Russia and the US

[Brian Hanley]

So these people that you are referring to, bought their US Visas as late as 2005 ? I remain concerned that these typical everyday Russian citizens are still illegally obtaining US Visas.

What I'll say about that is that in Tbilisi circa 2003-2005 the specific method I was aware of was for the local jewish group to certify people as jews, and for information to be cleaned. I do not know of a specific instance of buying a visa through payoffs to embassies in that period from 2000-2005. However, I have no particular reason to think that it did not happen after a brief post 9-11 lull. The fundamental conditions and motivations have not changed. Our systems are just as vulnerable as they were.

Paul and I were thinking about reporting these instances a lot higher than the very same Embassy where visas are being sold. Quite frankly, reporting such instances is every American's job.

I understand where you are coming from, but I disagree. There are multiple reasons why coming down on such arrangements could jeopardize bigger fish by far than that. It is a much better thing to understand that no system is perfect. Improve audit methods and personnel. That will make a difference.

Believe me, if I thought someone was coming through that way that was a serious hazard I'd let it be known.

That's barely a good comparison to selling US Visas to 'perfectly normal Russians'. If they can't get the visa in a legal fashion, then there's obviously a reason why.

Absolute nonsense. Embassy personnel do what the like and make arbitrary decisions constantly. Anyone that has had to deal with them from the other side knows this quite well. Here's an example. I gave a recommendation to one Major Konstantine Gigitashvili, an Afghan war veteran of the Soviets, to go to work for KBR as a contractor. They interviewed him, said they'd hire him and signed him up. To do so, however, he was required to attend training in Texas. (Don't ask me why. Clearly KBR has no idea what a chore it is to get people from the developing world into the USA unless they are academics.) He went to the embassy to get a visa with my letter of recommendation and was literally yelled at by the woman at the embassy. She said she would never let him have a visa because "You want to emigrate!" This was pure horsemanure. She was just implementing her private feud against the Bush administration and contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, that's a guy who came close to putting his life on the line for me, and did some things for us. He's very pro-USA, a Major in the Georgian Army who most recently fought against the Russians around Tskhinvali in south Ossetia. So, Konstantine is cooling his heels in Tbilisi. We still write each other once in a while. Mostly he tells me what a Casanova sock-puppet that idiot Saakishvili is.