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Afghanistan/South Asia
Have you been to Waziristan, asks FBI
2004-07-18
The latest question being put to Muslims picked up at random by the FBI and other security agencies and outfits here is: "Have you been to Waziristan?"
Sounds like a reasonable question to me...
Yaser Alamoudi, a Muslim student at Arizona State University, who was paid a surprise home visit by a campus police officer with members of the local Joint Terrorism Task Force, was asked, among other things, if he knew anyone who had recently returned from Pakistan, anyone who had shown interest in a government building or agency or anyone who had shown extreme hostility toward Americans. Later, the 27-year old Yemeni told Washington Post, "The questions were just ridiculous." He told his interrogators, "You guys really think you're going to get anywhere with these kind of questions?" He was also asked if he went to the mosque. His reply was that he did not go to the mosque with any regularity, "unless they have free food".

All visa applications made by Muslims, no matter from where in the world, are now sent to Washington for security clearance. Almost all Muslim visitors who arrive at American ports of entry, be they airports, seaports or land crossings, are asked a variety of questions, even if they are American citizens. There are two folders with all immigration officers, one blue, one red. It is not clear what the colours signify. However, quite a few Muslims have found their passport placed in one of these two folders and escorted to a special room where they and their documents are subjected to further scrutiny. They are also asked a few or several questions and then either let go or detained for more "thorough going". This correspondent has had his passport placed in a red folder and he was escorted to that special room on two recent occasions when he returned from abroad. In both cases, he was let go but the wait after a long, tiring flight and the humiliation resulting from the awareness that one has been singled out because of one's name, "Middle Eastern looks" and religion do not enhance a person's sense of well-being.
Posted by:Fred

#12  Maybe next visit to Mecca,he can be lucky enough to get a visit from a middle eastern welcoming committe.See what questions they will have for him.
Posted by: Brewer   2004-07-18 10:07:56 PM  

#11  Some of these ragheads better look at what happened to Martha Stewart when she lied to the FBI. They've got a long institutional memory and I'll bet Larry Ellison is finding lots of ways for them to discover the dots they need to connect from these ridiculous questions.
Posted by: Mr. Davis   2004-07-18 6:48:44 PM  

#10  Does the U.S./I.N.S. actually ask for anyones religion when they apply for a visa? I got one a year ago, have been in and out of the U.S. a bit since and have not been asked.
Posted by: Grunter   2004-07-18 5:35:20 PM  

#9  WWII had it correct (detain) all untill jihid is over, issue national ID to all
Posted by: Anonymous5785   2004-07-18 5:30:13 PM  

#8  #5, the question about food might also have to do with import restrictions. Fresh fruits and vegs can't come into California (a major agricultural state) because they often carry pests. And friends of mine who go to Canada to show dogs don't take a whole lot of dog food along, because they can't bring it back (mad cow disease).

Bureaucracies are inherently stupid and clumsy, though, and no doubt these screenings won't acomplish a whole lot ... other than perhaps to let people know they're being watched.
Posted by: rkb   2004-07-18 3:31:33 PM  

#7  making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who's naughty and nice, the FBI's looking at you...
Posted by: Frank G   2004-07-18 2:53:06 PM  

#6  I've been asked stupid questions too, but it was clear to me that the purpose was to observe the body language. A common psychological technique.
Posted by: virginian   2004-07-18 2:49:14 PM  

#5  "Do you have any food with you?"
"Where do you normally keep your gun?"
"Why didn't you just take the bridge?" (Upon coming off the ferry from Victoria to Vancouver).

I dunno, these are just a few of the questions I've had waiting for me at entry points. Pretty ridiculous.
Posted by: Asedwich   2004-07-18 2:34:28 PM  

#4  Well, it is good that we are looking at people who statistically have caused us harm the most. I would assume that Norweigan grandmothers are being hassled less. If you want to come into this country for a while and you are from the ME, better be willing to put up with some hassles. Remember that things get pretty bad for Europeans and Americans in the Saudi paradise.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2004-07-18 12:42:39 PM  

#3  And what's a good Muslim whine without the obligatory 'humiliation' reference?
Posted by: Raj   2004-07-18 12:32:14 PM  

#2  â€œThe questions were just ridiculous.”

Only ridiculous if 1000s of Americans had not been murdered by Muslim men from the Middle East over the past 20 years.
Posted by: anymouse   2004-07-18 12:40:09 AM  

#1  Cry me a river, Yaser.
Posted by: PBMcL   2004-07-18 12:21:03 AM  

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