US begins implementing visa waiver restrictions
The US government has begun to enforce a new law on restricting visa-free travel to American soil with limited exceptions.
Starting from Thursday, nationals from 38 Visa Waver countries who have visited Iran, Syria, Sudan or Iraq in the past five years cannot enter the US without a visa.
The Visa Waiver Program countries are Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and United Kingdom.
The Obama administration, however, has decided to exempt those who traveled to the countries as journalists, for official work with humanitarian agencies or on behalf of international organizations or local governments.
The exemptions have angered some legislators who accuse the president of breaking the law and compromising the national security. The opposition has pledged to respond to the Obama administration exemptions.
Last month, the US House of Representatives voted in support of the program under the pretext of preventing likely terror attacks.
The measure came in the wake of the November 13 Paris attacks that killed at least 130 people and injured hundreds more.
Daesh terrorists, who were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, have claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks in France.
However, some independent American analysts, like former US Treasury official Paul Craig Roberts, say the United States and NATO actually orchestrated the Paris attacks as a “false flag” to tighten their borders and enter the Syrian war in order to counter Russia, which has been conducting air strikes in Syria against ISIL terrorists since September 30.
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