Stopping terrorism at its roots

From a column April 28 Daily Star (Lebanon), we hear of some of the questions on the application for getting a visa to enter the US.

You would have to dish out a hundred dollars, schedule an appointment, take dorky passport pictures with both your ears showing, fill in a lengthy application and get interviewed. Not too tough a process, for you can almost say it in one breath.

Now, just before you make the trip to Awkar [the Beirut neighborhood where the US Embassy is located], you have to fill out a detailed application, which is simply highly amusing.

The questions, each with boxes to ticks off your "yes" or "no" answer, include

- Are you a member or representative of a terrorist group?
- Have you ever been a prostitute or a procurer for prostitutes?
- Have you ever participated in persecutions directed by the Nazi government of Germany?
- Have you ever participated in genocide?

As for all the honest terrorists, who dutifully tick the "yes" box and accordingly "seek to enter the US to partake in subversive activities," well don't worry because your answer "does not automatically signify ineligibility for a visa." There is hope! ...

So you've finally received your visa? Yippee! But bear in mind that tiny note typed in the minuscule box toward the end of the application: "I understand that possession of a visa does not automatically entitle the bearer to enter the United States of America upon arrival at a port of entry if he or she is found inadmissible." Bon Voyage.

And welcome to America, where we can still consider you a terrorist if we damn well want to.