Rongotai - Sorry to hear that you and your employees will no longer be visiting the USA. But I, as a businessman, believe that you have finally "seen the light" regarding the "cost-benefit" of doing business in the USA, and that these security measures that are so bothersome to you are merely the "trigger" to your decision. Might I suggest, as one business man to another, that you should have made this decision a decade or more ago,
before 11-Sept-01.
Rongotai - What bothers me far more than your common sense
business decision are those who will no longer be coming to the USA on business,
valid profit producing business, or to merely spend their holidays visiting our great country. These people are, I fear, reacting in a xenaphobic manner to the new security rules we have had to put in place to provide America with some small semblance of "security". These folks are certainly wrong in their reasoning, but I doubt I could ever talk them into changing their minds on this subject!
Does it surprise anyone here that as far back as 1997 I had to have a "visa" to visit Mexico? Yes, that is a fact. A "business" visa that had to be purchased upon entry. Had to show my passport and all that. Answer detailed questions, etc. I did
not feel "put upon", as I accepted that it was Mexico's absolute right to make the rules regards entry into their country, and to thus "delay me" some 30 minutes crossing the border.
Rongotai - You made a valid business decision. I doubt that there will be many others in your same situation, but if there are, then they too should make the same decision as you, and we will thus have a better and stronger world economy because of it!
Danny posted his usual well reasoned view of this whole subject.
What bothers me is why America "publicizes" this intelligence info. Why do we (collectively) not wait until after boarding
time passes -
without boarding a single pax and then put every single pax through the most rigurous and intensive personal search,
including body cavities, until we are satisfied that all pax are "safe". This search would include all carryon; checked bags, as well as cargo parcels/cases. I mean by this that
everything (NO exceptions) would be hand-searched to the "n-th" degree. We could also "compare" the
tickets sold to
actual pax available to board and look for those who are "missing". Might we not then have a better chance of catching those foolish AQ people in the boarding gate area and have "some chance" to interrogate them at our leisure.
Oh yes, this "search" would include the airplane, as groundbased people could have placed "bad" items in/on the plane.
Really don't understand why we don't try and "trap" the b uggers rather than let them know in advance that we are on to them.
America is still a great country to do business in; still a great country to visit. Come and visit us - don't let the b uggers win without a fight!
Ciao - and please see my signature line below .......
