Posted on 07/18/2006 12:46:21 AM PDT by rebel_yell2
BEIRUT — Thousands of Americans whose vacations and business trips to Lebanon have degenerated with sickening speed into stints in a battle zone remained stranded here under Israeli bombardment Monday, their frustration and anger mounting because the U.S. government hasn't gotten them out faster.
Waiting around Beirut with bags packed and fingers crossed, U.S. citizens derided the embassy for busy phone lines, a lack of information and gnawing uncertainty over when and whether they will get out. Hundreds were expected to be shipped to Cyprus today, but how long the full evacuation will take remains uncertain.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Because, to get through southern Lebanon to Israel they would have to go through the area held by Hezbollah!
But if they can't pay it will be written off.
Looks like US citizens still haven't learned the lesson of Katrina: DON'T DEPEND ON GOVERNMENT. It is the biggest bureaucracy in the world, populated by affirmative action hires and cronies of politicians. It will never do anything efficiently because no one wants to make a decision. Better to have paid a taxi to take you to the harbor and paid someone to let you ride with the Italians yesterday. When Italians show they are more organized than we are, you know how pitiful things have become in the US.
Why would Israel worry about who is leaving Lebanon by ship when the border to Syria is wide open? As for checking who leaves, fine, but let people leave after checking. That is not what is happening.
As for destroying Lebanon to "isolate" Hizbollah, I don't think that argument flies either. Israel is punishing all of Lebanon for being weak-kneed. Let's admit that. Why don't they turn their firepower on Damascus and Tehran, where the real problem lies. Hizbollah is a "messenger boy." Killing the messenger won't change anything. You have to cut off the head of the snake, wouldn't you agree?
It is a popular vacation spot for Arabs.
The Brits, and other Europeans, like Egypt.
Jay Leno says the US government has stated it's not easy to move 25,000 across the border in Lebanon.
...so we should hire the Mexican government to do it for us.
Do they have English "Yellow Pages" there? Try looking up marinas and yacht clubs and see if you can hire (bribe) someone to sail you to Cyprus. Seriously.
Here are some web links to marinas in Lebanon:
http://www.lamarinajk.com/LaMarinaJK_content.html
http://www.solidere.com/solidere.html
http://www.lebanondivers.com/...these guys might know someone with a boat.
The above are all in Beruit, you might check to see if there are any further north inbetween major cities that might be blockaded.
What planet are you living on?
State Dept bashing, now, there, I plead guilty, but I have lots of company. :-)
"maybe you forget the muslim population in france and that we are the "great satan" ?"
Iranian mullahs used to chant in the eighties that America was the Great Satan and France was the Little Satan. Both our nations were targets for terror attacks and kidnappings in Lebanon before...
Why would the Hezzies be slipping out of the harbor when they can walz across the Syrian border? More likely that the IDF was hitting Hezzies trying to sabatoge one of the cruise ships, don't you think.
From what I understand, most of the Americans there are either visiting family or many of them live there even though they have an American passport. The number of Americans just choosing Beirut as a vacation destination rather than another place is probably rather few. And some of the stranded people are working there or on business. But they appear to be fewer in number than I originally thought.
Good question. But then again, we are talking here about the windbags of Foggy Bottom, so the answer should be obvious.
Isn't this also the same crowd who gave blanket US Visas to Saudi terrorists who filled out their applications in crayon with blank spaces and addresses of University parking lots?
LOL! Last night, I had a retired ambassador call the State Dept on my behalf to confirm that my online registration went through and was on record. (They send no confirmation of registration.) He was told that they had no record of me being in the country and had to re-register me.
You might want to rethink your statement because you are dead wrong, as my experience proves.
I so totally agree. I've been stunned at the heartlessness of fellow Freepers. The whining I've seen are those people who get their mugs in front of the camera and cry and complain--mostly people who ignored the state department warning that it was not a safe place to travel to. Rebel Yell 2 was working there and got trapped. He's been very much in my prayers.
That has been lost in all the whining. And no, I'm NOT referring to Rebel Yell 2.
On CNN this morning, one of the CNNewsies was bashing a State Dept official, and he kept repreating "It's been a week! It's been a week! Why is the response so slow??"
A WEEK! How fast do you expect ships to move? Should we have immediately started evacuating people when the first bomb dropped??? Ridiculous. People need to take their own responsibility for working, visiting, and vacationing in such a garden spot like Beirut.
The finger pointing is beyond the pale and accomplishes nothing. Let's get people home first and then they can rant all they want.
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