Anthony L. Hall is a descendant of the Turks & Caicos Islands, international lawyer and political consultant - headquartered in Washington DC - who publishes his own Internet Weblog at www.theipinionsjournal.com offering commentaries on current events from a Caribbean perspective

Therefore, I felt obliged to quell fulminations against this initiative by offering a sober, and ultimately more reassuring, assessment of its implications. Moreover, I was moved by regional pride to question the leadership of people like Bahamian PM Perry Christie and Chairman and Founder of Sandals and Beaches Resorts, Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart. Because these men are amongst the vanguard of those fomenting the misguided presumption that the US Congress is as obligated to pass laws that pose no harm to our tourist economies as Caribbean governments are to pass laws that benefit them.

But earlier this week, my friend and fellow columnist, Sir Ronald Sanders, referred me to an article he wrote on this initiative over a year ago.  And, sure enough, there -  in the most comprehensive and instructive prose any politician, businessman or citizen could ever hope for – was not only a distillation of the implications of the WHTI but also strategic advice for regional governments and organisations to limit its economic impact. 

For example, Sir Ronald explained that:

“This is a reality that the tourism industry in the Caribbean has to take account of now. The industry should not expect the US public to know about the requirement that they have passports by January 1.”

And then he advised that:

“A programme of education should be launched in the US with travel agents and tour operators.  And, national and regional tourist offices based in the US should each start initiatives of their own to educate the US public about the requirement for passports and how to get them.”

And finally he warned that:

“Failure to do so will see January 1, 2008 arrive with a significant reduction in the number of US tourists visiting the Caribbean.”

With that, I trust it’s clear why I decided that anything I write now on the WHTI would be redundant.  (Incidentally, I urge all of you to read Sir Ronald’s article in its entirety by clicking here.) But reading it only made me even more indignant about the reporting and commentary on (and reaction to) this initiative. 

After all, they give one the impression that the WHTI is an arbitrary and capricious initiative designed by the United States to punish us. (In fact, several commentators have even declared that we’re “under siege”.)  Moreover, they would have one believe that our governments have no obligation to act as Sir Ronald advised. 

Whereas, truth be told, the US enacted the WHTI entirely pursuant to its own national security interests - utterly without regard for us, which, of course, is its prerogative. (Although, if our leaders showed more understanding of and respect for the U.S. legislative process, its disregard for the WHTI’s impact on our regional economies might not have been so acute.  See “NOTE” below.)

But the irony is not lost on me that - of all of the silly security measures the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has implemented (like forcing travellers to put toiletries in sandwich bags) - finally requiring US citizens to follow the internationally-recognised protocol of using passports as their border-crossing travel document is the most sensible.

(Meanwhile, who amongst us has not complained about Americans being allowed to travel throughout Caribbean on a driver’s license but Caribbean natives being required to get passports and visas to travel to the United States?)

Therefore, instead of enabling all of the helpless and hopeless whining over this pending passport requirement, I respectfully submit that our reporters and commentators should be challenging our political and business leaders to explain why they have done so little to limit its impact. 

For example, are any of you aware of any programme (i.e. ad campaign) that the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) or the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) or the government of any country has launched in the US to “alert” the millions of tourists who are planning Caribbean vacations right now, without passports, to get one ASAP?  Unfortunately, despite having more than a year to execute Sir Ronald’s strategy for dealing with the WHTI, these organisations and regional governments have wasted time and resources just complaining about its unfairness and the pending economic doom it portends. 

(Meanwhile, I am reliable informed that, ironically, it’s the exempted cruise-line operators who have been urging Americans to get passports. Go figure….)

Now, as this doomsday draws ever nigh, reports are that regional leaders are ceding responsibility for protecting our tourism industry to the American airline industry. Alas, just as the Antiguan government relied on lawyers hired by the American online gaming industry to protect online gambling in Antigua, (click here to see how well that worked out), so too it seems regional governments are relying on lawyers hired by the American airline industry to protect tourism throughout the Caribbean.

In fact, they are hoping against hope that these airline representatives will be able to persuade the US government (or its courts) that requiring Americans travelling by air to have passports by 8 January, whilst extending that deadline for those travelling by land and sea until 1 June 2009, is discriminatory. But those of us who are aware of the plenary powers the US government has to implement laws with disparate impact on American citizens (especially if those laws are intended to further a compelling government interest) are justifiably forlorn of hope in this respect. 

Besides, before making this argument, these representatives might wish to formulate an explanation as to why the US government should not require the airlines to inspect our checked baggage for bombs they way they inspect our bodies when we travel.

NOTE:  Instead of continually reacting hysterically to US laws that have potentially adverse impact on our economies, Caribbean political and business leaders should engage in the kind of proactive lobbying in Washington, DC that many of us have been urging them to do for years. Lobbying that Sir Ronald again challenged them to do just last week in his commentary entitled Lobbying in US important to Caribbean interests.

ENDNOTE:  I sympathize with the frustrations of those who feel that cruise liners are getting an unfair exemption.  However, although I can appreciate why they suspect this is due to shrewd lobbying in Washington by cruise-line operators, I suspect it merely reflects the haphazard, irrational and ultimately feckless nature of American border security.  

For example, I have no doubt that if al-Qaeda had blown up 3,000 people who boarded cruise ships at US ports on 9/11, the obsessive security measures the US Department of Homeland Security now imposes upon airline passengers would instead be imposed upon cruise ship passengers….