I see your point, and it’s a good one. I just was steamed at the incompetence, and as someone earlier up thread pointed out, the military has its own issues of PC foolishness and incompetence.
I just cannot get over that this guy was turned in and still didn’t get red flagged. If they missed this type of person, how many more subtle signs are they missing?
My husband is working for a mining company in Africa right now, so I am a little touchy on this subject.
There is no doubt that the visa process is politicized. I have seen it personally during my 28 years in the Department. At the post level, consular officers are given visa referrals from intelligence agencies, political officers, the Ambassador, to issue visas to people who otherwise are unqualified to receive them. The Consular Officer's decision is final, but there are pressures to influence the outcome.
The main problem I see is the lack of communication and coordination among agencies. Bureaucratic turf issues and fear of compromising classified information result in various silos that operate independently of one another. The failure to share information can be catastrophic as 9/11 proved. IMO the situation has not changed all that much despite efforts to do so. Entrenched bureaucrats and the lack of accountability are the main obstacles. We also need to improve the technology creating and linking secure data bases among agencies.
Right now, our screening systems are more like Potemkin villages meant to deter and intimidate. Unfortunately, the bad guys are neither deterred or intimidated. It will take another major attack or crisis to refocus our efforts.