this scary world

This whole plane plot is really scary. I have become much more aware of terrorism and how it affects my life since moving to Baltimore. When I lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota, I was never that worried. There is no way either of those places would be the first hit in a terrorist attack, and there would be time to flee to Canada before what was occurring affected me there; but now that I live within 30 miles of DC and in a city that boasts a major port, it has become more real to me.

A few weeks ago I got into a debate with one of the guys from work about who handles immigration policy better, countries in Europe or the US. I argued that the people in Europe have their act together, that their policies were better and they dealt with the multi-cultural makeup of their countries with greater ease than here. He argued that the US was better. I asked that same question to Chris, the British guy I met in June, while he was here. His opinion was that immigrants in America identify and align themselves more with the US than immigrants in Britain do. I think that is very interesting, considering what happened yesterday (and last year) with young men who grow up in the UK but don’t align their allegiances to their country.

All this stuff is also crazy to me because I am so passionate about South Asian culture and politics. I have ached over the close relationship the US has with Pakistan, because it disenfranchises the future relationships that the US can have with India, the world’s largest democracy AND a democracy that could desperately use the support of the US (especially because China is getting all cozy with their relations with India in recent years). But, sadly, the US-Pakistan relationship is necessary in this world. With the terror threats and the precarious situation in Afghanistan, the US has to maintain its close ties….even though the relationship is far from perfect.

I was thinking this morning about how these men would even be able to enter the United States….how would they ever get an approved visa from our government? And then I remembered….they were British citizens. They wouldn’t need one! That is also really scary to me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that issue gets addressed in the future. The reality of this situation is that these men would have been able to enter the country, no questions asked, because of our diplomatic relationship with the UK.

The world has changed…..

I hate terrorism……