Report: Mandela on U.S. Terrorist Watch List

Blow up the terrorist watch list.  Get rid of it.  It’s a joke.  It doesn't appear to pass the "common sense" test and has provided far too many examples of the wrong person being detained for the wrong reason.

We’ve all heard of well known people being stopped at the airport and detained because their names have turned up on the terrorist “no fly” list.  I scratched my head in disbelief that Senator Ted Kennedy and Representative John Lewis were stopped at airports.  I know conservatives can’t stand either of them and have tried to portray these and other liberals as America haters.  But, really, is there any reason to believe that they are in cahoots with the bad guys?  I have gone from scratching my head in disbelief to outrage after reading a USA Today story that noted former political prisoner, Nobel Peace prize winner, former South African President, and world icon Nelson Mandela is on the U.S. terrorist watch list.  You read that right: Mandela is on the list and can’t come to the U.S. without special permission.  The current administration will certainly go down as one of the worst ever, but the incompetence that resulted in Mandela being placed on this list is a stunning and redefines ineptness.  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the revelation “embarrassing.”  I call it ridiculous.

The pathetic bureaucratic reasoning behind the listing seems to be residue from the African National Congress' (ANC) efforts to end Apartheid.  Conservative apologists for the Apartheid regime successfully branded the ANC as a terrorist organization because it had the audacity to accept assistance from nations with which the U.S. had frosty relations.  It was ridiculous then to brand the ANC a terrorist organization and is even moreso now.  After all, the ANC has been the governing party in South Africa for more than 15 years and we have full diplomatic relations with the nation.

According to the story:

When ANC members apply for visas to the USA, they are flagged for questioning and need a waiver to be allowed in the country. In 2002, former ANC chairman Tokyo Sexwale was denied a visa. In 2007, Barbara Masekela, South Africa's ambassador to the United States from 2002 to 2006, was denied a visa to visit her ailing cousin and didn't get a waiver until after the cousin had died.

Read the rest of the sorry details here.