to the U.S., he was in the media spotlight. He returned a hero. But, his attitude about Saddam changed immensely and he made many jokes about the president.

During the negotiations, Richardson crossed his legs and had the bottom of one shoe pointing right at Saddam, who left the room and returned to see Richardson with both feet on the floor. Saddam’s aides explained to him that this was one of the most grave insults in the Arab world; showing the bottom of a shoe. A similar effect would occur if someone negotiating with the U.S. president held his middle finger aloft during the conversation. When Saddam returned, the negotiations continued. He was gracious enough to leave the room and allow his assistants to quickly tell Richardson of this aspect of Arab culture.

When interviewed by PBS, Richardson mentioned the incident and then said he didn’t know if they were going to imprison and torture him for the gaffe.

Over the next few years, Richardson made many a disparaging remark about Saddam:

• This allowed Iraq to starve its own people and blame the sanctions for their suffering. Under the oil-for-food program, we have taken this excuse away from Saddam. (March 1999)
• … and multilateral sanctions are central to our efforts to contain Saddam. (March 1999)
• But I also believe it is important that Iraq’s oil revenues be used to relieve the suffering of the Iraqi people rather than by Saddam Hussein for his own criminal purposes. (December 2002)
• Well, Saddam Hussein, you can never predict what he is going to do, but it is obvious that he is going to put his foot forward; he is going to say, "We have no illegal weapons." (December 2002)

Very few world leaders would have released two convicted spies with nothing to show in return. There were no "thanks, Saddam" messages coming from the U.S. Instead, Iraq received more threats and many denigrating remarks from the person who visited Iraq to secure the release of the two prisoners. In addition, Richardson was a supporter of the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. Right up until the obvious became clear, Richardson maintained that Iraq had stockpiles of doomsday military equipment.

There is one moment that occurred in which Saddam Hussein can claim verbal victory in Richardson’s visit. Laura Blumenfeld wrote an article, "A Little Diplomacy Goes a Long Way" for the Washington Post of December 13, 1996. She stated: