Posted on 10/02/2002 4:35:00 AM PDT by SJackson
America’s suspicion of everyone beyond its borders seems to reaching absurd proportions. The clearest demonstration of this has come with its treatment of its visitors, specifically its guests from Muslim countries. Washington has now announced new guidance for immigration authorities, which makes it almost certain that this discrimination will become a regular fact of life for Muslim arriving at US borders.
The understandable international complaints have begun. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has renewed his earlier protest, which was prompted by the humiliating treatment of his deputy Ahmad Abdullah Badawi, who was ordered to remove his belt and shoes before being allowed to board a Los Angeles flight to New York. If a top government minister travelling on a diplomatic passport can be subjected to such cavalier usage, what chance has the ordinary Muslim traveler ?
It must be suspected that the US authorities have codified the hard-line behavior of their immigration people, as a result of the outstanding failure of the FBI and CIA to keep track of known Al-Qaeda members who entered the country before the bombing. Unfortunately, with America in a constant state of near hysterical terrorist alert, it is unlikely that these new regulations will achieve anything more than giving the utmost annoyance and very often offense to many of its visitors.
With more than 350 entry points into the country, by land, sea and air, the attempt to monitor arrivals and departures effectively, is going to prove a bureaucratic nightmare. Officials nervous of censure from their bosses are likely to behave with ever more imperiousness than used to be the case. It was after all, never pleasant standing in the "foreign nationals arrival" queue waiting to be processed by an often abrupt and humorless official. And while this vast formal edifice is in place, it is likely that those who wish to the United States harm, will find secret ways to cross its extensive land borders or come ashore on its thousands of miles of coastline.
Of course, Washington is not alone in this. Security at European airports has been tightened notably and once again there is clear discrimination toward Muslims. Indeed throughout Europe we are seeing a growing backlash against all foreigners, as epitomized by the increasingly unsympathetic treatment of asylum seekers, who are now automatically assumed to be economic migrants and have to go to considerable lengths to prove their asylum claims.
However, though they are still feared, the Europeans are not new to terror attacks. By contrast, with the exception of the Oklahoma bombing, the United States had not known terrorism until Sept. 11 2001. Now the land of the free, which drew its people from every corner of the globe, is in the ironic position erecting barriers to the free movement of visitors, especially from the Muslim world. The danger here is quite clear. Once automatic and officially sanctioned suspicion becomes the norm for new arrivals, the official focus could turn upon those Muslims who are US citizens. Institutionalized discrimination against these people is now but a relatively small step and it is one that was taken once before, when in 1941 the US treated loyal Japanese-Americans with heartless bigotry.
Two words for the towel-head crybabies:
STAY HOME!!!!
"Absurd proportions," indeed!
His country (Saudi Arabia) wouldn't even permit this American to step on its sacred soil. I would recommmend the same treatment here for him and his countrymen. Being checked at the border for these swine is insufficient.
ML/NJ
Amen. You beat me to it.
To the author of this article:
You can thank your A-rab bretheren for this situation. Yes, we are the land of the free, but YOUR bretheren took advantage of the freedoms that this country offers to ram several jets into our buildings, thus slaughtering over 3,000 of OUR countrymen! How would you expect us to react? We are simply taking measures to stop any more of YOUR bretheren from coming here and taking advantage of OUR freedoms to kill more of US! Now, if you don't like it - STAY THE HELL AWAY!!!!! Because we don't want you either!!!
We are are war with Islam.
They are multiplying like rabbits; they are all part of the problem.
Immigration is part of their war plan.
Our laws are being exploited to enable their war.
Our borders are totally exposed.
Other than that, nothing to get excited about...
The Arabs, of course, open their doors wide to foreigners and practice no discrimination whatsoever, except that they stone people who openly practice a non-Islamist religion or women who don't wear burkhas.
And I was required to remove my belt and shoes on a flight from Raleigh to Atlanta. If American citizens have to undergo this 'humiliating' treatment, why the hell shouldn't this raghead?
Immigration, along with conversion of those already here are critical parts of their plan.
Well, we could use the Saudi's own policy. Issue a visa with a local business sponsor, let in government approved tour groups, but don't allow independent travel. And ban the religion of your choice under all circumstances. The Saudis ban Jews, you can pick for us.
We won that war, you will recall.
We'll win this one too.
Given that in 1941 the entire World was in utter turmoil, genocide was actively going on in Europe and the US was completely defensive in the Pacific, I don't think the US has anything to apologise for in it's internment of Japanese-Americans.
Doing so did not adversely effect out war effort, and that is the only criteria that mattered at that particular point in time. If you are going to fight a foreign war, you can't waste a lot of time and manpower on maintaining homeland defense. Putting all of your people most likely to be problematic in one place is a good, practical measure. The fact that 100 completely blameless Japanese-Americans were likely interred for every potential threat is harsh, but nothing to apologise for.
We fight to win. We'll win this one, too.
I pick Islamists.
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