If you haven’t seen it already, the 2004 article by writer Ellen Lappin is a must-read, and currently making the “most read” list of the UK’s Guardian newspaper. Literary Lotus often reports on the war on book review sections, but this firsthand account of a British writer’s detainment at LAX customs for not having the correct “journalist visa,” is a startling and clear revelation of just one aspect of the Bush regime’s war on the media, not only within the U.S. but abroad, and the grotesque results of lives lived and policies made in fear. Apparently in the administration’s mind, journalists were and are a threat to U.S. national security, but they don’t see their own hypocrisy in practicing that which they preach against:
“… The irony is that it is only “countries like Iran” (for example, Cuba, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe) that have a visa requirement for journalists. It is unheard of in open societies, and, in spite of now being enforced in the US, is still so obscure that most journalists are not familiar with it. Thirteen foreign journalists were detained and deported from the US last year, 12 of them from LAX. …”
Read more on the Guardian site.
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