Friday, January 27, 2017

Blocking Visas

The new State Department is going to stop issuing visas to anyone from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen (now referred to as IILSSSY). 

The September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center that killed 2996, injured 6000, and caused $10-billion in damage was done by 15 Saudis, two Emiratis, one Egyptian, and one Lebanese. Please note that none were from IILSSSY countries?

If you consider the Daesh headchoppers, peopleburners, & suicide bombers in Syria and Iraq, many came from other countries.  6000 came from Tunisia, 2500 came from Saudi Arabia, 2400 came from Russia, 2100 came from Turkey, and 2000 came from Jordan.  Others came in large numbers from Western Europe, Scandinavia and Kosovo. 

Why is this considered a smart policy?  How will it protect the US from terror attacks?


21 comments:

  1. You were the first that I saw mentioning "smart policy" on one page with a description of Trump policies.

    You guys will go through 4 or 8, maybe more years of idiotic government (again). Deal with it.

    Just leave Europe alone, please.

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  2. Dude! There's a Trump Hotel in Cairo, and a Trump golf course in Riyadh, and a Trump casino in Istanbul and...

    This isn't "smart policy" (I mean...it's Trump, so...) It's international brand recognition. Relax, and have a Trump Vodka martini; it's like a vodka martini but with no taste (but I repeat myself).

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  3. And I should note that if I was an Iraqi English-Arabic translator working for the USG I'd sneak into the US through the Great Big Border Wall just to kick the Tangerine Toddler dead square in the ass.

    Five draft deferments...

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  4. https://youtu.be/x2YLS80Nmls?t=4m12s

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  5. S O -

    Thanks for that link, love that show. You are right about four more years of idiotic government. I am only hoping it does not extend to eight.

    As far as leaving Europe alone, do not ban us all. I am probably to old to travel there again. But I do wish my grandkids and their children will someday get to see the walkplatz in Heidelberg, the architecture in Barcelona, the highlands of Scotland, and many more.

    PS - What is the correct German word for 'walkplatz'?

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    Replies
    1. No idea. Choose the right one:
      http://www.heidelberg-marketing.de/erleben/sehenswuerdigkeiten/plaetze-parks.html

      I think Europeans should return U.S. customs treatment in kind: Take fingerprints, take photo, ask stupid questions and so on. Treat American visitors like we treat crime suspects. That's overdue.

      And no-fly lists. Preferably for politicians.

      Delete
    2. S O -

      Not going to happen. Unfortuanately the Euro ruling class is already sucking up and kissing Trump's arse. It is going to make him a lot more dangerous than he already is. If that is possible.

      Delete
  6. @FDChief -

    "There's a Trump Hotel in Cairo, and a Trump golf course in Riyadh, and a Trump casino in Istanbul and..."

    Why am I not surprised that he only bans people from countries that he does not have business ties with?

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  7. And yet Trump has no problem in risking thousands of American jobs at Boeing and GE, pus billions of dollars in contracts, if the Iraqis and Iranians cancel those contracts because of his insults.

    And risking billions more in future deals with those countries when they turn to China and the 'Silk Road'.

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  8. The idiots are blocking green card holders!

    Canada says that it will take refugees blocked by the Yanks.
    Excuse the snow, however.

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    Replies
    1. God bless Justin T and the land of my great-grandma.

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    2. Ael -

      On the other hand, if Justin takes them in, they should probably stay away from Quebec City:

      http://www.dw.com/en/reports-of-casualties-at-mosque-shooting-in-quebec-city-canada/a-37323987

      Delete
    3. Ouch. Ya, we also manifest the full range of human behaviour here as well.

      I hope (and expect) the police and legal system to swiftly deal with this intolerant and intolerable action.

      Delete
  9. "My name is Joachim Hirsch. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered in Auschwitz"

    https://twitter.com/Stl_Manifest/

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  10. Hayzoos in the oval office:

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C3WyrzRUkAADRJZ.jpg

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  11. Good summary of what makes this at the same time brutal and stupid at the blog "Lawfare": https://lawfareblog.com/malevolence-tempered-incompetence-trumps-horrifying-executive-order-refugees-and-visas

    "Put simply, I don’t believe that the stated purpose is the real purpose. This is the first policy the United States has adopted in the post-9/11 era about which I have ever said this. It’s a grave charge, I know, and I’m not making it lightly. But in the rational pursuit of security objectives, you don’t marginalize your expert security agencies and fail to vet your ideas through a normal interagency process. You don’t target the wrong people in nutty ways when you’re rationally pursuing real security objectives.

    When do you do these things? You do these things when you’re elevating the symbolic politics of bashing Islam over any actual security interest. You do them when you’ve made a deliberate decision to burden human lives to make a public point. In other words, this is not a document that will cause hardship and misery because of regrettable incidental impacts on people injured in the pursuit of a public good. It will cause hardship and misery for tens or hundreds of thousands of people because that is precisely what it is intended to do."

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  12. Here's the other thing that flat-out pisses me off about this: it makes no sense if you think about the conditions in the Middle East for about ten seconds.

    First of all: Iran.

    Iran doesn't like the U.S. Considering our fucktardry (Mossadegh, the Shah, Saddam...) I don't really blame them. But the Iranians are principally trying to be a regional power. They bankroll groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria that help them project power, but they've been fighting the Sunni muj since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and are unlikely to be a significant "terror" threat to the continental U.S.

    Iraq - is a notional fucking U.S. ally, for fuckin' fuck's sake! Several thousand GIs are fighting alongside the IA. We're their goddamn air force. And given the U.S.'s history about a nanosecond's thought would have pulled up the realization that any Iraqi with a U.S. visa or green card had it because he or she fucking worked for the U.S. fucking government!!!! As a translator or liason or contractor. Christ on a crutch, putting Iraq on this list was REALLY fucking stupid.

    Yemen? A Shia-Sunni religious war...with most of the "enemy" Yemenis on the Shia (i.e. NOT the Al Qaeda/IS) side. Creates some chaos...but not a likely source or "radical Islamic (i.e. takifiri) terrorism".

    That leaves Somalia, Syria, and Libya. Somalia? Purely a failed state. Syria and Libya? Failing states, chaotic. Could a truly unvetted body be a suidice bomber? Sure. Won't argue if someone wanted to restrict immigration from these polities without a strong screening program...but there IS a strong screening program! In place! Already!

    And leaving out Pakistan and Saudi? Bizarre. Home to a shit-ton of wahhabi madrassis that crank out wild-eyed islamic fundamentalists by the turbanful.

    This is worse than a crime. It's a stupid mistake.

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  13. You think Trump might grant a waiver to Aladdin & Jasmine?

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C3eEHTGWYAA73Ng.jpg:large

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    Replies
    1. That reminds me of a poll taken back awhile that found something like 60% of random Americans in favor of bombing "Agrabah", fictional home of Disney's Jasmine...

      Delete
  14. Joke told on Iranian twitter sites:

    Last year the Saudis wanted to ban us from going to God's house in Mecca. This year Trump wants to ban us from the Great Satan's house. Where do they want us to go?

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