Briton detained at JFK had 'been to Iraq'

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He had been to Iraq as a member of the British Army, where he won the Victoria Cross, our highest award for valour, (said to be equivalent to the Congressional Medal of Honor).

His awards:
Victoria Cross for valour in Iraq

Kosovo Medal for service in Kosovo

Iraq Medal for service in Iraq

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal presented to all living VC and GC recipients on 29 May 2012

Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal awarded for 15 years regular army service, date of award: 4 Oct 2016

You guys need to know that many of us see this as seriously taking the piss.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/british-vc-war-hero-humiliated-9760456

http://i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article9760462.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/RHS-Chelsea-Flower-Show-London-Britain-21-May-2007.jpg

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Type: Question • Score: 9 • Views: 6,489 • Replies: 30

@centrox,

I was reading about it too this morning.
He was really treated nasty. It is chocking and sad.
Long delays at immigration meant he missed a veterans' event where he was due to be a guest of honour. That is sad, but why did he fly the same day?
Some of the people checking your visa and passport
can be extreemly nasty

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It isn't clear whether it was just a long queue that held him up, or if he was actually detained for three hours.

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@saab,

saab wrote:

Some of the people checking your visa and passport
can be extreemly nasty

I've always remembered the time I went to Canada ( before you needed a passport) via GreyHound. I took the bus, because I was fairly young ( presenting a paper at a Science conference) and thought it'd be fun and very informative.

When we crossed the border into Canada, the riders were told to vacate the bus. We all left the bus.

After we were all off, a security person appeared in front of the group and snarled, while holding my suitcase, "To whom does this case belong"?
I went forward and said the case was mine. The security person snarled," Open it up". Then he said "Take everything out and placed everything on the road". This I did, with everyone looking at me.

He went through everything, and then told me to pack everything up and then told all riders to re-board the bus. Off we went to Montreal.

Nothing happened on the trip back to the US, via bus.

However, the next time, one year later, I returned to Canada via plane. Nothing happened when we arrived in Canada ( no passport required), no insults,no degrading of US citizens, no inspections of suitcases or briefcases..

I've never returned to Canada, but I'll always remember how I was treated, when I attempted to enter the Country , having traveled by bus.

It seems to me, that US citizens who travel to Canada via bus are discriminated against, versus those US folks to travel to Canada via plane.

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@Miller,

Miller wrote:

I've always remembered the time I went to Canada

I regularly go from Spain into France and back in buses. One time everybody had to get out and I had to unpack my bag like you. The next hundred times nobody came on the bus.

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@saab,

saab wrote:

... why did he fly the same day? ....

For the same reason that lots of people do. Either the flight was cheaper, or he is on the road a lot and wanted one more day at home. I used to be a road warrior, and even an extra day at home can be a very big deal.

And, of course, he has the right to travel whenever he wants to. If he had not been detained, he would have (I presume) gotten to his destination on time. He should not have to take into account this kind of stuff when he books his travel plans.

1 Reply

He looks fine in his uniform tunic. What is his branch of service, Contrex? What is his regiment?

1 Reply

@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

He looks fine in his uniform tunic. What is his branch of service, Contrex? What is his regiment?

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00626/news-graphics-2006-_626832a.jpg

He was in an infantry regiment, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, from 2002 to 2012, when he was moved to a public relations role with the Household Division (the seven most senior line regiments who, in addition to their normal duties, do ceremonial stuff like the Changing of the Guard, and royal protection duties).

It isn't like me to get all gung-ho about the UK armed forces... something must have made it seem extra relevant.

1 Reply

@jespah,

I read some place he was on his way to an event where he was going to be a guest of honour. Because of the three extra hours at the airport the reception was over by the time he arrived at the hotel.
Of course there are many reasons for travelling the same day, but flying from one continent to another when you are taking part in something very important is risky. The airplane can be delayed because of weather.
Of course he should not have to take into account something like what happened, but when travelling one has to take into account delays.

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OK, he was unwise to fly the same day, saab. You've said it twice now. What is your point here? I don't know if you noticed, but he's brown and he had an Iraq stamp in his British passport, and he got detained, which is what this thread is about.

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@Miller,

Once I flew to USA and landed in Dallas airport. The security person was a woman - a nasty one - who did do what she could to make it difficult for me and my little daughter enter USA. She asked me why I wanted to visit USA. I said I wanted to visit my mother in law. "That is no reason" she yelled.
The following year I again landed in Washington D:C and choose a line where the security person was a middleage man, thinking he would have more exxperience than that awful bitch. Just as it our turn to step forward he left for
a break and who took his place? That awful bitch.

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@centrox,

I noticed all what you pointed out and I am furious for what happened to him - especially when taking in concidaration that he has been fighting and been giving highest honours one can get.
And I feel sorry for him that he missed out on the event where he was a guest of honour.

1 Reply

@saab,

saab wrote:

I noticed all what you pointed out and I am furious for what happened to him - especially when taking in concidaration that he has been fighting and been giving highest honours one can get.
And I feel sorry for him that he missed out on the event where he was a guest of honour.

On reflection I have to say, if it was me I would have gone a day or two before.

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Below viewing threshold (view)

If the U.S. is alienating foreigners, is everyone sure that there isn't an ulterior motive? And, since the news media seems to only look for negative consequences, I am not about to offer several positive outcomes, benefitting the U.S.

What seems to be the progressive opinion is that the U.S. is really a Grand Central Station of sorts, and anyone can come and go at will. Apparently, that is not how the middle of the country often sees the U.S. We really need to get on the same page as to who has the ethical right to maintain this country's persona.

1 Reply

@Foofie,

Foofie wrote:

We really need to get on the same page as to who has the ethical right to maintain this country's persona.

Rolls eyes.

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@centrox,

Well, people who are willing to go out and fight for us, and even risky death for us, deserve more than a swift kick in the ass. That's not being gung-ho, that's just being decent.

1 Reply

@centrox,

centrox wrote:

I don't know if you noticed, but he's brown

Yup, he's not the only one.

Quote:

BBC World Service journalist Ali Hamedani has described how he was detained at Chicago's O'Hare airport and interrogated for more than two hours following a travel ban on people from seven Muslim majority countries travelling into the USA.

Hamedani is a British citizen but was born in Iran. He has not been able to go back since 2009 because he works for the BBC, and does not have an Iranian passport. He was detained on Sunday by American border agents having flown in from London Heathrow on a trip to Los Angeles.

He told 5 live's Stephen Nolan: "They took away my phone and started searching my Twitter account looking to find out my political views. I was also asked questions like if I had been training with the military in Iran."

"I couldn't convince the guy because he kept asking me about why I'm entering the country with a British passport, not an Iranian passport. I told the guy I don't have that Iranian passport anymore."

"I was arrested back home in Iran in 2009 because I was working for the BBC. It felt the same this time."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38792958

1 Reply

@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

Well, people who are willing to go out and fight for us, and even risky death for us, deserve more than a swift kick in the ass. That's not being gung-ho, that's just being decent.

Not only "decent," but grateful. Or, authority comes with responsibility. So many have no responsibility, yet want authority.

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@Miller,

Miller wrote:

I've never returned to Canada

sounds like the story ended perfectly

for my fellow Canadians anyway

1 Reply

@izzythepush,

Here is a Norwegian politician who got stopped at the border
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/06/americas/former-norwegian-pm-detained-by-us-immigration-iran/index.html

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Briton detained at JFK had 'been to Iraq'

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