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If it was reall, I'm sure the media would pick up on it. That nutty Sheehan woman is hardly a trustworthy source.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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If it was real you're sure the media would pick up on it.
...
I don't know what to say to that. The scope of real things that the media does not pick up on is staggering.
Posts: 910 | Registered: May 2000
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I do know that not having enough family is cause to not get a visa. The thinking is that without a family at home, you are more likely to skip out on your visa and not return home.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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If it's a conspiracy, why are they letting all the other Iraqi's come visit with CODEPINK? And if it's not a conspiracy, what's the problem? I can see the headline: "U.S. Embassy Follows Visa Rules."
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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The problem Dag is purely how bad it looks. "You can't visit the US because you don't have any relatives guaranteeing that you will return. Why don't you have any relatives, because we killed them all."
Its pouring salt in a wound.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Yes, but the same individuals who denied the Visa are not likely to be the same individuals who killed the people's family. Granted, the same government, but I highly doubt 'the government' did this out of spite, as some people would be prone to believe. As Dag said, the Visa people were simply following the rules. Now, if Bush flew in and personally said "We killed the family, don't let them in", that would be a problem. But someone looking at a paper and seeing "No living relatives" and doing their job by denying the request for a Visa is not a problem.
And yes, I know, the problem lies in the fact that the reason there are no living relatives is the war, but don't go blaming the entire government. The visa people didn't do anything wrong.
Posts: 2827 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Then again, they did nothing right. What did they say about the Katrina problems--a total lack of initiative or something. Same thing hear. These calls are a matter of judgement, not a system of unbendable law. So the US looks even worse to the world and no one is to really blame.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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They committed the bureaucratic sin of allowing rules and red tape to take precedence over actual humans.
Posts: 1332 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Actually its more that pesky "rule of Standard Operating Procedure." Its not a Law that is stopping them from getting their visa, it is procedures put in place to most efficiently conform to the law. Procedures, unlike laws, can be broken, and must be broken for the better good.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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We couldn't get my MIL here for just a visit for that very same reason. The govt took her money three times (an application fee is unrefundable, and it was somewhere around $500) before they finally got around to telling her that they would never let her visit, because she might stay.
quote:Actually its more that pesky "rule of Standard Operating Procedure." Its not a Law that is stopping them from getting their visa, it is procedures put in place to most efficiently conform to the law. Procedures, unlike laws, can be broken, and must be broken for the better good.
This might be true, but then again it might not. Do you have any reliable information that exceptions can be made to these regulations by the embassy staff?
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I have a friend who tried to visit, and ran into the same explanation, after loosing a good 2-3 months income in paying non-refundable application fees. After contacting our congressman to see if he could expedite the situation I was told that this is the accepted winnowing procedure. Before 9/11 the procedure was much more lax and open, but since then nobody wants to risk being the beurocrat that lets in the next terrorist, so they basically turn down everyone they can.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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