After years of conflict and instability, Iraq is opening up to tourism

Re:After years of conflict and instability, Iraq is opening ... by fsloth on Monday May 31, 2021 @02:12AM (#27340751)

Holy moley, thanks for the heads up! Your comment should be the top comment, given the business of business which for us non-US citizens still requires often interacting with the said polity!

Also - US, hello? That kind of sucks. Tourism would be a great way to integrate these areas more to the "western" spheres of business (I'm not saying that is a valuable value as such, I take no sides, but I presume US would consider this still advantageous to it's positioning).

When I read this news I immediately thought I could go and visit the ruins of Babylon (yes, I can go and see pieces of it museums in non-ESTA-nulling places but it's not the same thing). Now - ancient babylon vs. ESTA privileges? Oh man, choices, choices.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:After years of conflict and instability, Iraq is opening ... by bassdropvroom on Monday May 31, 2021 @02:29AM (#27340886)

I'm European-Kurd, and had to travel to Kurdistan Region (northern Iraq) for my sister's wedding a few years before I had to go to the US. I was denied my ESTA without a refund (it was $20 iirc, so not a huge amount but as someone who had just graduated, every penny counted for me) due to this exemption. Had to get a full visitors visa to go which took a lot longer, and was way more expensive. The exemption, which was put in place due to ISIS in 2013, seems reasonable though unfortunate.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:After years of conflict and instability, Iraq is opening ... by verelo on Monday May 31, 2021 @09:51AM (#27344068)

Years back i seriously considered an Iran trip out of general curiosity about the region. It quickly became clear this would inhibit future travel to the US so i figured it wasn’t worth the trouble. Super disappointing, it would be cool to see the area.

[ Parent | on HN ]