Nightmarish US Customs regime may have cost Chicago the Olympics

Among the toughest questions posed to the Chicago bid team this week in Copenhagen was one that raised the issue of what kind of welcome foreigners would get from airport officials when they arrived in this country to attend the Games. Syed Shahid Ali, an I.O.C. member from Pakistan, in the question-and-answer session following Chicago's official presentation, pointed out that entering the United States can be "a rather harrowing experience..."

It's been known for awhile that the hysterically paranoid border regime instituted after 911 was costing the American tourism industry hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of American jobs. Maybe being blackballed from major international events like the Olympics will make them reconsider it if nothing else will.