Is US screwing up Lebanon evacuations?

[CoffeeCat]

I see that we're getting our citizens out of Lebanon---slowly. However, it seems like we are royally screwing up.

I just saw an interview that Anderson Cooper did with a woman who said she escaped to Cyprus with US help. However, she said it was "impossible" to get through to the US Embassy. She said she finally got through after repeatedly dialing for an hour and a half. After getting through, she said they were not helpful and told her they put her on a list. She said she got out because her father had a medical condition.

Anderson Cooper said there are 25,000 Americans in Lebanon--and at least 10,000 want out.

I feel like I'm watching the Katrina aftermath--feeling so helpless as people wait for their government that is not doing enough.

Am I being unfair?

I guess I don't understand why this isn't a military operation. Why can't we get military ships or many other large aircraft in to get people out quickly.

It's been reported that other countries (France, etc) got their people out quickly. I'm wondering how many people they evacuated. Maybe they only had a few hundred? Why can these other countries get their people out rapidly--and the United States can't?

So...is the United States slow to help its own citizens...or am I being too judgmental?

[Bjornsdotter]

1. Yes

Whoever is running this evacuation could fuck up a one man parade.

Cheers

[pitohui]

2. "fema could fuck up a one car funeral"

that is what the honorable congressman gene taylor from mississippi said in the aftermath of katrina

and if you object to language, keep in mind his home town bay st. louis is COMPLETELY destroyed with dozens of known dead in bsl/waveland alone

[CoffeeCat]

3. I'm trying to read as much as I can...

...on this, and I just read that Italy, France and other countries got their people out. They're all ready gone!

I just don't get this.

I guess I need to do some more reading.

I cannot understand why--after several days--we've evacuated less than 500 US citizens, and we have just under 10,000 to go. At this rate, they should be out sometime in September.

Why aren't we seeing massive evacuations?

I must be missing something.

[Robbien]

4. Every other country in the world is doing better than the US

this article describes how well the Latin American countries are doing
http://english.people.com.cn/200607/19/eng20060719_284605.html

If the poorer states in L.America can manage to get their people to safety and the US citizens are trapped there getting busy signals, then the answer to your question is yes, the US is screwing up.

[Nikki Stone 1]

5. Look, Junior and his fratboy buddies honestly don't care

That is the bottom line.

[rman]

6. No. "Screwing up" implies that it's accidental.

This is no more accidental than the "liberation" of Iraq or the FEMA NOLA debacle.

[Old and In the Way]

7. You have to give a shit if you want to do public service.

Bush doesn't, so we get Katrina, Iraq, and incompetent evacuations....really, I'd have been more surprised if this government had actually executed the evacuation in a timely fashion like other nations were able.

[leftofthedial]

8. they put Michael Brown in charge

and Brownie is doing a heck of a job

he saved New Orleans during Katrina, after all.

[oasis]

9. Katrina II.

[MADem]

10. They need to blockade the harbor. They can only do that with lots

of warships, that are enroute from half a dozen nations. The Israelis are doing it now, but they need more assets, further out, to fully screen the area.

They will make the harbor safe, allow the vessels in, and provide them safe passage out, so they don't end up getting "USS Cole'd" by some asshole in an inflatable boat.

[CoffeeCat]

11. I'm worried about that too...

All of those giant cruise ships and military ships--from all over the world--seem like sitting ducks.

This should be a very involved military operation---getting our citizens to safety and making sure that a terrorist event doesn't happen.

Frankly, I'm astounded that more precautions aren't being taken with those ships full of evacuees. I think those people are in danger.

[MADem]

15. Once they have the screen in place, they won't even have to physically

see it to kill it. They should be all right.

The danger lies before the warships are positioned. After they've got their ducks in a row, it's as safe as houses, unless the Hizzies have managed to put a few mines out there in the interim (unlikely, that).

[mod mom]

12. Steve Clemons from The Washington Note from the other day:

BAD IDEA: US Plans to Evacuate Americans in Lebanon by Cruise Ship


Bill Kristol is not the only one who wants America dragged into a worsening conflagration in the Middle East.

Militants who want to test American resolve and further bolster their legitimacy in the eyes of a frightened, frustrated, and weary public may want to trigger the military involvement of the United States on another front in the Middle East.

Now comes the news that the U.S. is going to evacuate Americans caught in the crossfire in Lebanon by cruise ship on Tuesday.

I don't believe that the neocons would ever try to sabotage our rescue of Americans via a cruise liner. That would be too cynical of me -- and they are ideas people, not military practitioners.

But there are players on all sides of this conflict that may find a floating, slow, and poorly defended elephant of a ship too tempting of a target. Real or contrived, any potential attack would look like a Hezbollah attack.

The U.S. is sending a navy destroyer escort -- but I think that's too little.

I sincerely hope that my paranoia about this proves to be entirely wrong, but serious planners have to be worried about sending a cruise ship, a slow moving huge target, into a war zone.

-- Steve Clemons

11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (95)


HE BRINGS UP A GOOD QUESTION: "neocons would ever try to sabotage our rescue of Americans via a cruise line" DON'T THE NEOCONS WANT A WAR WITH IRAN + SYRIA? WHAT BETTER WAY TO SELL IT THAN AN ATTACK ON A DEFENSELESS CRUISE SHIP. REMEMBER 9/11? SORRY STEVE, BUT I AM CYNICAL.

[icymist]

14. OMG! That would be like the Lusitania all over again!

I've been have a bad feeling about this situation for three days now, like the one I got right before Katrina hit NOLA! Is another 'Pearl Harbor' type event about to 'stir up the base'?!

[originalpckelly]

13. Is the sky blue?(nt)