A friend of mine asked me over the weekend, if there will ever come a time when Americans will ever feel safe again from terrorists attacks. I told him NO. We will never ever feel safe from terrorists attacks. The US had been lucky prior to 9/11, that's all. The rest of the world was used to having their countries attacked by terrorists, and they've lived with it longer than we have. A month after I visited London, there was a terrorist car bombing on the street that I walked to get from the subway station to my hotel. Londoners are used to the fear of terrorist bombs. People who live is Israel are used to it too. To some extent, although it's been almost 40 years, people in Hawaii are used to being bombed and I was definitely taught to expect to be bombed at some point in the future.

The people who grew up in the cold war were used to the threat of a nuclear attack and built bomb shelters in their backyards. I don't think we are very far from cold war behaviour.

It's scary to think that one day I'll wake up to another terrorist attack, not on the far away east coast, but here in beautiful and sunny California. I know we are living in a changed world since 9/11, and I am only just beginning to get it. Whether the US attacks Iraq or not, the terrorists attacks will still continue. Not going to Iraq may delay the attacks, but they will come nonetheless. And if the US and the UK do attack Iraq, I expect that the terrorist bombings will begin again and continue with alarming frequency. I feel we are a sitting duck, either way we go. And I hate and fear this thought.