So I'm applying for a visa to travel and work in the US for a few months - a feat in itself, post September 11th. After applying, I receive a letter in the post stating that I "either ticked the appropriate box or indicated in some manner" that I had a previous conviction i.e. a criminal record and that they required more details.

I decide to contact the embassy via email (Phoning them: £1.30/min) and I type out an email to the consulate in London, explaining that I applied for a visa, received this letter despite having no criminal record and was wondering whether it would affect my visa application.

Their response, in it's entirety:
"Was the letter from us?"

I'm not anti-American in any way. There's no reason to be. But someone in that consulate needs to re-assess whether they are really employing the "best and brightest" to represent their country in a foreign land. I almost replied along the lines of "No, actually, I'm fairly certain this letter had all the bearings of a letter from the US embassy, including letterhead, date and this damn email address but is, in fact, from a cunning Iraqi agent, bent on denying me a visa and thus the US of A the tourism and workforce it rightly deserves."

I didn't.
Maybe I should have.