During the First Gulf war I was flying to Asia once or twice a month, and to N America about every other month. I was Gold with BA and SQ.
As lots of corporates blocked long haul travel - especially our Colonial friends for N America, it was a good time to travel. Lots of spare seats in biz and First, and attentive Cabin Crew with time on their hands. (and spare bubbly to give out to frequent fliers).
My approach was not on the faulty Geography of N American corporates, but was based on the pilots. They were most unlikely to go anywhere dangerous, they had excellent safety training, so if they were happy to go there, then so was I.