Sir,
My name is X, the Executive Director of the Y Business Association and also a show host on Nile TV international in Cairo.
I have been invited by the Center for Corporate Citizenship in the US Chambers of Commerce to participate & share in the “2005 Partnership Conference: Corporate Citizenship & Globalization” on May 19th – 20th, 2005.
After calling the Consular section in the US Embassy they gave my office a number Z and told them that this is my CASE number! Anyway an appointment was given for the 11th of May. After a few calls we managed to set the appointment for today, the 19th of April at 8 am.
Eight am was the time I was outside of the Embassy and the man at the gate told me to wait in a long line in front of the Embassy. I told him my appointment was eight am and he replied that all are waiting with appointments.
Unfortunately I will not stand in line for entry into the US, a country I have visited many times and a culture which I am, in a way, a product of and proud of being so.
Sir, I have always admired what the US stood for, especially the fact that it respects human dignity and it is therefore with much disappointment and displeasure to inform you that this is not what I saw today.
I respected the fact that the process now dictates that all have to go for an interview and did so by going on time, and since there is an appointment given then I would expect to be respected the way I respected your system.
I thank you for your attention and wish that the American image and way of life would not be tarnished by such trivial issues that eventually make their mark among people.
Thank you, Patriot Act.
so, was this person "too good" to stand in line with the great unwashed masses?
ReplyDeleteyeah, probably. but one should not have to go through such a process to get into another country.
ReplyDeleteIt's all relative. I don't think there is a problem if people have to go through some sort of process to get into the country. But said process should be less arbitrary and more efficient than it is. Out of everything wrong with the patriot act, this is the least of my worries.
ReplyDeleteIt makes it hard to do business when you can't get your business partners into the country. If this were the only problem the guy would face, it wouldn't be a problem. However, this is just the beginning of the process. A few hours at the airport would finish the humiliation. The worst thing is that he hangs out in reformist circles and is a part of the democracy movement in Egypt.
ReplyDeleteyou complain that "Bush" is not doing enough to protect the country. now the procedures in place are too strict.
ReplyDeletewhich is it ?!?!?!
find me a place where i say bush isn't doing enough to protect the country.
ReplyDeletei haven't said it, but i'll say it now. how about all the uninspected containers in our ports? or the unguarded border with mexico? or the breeding of terrorists by blotching a "liberation" attempt after failing to plan an exit strategy?
not pissing of a democratic reformer
great, lets halt the economy by inspecting each container. not only is it impossible, it is insane. why can we inspect every container entering, but not inspect every person entering?
ReplyDeleteborder with Mexico, do you have something against Hispanics? your tone sounds like boderline racism.
last i checked the vast majority of Iraqis who could vote did vote and are happier now than under Saddam. we still have Saddam, should we put him back in power?
we can inspect more than 5% of the containers that come in. 60 minutes did a piece on it last year- they were actually able to sneek weapons grade platonium into the country. the least we could do is put some sensors up that would beep if something like that got in.
ReplyDeleteapparently you haven't been paying attention to the news. authorities are worried that islamic militants are/could be entering the country through the unsecured mexican border. there is nothing racist about it. frankly, i think it should be easier for mexicans to enter through a controlled port so they don't have to trek the desert in search of economic opportunity.
just because iraqis are happier doesn't mean we screwed up royally. they would be even happier without terrorists running around blowing things up. and by "iraqis" you mean "shiites", right?