Well, you should not forget the European financial situation, disposable income, property market, credit options etc. The F1 was sorted in lieu of J1 when the DOS and DOJ haggled about it and industry lobbied enough to get the course cloaked onto academic F1 college/Uni visa.
True. I've heard that about JAA training too. It's better cash cow and their rates, even for FAA, are not the most competitive with other heli schools for those who don't need to go to Bristow Academy. Pay as you go local students will think twice. Also the R22 US training market position does not help. BA still has some Latin/Central America military training programmes/cadets. They advertised for some Spanish speaking instructors again recently.