Shortly before leaving on our long-planned trip to Egypt, Donald Trump launched an attack on Iran, seeking a government overthrow. While this was concerning for many reasons, it did not dissuade us from following through with our travel plans. No one else in our group of 19 travelers opted to cancel, either. Checking in with the U. S. state department prior to departure revealed that Egypt was classified as a Level 2 alert, calling for heightened caution and refraining from traveling to certain areas of Egypt (none of which we had planned to visit).
we were therefore somewhat surprised at the number of texts, emails, and phone calls our group received from family and friends in the U. S., who had been bombarded with news about the dangerous conditions throughout the Middle East, including Egypt. Apparently danger sells viewership.
The atmosphere here is quite relaxed. No local residents we have spoken with have expressed any anxiety at all about the situation in Iran. Life is proceeding normally.all of this hullabaloo has caused me to question U.S. news reporting when it comes to international tensions. The U.S. has been graced with the absence of conflict on our soil for over 150 years, which is certainly a blessing, but it has perhaps distanced us from the realities of conflict in other parts of the world.we should keep this in mind when reading accounts of conflict in distant parts of the world.
