Noticed in some of the papers today that the US government is considering removing the Visa Waiver program for UK passport holders, and make everyone entering the USA have a visa in advance.
Sounds like a disaster, the extra cost, paperwork and queueing at embassys must make this a non-starter ?
Could just be the papers looking for a "terrorist" related story...
They could introduce it but they would have to allow a period of time before they introduced it. Tt would cause no end of problems and the US Embassy to a complete halt.
Neil & Cathy
http://www.orlandovillas.com/villas/1401.aspx
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Britain 'is now biggest security threat to US'
By Francis Harris in Washington
(Filed: 29/08/2006)
Britain now presents a greater security threat to the United States than Iran or Iraq, an American magazine said yesterday.
In an article on Islamists headlined "Kashmir on the Thames", the New Republic painted Britain's Muslim communities as a breeding ground for violent extremism.
Citing recent opinion poll evidence suggesting that one in four British Muslims believed that last year's London Tube bombings were justified, the magazine said: "In the wake of this month's high-profile arrests, it can now be argued that the biggest threat to US security emanates not from Iran or Iraq or Afghanistan, but rather from Great Britain, our closest ally."
The magazine, with a circulation of 60,000-a-week, has its roots on the Democratic Left although in recent years it has backed much of President George W Bush's foreign policy. The claim is the latest in a series of hostile reassessment of Britain by Americans in the wake of the alleged plot to bring down transatlantic airliners.
Many have been appalled both by the existence of enthusiastic jihadis in British cities and by the call from some of their leaders for a change in the country's foreign policy.
Other publications and the think-tanks that shape public debate in America have also issued stern criticism both of Britain's Muslims and of the Government. Nile Gardiner, of the Right-wing Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Telegraph yesterday that Americans were coming to view Britain as "a hornet's nest of Islamic extremists" and thought it posed ''a direct security threat to the US".
He said that if British-based terrorism continues, America is likely to respond harshly.
"A major concern would be the tightening of travel restrictions unless the authorities start to crack down on Islamist militancy," he said. More than four million Britons enter America annually using the visa waiver programme. Any change would force Britons wishing to visit the US into lengthy queues at American diplomatic missions.
Mr Gardiner said the issue had not yet acquired a head of steam in Congress, but that another plot, or a "successful" attack by British Muslims on an American target, would be likely to spur an immediate response.
Investor's Business Daily has already demanded an end to the programme because it "allows Pakistani Britons to dodge security background checks".
Much of the outraged American response this month was sparked by the call from Muslim leaders for a change in British foreign policy. The letter from six Muslim MPs and 38 community leaders said "current British Government policy risks putting civilians at increased risk both in the UK and abroad".
The theme was taken up by the Wall Street Journal, which said: "It is typical of some of Britain's so-called moderate Muslims, who seem less concerned with fighting extremists in their midst than in excusing them."
The newspaper went on to attack Tony Blair's government for "cultivating and promoting such pseudo-moderate Muslim organisations". The BBC and the Foreign Office, described as "a preserve of Arabists", were also lambasted both for quoting extremists and allowing them into Britain.
[/quote]
This story is based on this quote I believe.
A couple of Senators have been urging a review of the Waiver scheme since 9/11.
It seems to me that an organisation that has the logistic skills to mount that murderous attack on the USA on 9/11 will hardly be deterred because of the difficulties in getting a Visa; and didn't all the 9/11 terrorists have a Visa?
Yes, all the terrorists involved in the 9/11 plot had VALID visas they were also INTERNAL flights not transatlantic flights. We have a friend who used to fly from the airfield where those men trained and he told us that more than once the airfield owners contacted the authorities to say they were worried about them and their antics so perhaps if someone in authority had taken notice 9/11 could have been stopped.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Excellent - the US will be invading Britain next [/quote]
In retaliation for those on this forum invading Florida?
Well you pay's your money and you takes your choice--but the practicalities of this could be alleviated by allowing Visas to be issued in other parts of the country than London but even so just the rigmarole of applying would put people off.--I can't see a complete cancellation of the VWP working.
"Dan Griswold, Director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, made the case for expansion of the visa waiver program. Visa waivers promote economic and diplomatic ties with our friends and allies, according to Griswold. He cited a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report which stated that elimination of the program would cost the government $28 billion over five years in lost economic activity from the drop in tourism. Moreover, the GAO found that eliminating the program would not enhance national security. Griswold sees no reason why the program should not be extended to other countries—such as Poland, the Czech Republic, and South Korea—that closely resemble other nations in the program in terms of population and per capita income."
A few years ago there was the rumour this was going to happen. As a result, I spent many hours collecting all the information, photographs, visiting the Embassy etc etc, only to find it the government changed their mind and didn't cance the waiver programme. So, I think I'm going to wait until the last minute this time!!!
This can only be bad news for home owners in Florida and other parts of the USA.
As you have already mentioned, the extra time, effort, queueing, and MONEY involved to get one, most families will look to go elsewhere!
It will have a massive impact on the economy too I'm sure!
Andrew & Diane Moore
I wouldn't worry too much, most political decisions are based on money and the major drop in tourism (although I'm sure it would be temporary) at a time when things are fragile anyway would be very bad for the US. Tourism really suffered after 9/11 and I'm sure they wouldn't allow that to happen again
Shirley
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