A peek at Tehran, and ourselves

Rick Steves likes to say that travel is more than a vacation. It's a political act.

He means each journey abroad is micro-scale diplomacy, opening a mind at a time to our common humanity. Quiet politics.

Quiet is not how anyone would describe the Edmonds travel guru's own latest junket.

Steves, known for enthusiastically sipping and sampling his way across Europe, has gone in-your-face gonzo. Last week, he set off on a 10-day TV foray into a country we won't even talk to, Iran.

The goal, he wrote, is to "give 'collateral damage' a face." To humanize an enemy so as to pre-empt a war before it starts.

"If I can help avert an extra war — even just a little bit — this will be a brilliant personal investment — and lots of people will owe me big-time," Steves wrote on his Web site, ricksteves.com.

That's about when the shootout started here at home.

"Sounds like a fun trip," one man wrote Steves. "See if you can interview the Iranians coming back from Iraq. Get a count of the American soldiers they have killed."

"Perhaps they will take you on a tour of a terrorist training facility or show you the place they kept the hostages while Carter was president?" wrote another.

"Good for you, Rick," said another. "In your discussions with Iranians, you might want to avoid your positions on legalized marijuana or prostitution (or for that matter, gay marriage). They don't tend to be as tolerant about differing opinions there."

Hundreds of his customers posted opinions, many lauding him for going beyond the "Axis of Evil" caricature of Iran. But others unloaded, calling him a propaganda tool. Jane Fonda, off to Hanoi.

One mother of a U.S. soldier in Iraq said she's a huge Rick Steves fan. But his "condescension" toward America made her livid.

"So long Rick," she wrote. "From now on, I'm traveling without you."

Steves is still in Iran and not available to comment. So far, his Web reports are not puff pieces. The shots of him grinning with soldiers or hijab-wearing women are interspersed with commentary on the "creepy" authoritarian feel or "Death to America" posters.

Still, the reaction to his trip makes me wonder: Are we even ready for cross-cultural diplomacy in this country?

It has been clear for some time that the Bush doctrine — you're either with us or against us — is over. But what will we replace it with?

If a travel guide can't go to Iran without being branded a traitor, what'll it be like for a new president who wants to reach out?

Now, Steves did bring some of the vitriol on himself. Mostly by comparing himself to the "strong-hearted Americans" who enlisted in the military after 9/11.

"While the fire in my gut is just as hot and the concern in my heart just as real, my choice of weapons is different," he writes. "Like them, I don't care about my safety, the cost or the work ... I want to do this. I have to do this."

Uh, Rick? You're filming a travel show at the invitation of a country open for tourism. It's hardly house-to-house combat.

Still, the reaction to Steves' trip is worrisome. When will we change our posture toward the world, if not after so colossally failing at being the globe's bully?

Traveling, like talking, is not appeasement. It seems like a more confident country would get that.

Danny Westneat's column appears Wednesday and Sunday. Reach him at 206-464-2086 or dwestneat@seattletimes.com.