COMING TO AMERICA

DATELINE - 17th July 2006 ,Washington DC - Precisely, I'm at Room Number 314 of an inn, called The River Inn.
The address is 924 25 Street NW
Washington, DC 20037
Through the curtains of the wide glass window, I can see part of the Watergate Building. The place where the bugging of a rival political party's office brought an end to former President Nixon. Poor Nixon. In 1957, he was at Ghana's independence celebration as part of the the US government delegation.
President Nixon might not have been brought down hadn't a nosey journalist of TheWashington Post splashed the story that something fishy was going on and the President knew of it.
Mr Nixon had to leave office in disgrace. But I think it is the best did... resigning voluntarily.
How many leaders are ready to take such decisions? Maybe it is the American way of of doing things, or American system as some may call it.

So, a thought has been running through my head as to whether President Bush can be impeached for taking the country to war. This when Simbo, an Angolan journalist asked a young tour guide whether the President Bush did consult the Legislature before declaring war on Iraq a young guide who took us to memorial sites.
Chelsea was telling us about the independence of the arms of government, the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.

It was a sunny summer Sunday morning. Foreigners as well as Americans were thronging the National Memorial Parks the precincts of the White House. They were admiring the statue of President Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. There he stood tall saying "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. " Chelsea, our guide said in fact the statue looks straight at the White House apparently telling or watching over all the occupants for that matter Presidents who live there to abide by the tenets of the Declaration of Independence which he was instrumental in drafting.
He believed in rights of man, and a government derived from the people, in freedom of religion and the separation between church and state and in education available to all.

It is all green. The maple, cherry and oak trees as well as the lawns are all green. Under a shady tree was a group of muslims picnicking. Since 9/11, the average American thinks their country is at war with Iraq. But most visitors cannot see this. Well, life in most American cities are are not tense as one feels at the ports of entry.

The security checks are thorough and nothing is left to chance.
In fact I have not been keen about taking part in the International Visitor Leadership Prpogramme since I was offered the opportunity because of the elaborate security measures being taken by the Americans. What I went through at my first point of entry, Detroit airport was an elaborate check not only aimed at keeping the door narrow for illegal immigrants but to keep out terrorists.

At the Detroit Airport, I appreciated why it took a colleague long time to decied to travel to the United States. She was travelling to the US at the time of 9/11 and their plane had to to diverted to Canada.

The security officials are always polite, sometimes they get out of their cages, call the elderly, the infirm and women and children to attend to them when the queues are long.
Then through the scanning of index fingers as done at the time of applying for American visa in ones country. That is not all. Now to the the Customs, and then through the final security check where hand luggage and computers taken out of bags are scanned. Every traveller is requested to remove your shoes, belt,mobile phones and what have have you for scanning. One by one every travellers is swept clean by a from head to toe. Well, some three five hundered thousand cedis hiding in my back pocket betrayed me. The machine beeped until I removed them.

I wonder how every traveller can stand these tough measures, especially those who have not been briefed. I was lucky. I had a good briefing from the Programme Officer of the US Public Affairs Programme Officer, Mrs Sophia Bosompem on these procedures.

Well, travelling internationally may have its constraints now because of the so-called threats of terrorism. The security checks are not only being carried out in America.

I had to fly to Amsterdam. and it was not easy. My first hurdle to clear was a problem with passport. Since it was issued in 1998, I have travelled with it to many countries including France, Belgium, Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Russia, and other African countries. Nobody and no foreign official ever questioned the document for plastic foil not covering a small portion of the page which shows my particulars. But when I going to collect my transit visa the Dutch Consul authorities cancelled a visa they had already issued.

Meanwhile all the other airlines were fully booked because of the peak season. I had no other choice to but to apply for a new passport. It was not easy. But some Ghanaian officials can be helpful and understanding. They did help me out of my "defaced passport" problem.
I was saying other countries are putting stingent mesures in place to check terrorism.

The Dutch security authorities really quiz you with questions such as who packed your luggage, and at what time, and whether you are carrying a gift for some one.

I had refused to take a parcel of Ghana's prized Kingsbite golden tree chocolate for a relation. The young pretty Dutch security officer said to me, "it's good you did not take it". But my relation's friend may not understand or forgive for not taking her pack. But I wish she did. I have bought some Golden tree Chocolate for my relative.
And the news on Sunday, the first day after my arrival in Washington DC, The Washington Post splashes the headline on its frontpage on how Common ground of 9/11 gave way to partisan split. The report says almost five years after the terrorist attacks in September 2001 American politics has reverted to many of its old habits and patterns. It is politics as usual. The paper reports that national security emerged not as source of unity abut a new fault line between the two parties creating a set issues that have led to bitter disagreement.

As Mr Bush wades his way through the muddy waters of his last term, T shirts are being sold at duty free shops at the Washington Dulles International Airport counting the remaining years for the President. If President Bush goes, would anything change in America's role in world politics? In what direction?