Originally Posted by
Ghoulish
No one is denying that it ultimately was in the OPs power to avoid this.
However, that doesn't absolve the authorities in whom the power of discretion lies to treat a guest making an honest mistake in the most brutal manner the law allows from criticism. Particularly when considering the totality of the circumstances.
I'm not sure why you firmly believe any other country in the world would have allowed OP to enter. I suppose having dealt with spiteful US immigration officials way too many times over the years, I am a little more jaded than you about their so-called compassion.