THE SPY WHO LOVED ME

Just the other day I was sitting around, smug as a bug in a rug, content with the knowledge that Cambodia -- poor, desperate, corrupt -- was, at the very least, free from terrorists. This is a Buddhist country, after all, and as someone much smarter than me pointed out: When was the last time you saw a Tibetan suicide bomber? Buddhism is about tranquility, and acceptance, and acknowledging the fleeting, necessary, complete and absolute transitoriness of life. (I hear Kenny G just thinking about it...)
But then there was an article in the paper by some famous person writing some important study that stated, in no uncertain terms, that Cambodia could, in the very near future -- possibly by, like, Saturday -- become a haven for terrorists. I guess some famos Al-qaida higher-upper sort of dude had spent some time here recently. And probably for the very same reasons I stated above -- nobody suspects this place. It's harmless. It's weak. And it's a perfect place to hang out, chill, and plot the next jihad.
Which got me thinking (which I try to do as little as possible) about countries, and borders, and infiltration, and how we really, really are pretty naive about the how the world works.
One would think, what with the end of the Cold War, that at least the non-Islamic nations would be pretty cool with each other. Glasnost and perestroika and Yakov Smirnov appearing on Night Court -- we all get along, right?
Apparently not. Some website stated that in England recently there has actually been an increase in the number of Russian spies, so much so that the level is higher than it's been since the end of the Cold War. President Bush may have looked in to Russian president Vladamir Putin's eyes and seen his soul, as he stated, but we shouldn't forget that Putin was once a KGB man stationed in Germany -- and once a KGB, always a KGB, as my grandma used to say. (Actually, she didn't say that. She said: "Go to bed!", but that line doesn't work as well for this particular example.)
And I'm reading a book right now called KGB: THE INSIDE STORY, continuing my Russia kick, and it's actually pretty cool -- a history of deception, basically.
Which goes back to my original point -- we're naive. Right now, there are American spies in Russia and Chinese spies in Japan and Canadian spies in Europe. (Yes, yes, there are Canadian spies. Last summer, some Canadian actually tried to draft me into the Canadian C.I.A. -- but that's another story for another time.)
In any event, I think we should all be thankful we come from free, democratic countries -- but we should be careful. We should be realistic. We should understand that this is a tough, tough world, and even though neighbours are neighbours and countries are friends, we still don't trust each other. We still can't trust each other.
In movies, in literature, in non-fiction, it makes for compelling stuff.
In real life, it makes me worried.