US President Donald Trump has gotten a small victory in his quest to keep at least one of his campaign promises. The Muslim ban that he has attempted to pass off as a travel ban has taken a step forward after the Supreme Court ruled that a portion of it can be placed into effect while the rest must wait until October to be heard. What can still be legally enforced is refusing the entry of someone from six listed countries if they don’t have some kind of bona fide relationship to the US.

A “bona fiderelationship” would mean “a close familial relationship” to qualify for the exemption, the court said. “As for entities, the relationship must be formal, documented, and formed in the ordinary course, rather than for the purpose of evading” the executive order. Such an entity could be an educational institution or a business that is hiring the foreign citizen.

The six counties on the list for “travel ban” are Syria, Libya, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, and Sudan. The choice of these countries is quite strange from an outsider perspective. Since the supposed reason for the ban is to prevent terrorists from coming into the country, you’d wonder why Saudi Arabia or Iraq was not one the list. Others would wonder why a place like Yemen was. We’ll understand more if we dig a little deeper.

One seriously wonders why Saudi Arabia was not placed on the list. If this is about stopping terrorism as Donald Trump asserts, then why not ban people from the country which supplied most of the 9/11 hijackers? Because the ban isn’t really about stopping terrorism. The ban is about forwarding foreign policy towards countries which do not support US interests. There is no doubt in minds of the global community that Saudi Arabia is the main force behind Daesh (ISIS). Yet, despite US concern or Daesh, the country behind them was not included. Such a staunch US ally can never be criticised. It is clear that DAESH is also a tool of US foreign policy, a force that continually attacks countries which stand in opposition to them.

The inclusion of Yemen is an insult to the Yemeni people. Saudi Arabia has been carrying out a terrible brutalization of the county since 2015. Yemen is on the verge of mass starvation and disease. Daily the Saudis bomb and slaughter a country which has very little ability to defend itself. The travel ban on Yemen is intended to hinder and aid efforts to the country. Already the Saudi’s deny most humanitarian aid that is sent to Yemen. This in itself is a crime against humanity. The US entirely has the back of Saudi Arabia in its imperialist conquest of its Gulf neighbour. The US is complicit in the crimes being perpetrated against the Yemeni people.

It takes little investigation to see why the US has placed Iran on the travel ban list. The current foreign policy is to perpetuate hostilities against the Islamic Republic, as it has always been resistant to US interests. Iran has given much support to Syria and others who have suffered at the hands of US imperialism. Just recently, in retaliation for this, they’ve accused Iran of being the largest state sponsor of terrorism. The accusation is farcical in the face of the tens of millions which have died at the hands of the US empire. The travel ban seeks to codify into law more hostile action towards Iran. This while Iran has recently been a victim of Daesh when they attacked their parliament and the mausoleum of Khomeini. In response, Iran has been fighting Daesh in Syria. Yet they are accused of being a state sponsor of terrorism!

Trump’s Muslim ban has been repeatedly struck down as unconstitutional. yet, despite this, he has insisted upon going ahead with it by merely rewriting his executive order to fit a new attempt. Why all this effort over and order which won’t have any effect on terrorism? Many in the US suspect that this is all fueled by Trump’s failure to do the things he said he was going to do. Many of his campaign promises were outlandish, with analysists dismissing many of them as impossible. Trump has failed to keep his campaign promises to those who voted for him. This is his desperate attempt to try and keep one of them. Hopefully to save some face.

All of this is being fueled by a deeply seeded xenophobia that runs through the very collective consciousness of Americans. There has never been a time when the American people were not afraid of “outsiders” coming into “their land” and causing harm. Even as they stole the home of the First Nations people, they lived in fear of the “godless savages” as some kind of threat. Throughout the Cold War, there was a terrible paranoia that led to the deaths of many innocent people. All of it out of the fear of an idea about equality and justice. America constantly fears an “invasion” by Mexicans who simply want to escape desperate poverty. They do the same to refugees whose only crime is attempting to avoid US bombs.

Taken all together, this leads us to one conclusion: it is the US that should be banned from going to other countries. When the US goes to a country, they bomb it, kill millions, and steal their resources. The US interference in the matters of countries around the world has been nothing more than empire building and destruction. On why grounds can the US claim to be a victim of others? They are the victimizers! They are the criminals. When they go to another country it is only to pillage and kill.

Yet, if we took them at their word, they’d swear that poor people trying to escape poverty and bombs were the real villains.

Quote Source: https://www.rt.com/usa/394124-scotus-trump-travel-ban-stay/