Foreign Visits to U.S. Drop Sharply

With visa scrutiny to be stepped up Friday, some foresee a still bigger falloff in students, researchers, au pairs, and others.

From college students to lab researchers to au pairs, America is normally a magnet for millions of foreigners. But this year it's seeing a dramatic drop-off in the number of visitors.

Both tighter restrictions on getting into this country - and a strong disillusionment with the US abroad - are causing tens of thousands of people worldwide to forgo trips to America. Critics say the decline is evidence of a visa-screening process too restrictive, creating a "fortress America." But supporters see that process as essential to protecting the nation in a post-9/11 world.

(snip)

For graduate student Jasmin Shakeri, the process didn't work. And now the tri-lingual Iranian native - who's also a part-time soul singer - has given up on coming to America.

Last fall she had secured a spot in a master's program at Clark University, in Worcester, Mass., rented an apartment, and even earned a $25,000 scholarship. She had been to the US eight times before. But this time, she was denied a visa.

"I was really upset," she says. "I've known and traveled this country, and now they don't want me." She's finishing her studies in Germany and plans to go to Egypt for vacation this year where, she says, "They want me."

more…
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0730/p01s01-usgn.html

I don't think I would.....but maybe what we have to offer is still appealing to many. I don't know......

British Columbia, and there are plenty of European tourists here enjoying a peaceful North American country. The U.S. is no doubt losing valuable tourist dollars due to bushco.

I am in southeast Alaska, which is much like British Columbia. I have yet to see an area of the world more beautiful.

Bad enough that tourists might fear terror attacks, we have certainly publicized (through the Republicans) some very anti-foreign attitudes. Why come? So you can eat freedom fries?

Billy O was making crow over the fact that American tourism to France had leveled off in the last year and a half. Course, we won't hear about this story on Billy O's show or FOXNEWS.

the rich people in the area I live will have to start raising their kids themselves.

The rest of the world views the current US government as
'the biggest threat to world peace'.

Now why would they want to visit here ?

arrests without trials.
arrests without outside contact.
secret arrests
secret evidence
arrests without charges
torture
killing prisoners (afghanistan)

sounds just like Nazi Germany

------------------------------------------

http://www.prisonactivist.org/jericho_sfbay/guantanamo6.html

The idea that a person is innocent until proven guilty has been rejected by the Administration. These prisoners are being interrogated without access to lawyers, even though they may face the death penalty if they are found guilty. To justify its conduct and avoid granting these men the protections due prisoners of war under international law, the U.S. government tries to invent new categories that have no basis in international or any other kind of law -- one week they're "battlefield detainees," the next, "unlawful combatants."




---------------------

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2682863,00.html

Coalition Troops Are Accused of Torture
Friday May 16, 2003 2:09 PM


By ED JOHNSON

Associated Press Writer

LONDON (AP) - Amnesty International is investigating claims that British and American troops tortured prisoners
of war in Iraq with night-long beatings and, in at least one case, electric shocks, the group said Friday.

The human rights organization gathered statements from 20 former detainees who said they had been kicked and
beaten by soldiers while being interrogated, Amnesty researcher Said Boumedouha told a news conference in London.

One Saudi Arabian national claimed he was tortured with electric shocks, Boumedouha said.

When asked if his use of the word ``torture'' accurately described the alleged treatment, Boumedouha responded:
``If you keep beating somebody for the whole night and somebody is bleeding and you are breaking teeth, it is
more than beating. I think that is torture.''

more............

Of course the buck doesn't stop a Dubya's desk. As soon as they "secure" the homeland from all those foreigners, they will turn inward on the American people. How does checkpoints in every state sound?

and people seeking medical help. What about plain old tourists? And what about places such as New Orleans which relies on tourist dollars to exist? I'm sure Miami is hurting from the loss of vacationing Brits. Will we ever hear these stories?

didnt you pay attention ?
didnt you hear ? EVERTHING is getting
better, now that the grownups are in charge <sarcasm>

Everything is going to get better.

Everyone will have a chicken in their pot.
Prosperity is just around the corner.
Business will be picking up soon.
We've seen the worse.

Commander Bunnypants is in charge !!!!

It hasnt looked so good since 1929 !

Rumsfeld's tactics to torture & kill prisoners
has been widely reported in the world's news media,
specifically the 2 prisoners that were murdered
by US while in a prisoner camp.

Doesnt this now present a reason for no other
country to follow GENEVA Convention for treatment
of POWs since the US under Bush/Rumsfeld has
tortured POWs to death ?

Bush & Rumsfeld actions have now directly made any
US soldier taken prisoner more subject to death
while captured DOES IT NOT ?


---------------

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2503094,00.html

excerpt -

``There has been a report of an aircraft missing,'' the secretary acknowledged on NBC's ``Meet the Press. ``I don't want to speculate because I simply don't know.''

Rumsfeld said there are some American troops who are missing in Iraq. He noted that under the Geneva Convention governing prisoners of war, ``It's illegal to do things to POWs that are humiliating to those prisoners.''

-------------

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2825575.stm
BBC - "Prisoners 'killed' at US base...Torture allegations"

Thursday, 6 March, 2003, 13:25 GMT

Prisoners 'killed' at US base

Two Afghan prisoners were killed while in US custody at their base at Bagram, a military coroner has concluded.

The report said "blunt force trauma" had contributed to the deaths.

The detainees had spent about a week in the detention facility when they died last December.

....more

--------------------

America admits suspects died in interrogations


http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=384604

American military officials acknowledged yesterday that two prisoners captured in Afghanistan in December had been killed while under interrogation at Bagram air base north of Kabul – reviving concerns that the US is resorting to torture in its treatment of Taliban fighters and suspected al-Qa'ida operatives.

A spokesman for the air base confirmed that the official cause of death of the two men was "homicide", contradicting earlier accounts that one had died of a heart attack and the other from a pulmonary embolism.

The men's death certificates, made public earlier this week, showed that one captive, known only as Dilawar, 22, from the Khost region, died from "blunt force injuries to lower extremities complicating coronary artery disease" while another captive, Mullah Habibullah, 30, suffered from blood clot in the lung that was exacerbated by a "blunt force injury".

.....more

------------------------------------

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,909295,00.html

actual headline -

"Afghan prisoners beaten to death at US military
interrogation base"


'Blunt force injuries' cited in murder ruling

Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles
Friday March 7, 2003
The Guardian

Two prisoners who died while being held for interrogation at the US military base in Afghanistan had apparently been beaten, according to a military pathologist's report. A criminal investigation is now under way into the deaths which have both been classified as homicides.

The deaths have led to calls for an inquiry into what interrogation techniques are being used at the base where it is believed the al-Qaida leader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is now also being held. Former prisoners at the base claim that detainees are chained to the ceiling, shackled so tightly that the blood flow stops, kept naked and hooded and kicked to keep them awake for days on end.

The two men, both Afghans, died last December at the US forces base in Bagram, north of Kabul, where prisoners have been held for questioning. The autopsies found they had suffered "blunt force injuries" and classified both deaths as homicides

.............more