Shocked... shocked

(Geneva, Switz.)- I hate to make every post about something I did or found while out running/biking, but as congenital exerciser I spend alot of time doing it and it is also a good way to see the world...

... I went out for a run last night about 9-ish. Consulted my map first and decided I'd head straight toward the the Palais des Nations (UN HQ) and then take the backroad around it, which starts up into the hills, then turn, down to the lake and back into town on the bike path.

Went out past the UN, made my turn, and started up what turned into really nice windy little road that went up and up, past the Red Cross HQ... past a few other buildings and I got into a nice rythmm. Getting lost in my thoughts was aided by the quiet foggy night air and the vague bits of mist coming down. The road was wet and dark and there were little cars.

Towards the top I suddenly came around a bend and was startled to see a fortified compound right in front of me, the lights of which had been muted by the fog. A half dozen uniformed guards with assault rifles started to their feet and kleig lights burned into my face. I stopped in my tracks and stood facing them. They relaxed in moment as they saw I was just a runner. I guess I had startled them at least as much as they me. What was this place?!

There were bright lights cutting through the fog, a half-dozen armed commando types, 3 succesive razor wire fences, a large concrete wall (also topped with razor wire) and 3 or more anti-ram batteries on the main gate. The razor wire fences were of temporary construction, but ran the length of the road and to have room for them they actually went onto the tarmac a little. The bright lights everywear and lighting up through the fog made a pretty intense scene. See Checkpoint Charlie circa 1962 below. Gary Powers could have walked out of the mist. Behind all of this up on the hill was a large building, the details of which I could not make out.


Cold-War Checkpoint Charlie East Berlin - It looked like this.

The guards studied me warily as I stood dumbstruck in the bright lights trying to take it all in. I decided it was in my best interest to keep moving and I resumed my direction albeit at a slow walk... looking sideways. Moving out of the path of the klieg lights, revealed the details behind and ahh ....I realized where I was. A huge stars and stripes flew behind the main gate. It was the US consulate at the UN.

The sheer scale of the fortifications, at least in my quick estimation, was shocking. I realize that in this day and age, the US is a special target and special precautions need to be taken, but this was truly amazing, particurally in what was otherwise an idyllic and somewhat rural scene.

I knew the US consulates had been fortified post 9/11; coworkers tell me this is the way it is everywhere. But certainly the climate that begats such necessity cannot go on. A country's consulates are its public face to the world and there will be whole generations of people growing up who only know the US as the people behind these amazing walls. Clearly something will eventually have to give.