yeah, I got a vague idea of what you guys have been told. Leaders might be religious.stoning? well that used to be punishment for rape but they don't do it anymore (public execution by hanging still happens to pedophiles and members of Afghan drug cartels). we do burn American flags, the CIA brought down the first democracy we had back in the 20's, armed and funded Saddam Hussein against us, brought down a passenger plane of ours in our own water which resulted in the deaths of 300 civilians without ever apologizing and recently withdrew form a treaty that prohibits the US from banning humanitarian goods entering Iran which has caused cancer medication prices to go through the roof, and has constantly tried to topple our economy for the past 4 decades; these have made some people overreact and disrespect the flag of some sovereign nations which is a disgrace really. if we had nukes it would be the end of us and quite swiftly, so that shouldn't be a worry to you guys. terrorists, well, one man's terrorist is the other man's freedom fighter, but the one's that you guys are afraid of (ISIS, Boko Haram, Al Qaeda, Taliban, Jibha Al Nusra etc.) are funded and trained by Saudi Arabia mostly, so no worries there.
I get why you don't want to visit, and I can't change your mind about it; all I can say is that my door and my heart are always open to good friends and good conversations. (so is the door to my grow cabinet
)
cheers mate.