Hearts, minds and the US
I got a press release yesterday evening from the Travel Industry Association of America. It says the Senate Commerce Committee has passed the “Travel Promotion Act of 2007” – a measure that my colleague Charles Starmer-Smith warned us about on June 20 in his blog.
The release says the act would create a “Corporation for Travel Promotion, an independent non-profit corporation”, and establish a “Travel Promotion Fund, using funds generated by a Visa Waiver user fee”.
The visa-waiver scheme enables citizens of certain countries – including the United Kingdom – to travel to the US for 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. So the US is about to start charging us for something we don’t have because it doesn’t require us to have it – and spend the money on telling us what a great country the US is.
Jay Rasulo, chairman of the Travel Industry Association and chairman of Walt Disney Parks and resorts, says the Senate’s passing of the act will “help America win hearts and minds around the world”. Sure it will.
Agreed.
The other way to “win hearts and minds” is to stop engaging in very unpopular wars.
Or, they could stop treating you like absolute scum every time you travel into one of the airports. My girl friend and I both arrived at Nicaragua following a flight through the USA. I just got surliness and a ridiculous level of security.
My girlfriend got full body searched, marched into a room where she was left for several hours and was all the time kept under armed guard.
We’ve both decided we’re never going back