CHAPTER 25
TRAVELS IN ARABIA
I
had never traveled to the Middle East until after I resigned from the
CIA. Since then, I’ve made dozens of trips to multiple Arab countries, as
well as Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. Two countries I have never visited are
mortal enemies Israel and Iran, although I’m always a little nervous when
my sixteen-hour, globe-spanning Emirates flight overflies Iran, en route to
Dubai. If we are forced to make an emergency landing, I think to myself, let it be
anywhere other than Iran. I shudder at the thought of how the MOIS would
deal with me now, on their turf, years after I miraculously managed to slip
through their murderous fingers in Sarajevo. I envision myself shackled to
the wall in some dank Persian dungeon, spending my final moments hal-
lucinating about the sweet freedom I enjoyed only days earlier inside my
first-class Emirates cabin. I am always cognizant of the fact that my past
can catch up with me at any time and that life can change in an instant.
Thoughts of an agonizing death on Iranian soil aside, at least once or
twice a year, Arabia beckons, and I come up with a suitable excuse to travel
there. Most of my Middle East trips are ostensibly for work, but oftentimes
they are equally motivated by a simple desire to escape the routine at home
and take off on another Arabian adventure. Just as I felt in the past with the
Balkans, I seem to get the itch to visit that part of the world on a regular
basis. I’ve also found that you can learn a lot about your own country—for
better or for worse—by experiencing life in others.
My travels in Arabia rank among the most enjoyable and enriching
experiences of my life. I find the Arab world to be enchanting, a never-
ending kaleidoscope of exotic foods, eye-pleasing sights, and warm, wel-
coming people. The first sound I hear in the predawn hours—the ethereal
call to prayer (adhan) being broadcast over loudspeakers from neighborhood
mosques—instantly reminds me I am no longer in modern-day America. The241