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First they came for the Iranians

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Re: First they came for the Iranians

#41

Post by Animats »

devoply wrote: post #16
salimmadjd wrote: post #9

Trump is ostensibly using the 9/11 play card to justify banning few muslim countries [0]. This is obviously a lie, since most of 911 hijackers were Saudis and his executive order is not banning the Saudis. I'm guessing on the strength of the Saudi lobby in DC [1] AND/OR Trump's potential business conflict in Saudi Arabia [2]. [0] https://www.scribd.com/document/337545704/Draft-Executive-Or... [1] https://en.wikipedia…

Can't mess with the Saudis. But we sure can ban the people they are bombing to hell, you know the Yemenis with British made bombs no less. And ban all the other people whose countries we helped destroy, you know just to add insult to injury. Really the best way to make people think we the vanguards of freedom. I am sure though Trump has some business dealing with the Saudis, I think there is a Trump hotel in Dubai. h…

The US gets only 8.1% of its oil from Saudi Arabia now, and that's dropping each year. The US is at last in a position to tell Saudi Arabia where to get off.

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#42

Post by CobrastanJorji »

throwaway2131 wrote: post #27

I am an Iranian CS student. I had a fully funded PhD admission at one of the US universities. I was admitted for the Fall 2016 semester. I am currently in Iran due to my visa not being issued despite the 7 months I have waited for it. I was able to defer my admission to Spring 2017 semester, but then _this_ happened. I am quite sure that I will never be able to attend this program. I had very high hopes for my future…

On behalf of my fellow Americans, please allow me to offer you our deepest apology. Please know that most of our country doesn't hate or fear you. We will continue to do everything we can to fight this policy and others like it.

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#43

Post by huevosabio »

throwaway2131 wrote: post #27

I am an Iranian CS student. I had a fully funded PhD admission at one of the US universities. I was admitted for the Fall 2016 semester. I am currently in Iran due to my visa not being issued despite the 7 months I have waited for it. I was able to defer my admission to Spring 2017 semester, but then _this_ happened. I am quite sure that I will never be able to attend this program. I had very high hopes for my future…

The situation is deplorable. I would suggest applying to Canada (as others have suggested), Machine Learning seems to be quite strong there. Otherwise, many of the application processes are still open in many European universities (if I recall from my time applying to grad school, ETH deadline as well as other continental universities are due sometime during Spring).

Edit: typos

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#44

Post by devoply »

Animats wrote: post #41
devoply wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't mess with the Saudis. But we sure can ban the people they are bombing to hell, you know the Yemenis with British made bombs no less. And ban all the other people whose countries we helped destroy, you know just to add insult to injury. Really the best way to make people think we the vanguards of freedom. I am sure though Trump has some business dealing with the Saudis, I think there is a Trump hotel in Dubai. h…

The US gets only 8.1% of its oil from Saudi Arabia now, and that's dropping each year. The US is at last in a position to tell Saudi Arabia where to get off.

US and Britain sell the Saudis over 100 billion dollars in arms. You can't get Saudis off your back with just no longer needing their oil. They still got money. And the military industrial complex needs to eat.

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#45

Post by jkimmel »

throwaway2131 wrote: post #27

I am an Iranian CS student. I had a fully funded PhD admission at one of the US universities. I was admitted for the Fall 2016 semester. I am currently in Iran due to my visa not being issued despite the 7 months I have waited for it. I was able to defer my admission to Spring 2017 semester, but then _this_ happened. I am quite sure that I will never be able to attend this program. I had very high hopes for my future…

I am deeply saddened to read this. I apologize, on behalf of the country.

Please know that the majority of people in the US do not support this policy. We want to see you reach your potential. We want to benefit from the talent you would bring.

Many of us will be working hard to fix this for the next several years.

I'm sorry I couldn't do more to prevent it from happening in the first place.

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#46

Post by semi-extrinsic »

salimmadjd wrote: post #9

Trump is ostensibly using the 9/11 play card to justify banning few muslim countries [0]. This is obviously a lie, since most of 911 hijackers were Saudis and his executive order is not banning the Saudis. I'm guessing on the strength of the Saudi lobby in DC [1] AND/OR Trump's potential business conflict in Saudi Arabia [2]. [0] https://www.scribd.com/document/337545704/Draft-Executive-Or... [1] https://en.wikipedia…

It's a bit more interesting wrt. most 9/11 hijackers being Saudis: I think it's pretty much confirmed at this point that it was a deliberate choice by al Qaida, attempting to deteriorate US-Saudi relations.

But as long as Saudis are omitted from this regulation, it's pretty ineffective. Then again, how much of "terrorism legislation" is actually preventing terrorism, as opposed to extending the powers of police and prosecution, or just being populist "I'm doing something"?

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#47

Post by thowfaraway »

It would be healthier for everyone if there was less speculative outrage. This doesn't affect anyone in the country. It just says if you are trying to get a visa from a country where we think there is a terrorism risk, that country needs to be able to provide screening info on the person, or else we won't provide a visa. It is targeting Syrian refugees, not Iranian PhDs.

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#48

Post by guard-of-terra »

pcwalton wrote: post #39
guard-of-terra wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who decides for me what's a threat and what is not? Isn't there the same sort of people who during Communism decided whether I need any sausage or can go without?

This article is about the government deciding whether a professor can take on a student or not!

Admission to a country was never a professor's decision.

I can't go to a country abroad and study because a professor has decided that I would be a good fit. At most, we can submit an application. Then, the decision is up to immigration officials.

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#49

Post by zyxzkz »

Animats wrote: post #41
devoply wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't mess with the Saudis. But we sure can ban the people they are bombing to hell, you know the Yemenis with British made bombs no less. And ban all the other people whose countries we helped destroy, you know just to add insult to injury. Really the best way to make people think we the vanguards of freedom. I am sure though Trump has some business dealing with the Saudis, I think there is a Trump hotel in Dubai. h…

The US gets only 8.1% of its oil from Saudi Arabia now, and that's dropping each year. The US is at last in a position to tell Saudi Arabia where to get off.

It's a political thing. Oil is a fungible resource. Saudi Arabia helps control the market. US doesn't want to lose that power by pissing them off.

As oil goes, so goes the world.

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#50

Post by thowfaraway »

crispinb wrote: post #21
guard-of-terra wrote: post #5

I come from a country which can't keep its le^Wborders closed in front of anyone. So I pity those students a bit, definitely, but otherwise I'm jealous for this policy. It would address my immediate pain had it been implemented here. And yes, I do care more about my own life in a country I am a citizen of, and safety of my relatives, than about people you call "aliens".

I'd love to know how (precisely) closing visa access to nations that don't send terrorists to the US (Iran) but not to that those that do, but which happen to make scads of $$ for Trump's business pals (Saudi Arabia), makes America safer than your nation. Try suggesting this policy (visas up the wazoo for oil-rich Wahhabis) to your elected reps. It's a useful test: if they go for it, you know they're either thick or…

Because if you read it, it doesn't close access, it demands background information on visa applicants. Saudi Arabia is already compliant.
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