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By Aisha Gawad December 7, 2009 If I am ever arrested and detained as a foreign spy, I hope that I handle it with as much integrity as Maziar Bahari. But I guess if I’m making wishes, I should first wish that I will never be arrested and detained as a foreign spy. (I would never make it in prison ... I giggle like a school girl when I’m scared and I don’t think my interrogator would like that). Bahari, a journalist for Newsweek, was arrested in Iran on June 21, 2009 following the disputed election protests. He was detained without charges for 118 days and finally released on October 20. During those 118 days, which he documents in eerily moving detail in Newsweek, he was accused of being a spy for organizations such as the CIA, MI6, and Mossad, brutally beaten, and psychologically tormented. One of the primary pieces of “evidence” used against Bahari by his interrogators was a spoof appearance he made on “The Daily Show” just before the June elections. Daily Show correspondent Jason Jones traveled to Iran in June to do a series of funny skits on the elections. In one of the skits, he interviewed Bahari and jokingly labeled him as a spy. Apparently, humor is not a requirement of the Revolutionary Guard because Bahari was soon after accused for being an actual spy. After his release, Bahari has written extensively about his experience and has appeared on several televised interviews. He always talks about the ordeal with remarkable ease, humor and honesty. The rest of us could learn a lot from his descriptions, especially of the Revolutionary Guard and the role they play in Iranian power politics (see this Washington Post article). For all the sensationalist and totally unfocused and uninformed coverage of Iran produced in the United States, here is someone who can speak rationally, make informed recommendations, and is actually motivated by the well-being of the Iranian people. And if the man wasn’t admirable enough, Bahari even returned to “The Daily Show” for a post-detention interview. Host John Stewart opens the interview like this: “You were imprisoned in Iran ...” to which Bahari responds, “Yes. Because of you.” Bahari also recounts his interrogator’s odd obsession with the state of New Jersey, which he is convinced is a land of sex and alcohol and ... no Jewish people. As Stewart and Bahari agree, ”evil is stupid.” Photo: Getty Images http://www.elanthemag.com/index.php/site/blog_detail/maziar_bahari_talks_and_laughs_about_his_118_days_in_iranian_prison-nid6955/