http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20100907zg.html

Picture: What a frenchman trying to enter a US base in Japan might look like.
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Samurai_Jerk wrote:I don't know why French muslims are any more dangerous than British one though. I thought it was weird but my French friend seems to feel it's justified. Of course he's somewhere right of Geert Wilders on the political spectrum.
Samurai_Jerk wrote:I've got a French friend who lives down in Kanagawa and used to go to Yokota with a buddy who is pretty senior in the Airforce. They stopped letting him a couple of years ago. Aparently there is worry about French muslim terrorists. I don't know why French muslims are any more dangerous than British one though. I thought it was weird but my French friend seems to feel it's justified. Of course he's somewhere right of Geert Wilders on the political spectrum.
Greji wrote:Actually, the third country nationals are not restricted, but it is more cumbersome then for a visitor from a country not on the list. The sponsor for the visitor must provide a request for admission to the Security personnel of the base, listing the date of the visit along with the request for permission. The visitor must fill out a form with home of record and local addresses and furnish copies of the information pages of the his, or her's passport. The sponsor submits the whole package to security a couple of days in advance of the visit and it will normally be approved within 24 hours. Pain in the ass, but doable.
Yokohammer wrote:Sounds like a restriction to me. Effectively.
As in, if I had to go through that to get into a movie theater, for example, I would never go to the movies.
Level3 wrote:Yeah, he doesn't have the spare time to apply ahead of time like he obviously knows is necessary, since he got turned away last year, but he DOES have the spare time to make a scene, call a friend to make a bigger scene, and then pose for a funny photo and do an interview with the Japan Times, which he must have called in to arrange.
Mulboyne wrote:I don't fault the guy for drawing attention to the issue. It's something the US Military is uncomfortable publicising and for obvious reasons.
Certainly, any time you open military facilities open to the public there are going to be security issues. However, the restrictions imposed here are as much about politics as they are about security.
The main source of Islamic terrorists among America's NATO partners is Britain and they have been implicated in threats to US targets. However, Britain is the one NATO ally to fight in both Afghanistan and Iraq so any indication that Britons were not trusted by the US military would play badly. Germany has a large muslim population and, like France, opposed the invasion of Iraq. However, the US has military bases in Germany so a blanket restriction on the access of the German public would also be problematic.
Neither concern applies to the French so it's been deemed they do require security clearance. Given that politics has ruled out restrictions on other west European nationals who represent similar or higher risks, that seems like a poor compromise decision.
The French make up the second largest group of Europeans in Japan after the British. In Tokyo and surrounding areas, they may even be the largest but I'm not certain. This particular guy might have been aware from his previous experience that entry might be denied but it's doubtful whether that's widely known outside US military personnel and associates. Base personnel clearly judged it would be better to inconvenience a handful of civilians than to draw attention to their restrictions.
I have no right at all to enter US facilities but I'd certainly like to know in advance if I wasn't going to be allowed to turn up on the day to attend an event widely advertised as a public event.
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