Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
How has this boy's loss shaped his worldview?
I have to believe that smart and determined diplomacy can keep the Iranians—and
us—from having to build giant new cemeteries for the next generation's war dead. That
doesn't mean “giving in” to Iran…it means acknowledging that war is a failure and we'd
be wise to find an alternative.
My flight out of Iran was scheduled for 3 a.m. For whatever reason, planes leaving for the
West depart in the wee hours. The TV crew had caught an earlier flight, Seyed had gone
home, and I was groggy and alone in the terminal.
Finally walking down the jetway toward my Air France plane, I saw busty French
flight attendants—hair flowing freely—greeting passengers at the door. It was as if the
plane was a lifeboat, and they were pulling us back to the delicious safety of the West.
People entered with a sigh of relief, women pulled off their scarves…and suddenly we
were free to be what we considered “normal.” The jet lifted off, flying the exact opposite
route the Ayatollah had traveled to succeed the Shah.
