Update On Americans Fleeing Lebanon
I’m not a big fan of Secretary of State Condi Rice. That’s no secret. However, I do give props when they are deserved and I must say that I was quite stunned when I read this morning that she had made the decision to waive the transportation fee to Americans evacuating from Lebanon. Kudos to her!
I will add a comment that a number of bloggers were blaming the Republicans solely for the transportation fee in the first place, but a little research does reveal that while “un-fucking-believable,” it is apparently a leftover U.S. policy from a 1956 law. Maybe it’s out of date and we should look to the governments of France, Ireland, Britain and Italy who didn’t delay in evacuating their citizens or worry about charging them for the trip.
It did seem a bit outrageous of the U.S. considering all the money we have to throw about in the Middle East.
“A nation that can provide more than $300 billion for a war in Iraq can provide the money to get its people out of Lebanon,” the California Democrat said in a statement earlier Tuesday.
I saw a cartoonist’s take on this earlier today who questioned whether the American people were even on the American agenda anymore. Good question. Especially considering the complaints from people trying to find out what’s going on from their government and finding out more information from the media…
Several of the Americans in Lebanon wrote e-mails to CNN, expressing their frustration with the evacuation process.
“We are desperately trying to evacuate and have become more and more disappointed and angry with the way the evacuation is being handled,” said Lina Fleihan, of Greensboro, North Carolina. “We hear more about what’s going on from CNN than we do from the U.S. government and the American Embassy here.”
Natalie Kerlakian of Denver, Colorado, wrote that she had not heard from the embassy in a week.
“I hope this response will be better than that of Katrina,” she wrote, referring to the heavily criticized government response to the hurricane that struck the Gulf Coast in August.
Susan Omar, of Clifton, New Jersey, wrote that she has family stuck in the southern Lebanese city of Maryajoun, and her phone calls to various governments’ offices have been fruitless.
“We have begged and pleaded with anyone and everyone, but our kids still don’t have water, food or medicine,” she wrote. “The media is telling everyone that those with medical necessity have already been evacuated. I guess that only means those lucky enough to be near Beirut!”
Kellee Khalil of Los Angeles, California, wrote that she was trapped in Lebanon while vacationing with her father, who has diabetes and a heart condition.
“The embassy has not put him on a priority list,” she wrote. “It has been several days of airstrikes and the United States seems to care little about the 25,000 Americans that are trapped here.” [“U.S. waives fee to flee Lebanon” (CNN.com)]
tags: Lebanon, U.S. Embassy, CNN, Condi Rice
You may also enjoy...
2 comments
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
on July 19, 2006 at 2:14 pm
Ron Franscell said:
Who’s dumb enough to vacation in a war zone — and the Middle East is one big war zone these days — and then complain that they weren’t rescued fast enough?
Various reports list 25,000 American nationals in Lebanon, but nobody has yet come up with a firm figure on how many of those are actually interested in being evacuated. One TV report said “about 10,000,” but it remains unclear. I don’t oppose sending U.S. ships, planes and helicopters to get them out, but their whining about the timing is wearing thin. They picked a treacherous place for holiday, and it just ain’t gonna be a four-star experience. Going to Libya would have been safer, fergawdsakes.
It just goes to show … a lot of people only think they’re adventurous.
on July 20, 2006 at 1:48 pm
Big Dog said:
I think that they should have to pay for the trip. They should be evacuated first and they can pay later but they should pay. We are not in the business of charity.
These whining people are too much to take. It is not just 25,000 Americans, there are other people as well. It takes time to evacuate that many people especially in a war zone. Vehicles only hold so many folks.
People say we waited to go in. The terrorists are not likely to shoot at ships from the other countries you mention because they supported the terrorist groups and have denounced Israel. We support Israel so they might just take the chance to shoot at our vessels.
It is amazing that people will say Ray Nagin did all he could and just could not get his people out but they expect the US government to beam in and rescue everyone at the drop of a hat. Same mentality, I need the government to do everything for me and it should be free.
BTW, that person you quoted was Nancy Pelosi and she voted for the 2003 Foreign Relations Act which put the charges into law. So if you are going to quote her then be sure to tell everyone she voted for the bill that made the charges possible.
Once we make people take responsibility then things will go better. I want to know if you would have expected the US to pay for their plane tickets home, a hotel, food, a hooker. How about if the airport was open and they could get a flight out. Should they have to pay for the flight home or should my tax dollars?