Posted on 07/19/2006 11:33:37 AM PDT by don'tspeak4me
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Jonathan Chakhtoura, a 19-year-old Lebanese-American, is eager to escape the outbreak of Mideast fighting here. But he says he's extremely disappointed with the way U.S. authorities have handled the evacuation.
"Every time I call to see what's going on the lines are busy," he said of the U.S. Embassy. "When they answer, they say they don't know," said Chakhtoura, who wants to be back in Boston before his fashion design classes start Sept. 6.
"A lot of people don't know what is going on. There is so much confusion. If it's security they are worried about, then I think we will be more secure if we know what is going on."
A cruise ship sailed into Beirut late Tuesday to begin shuttling thousands of Americans to safety amid fierce criticism that the U.S. effort had lagged behind Europe's.
The commander of the Fifth Fleet said the ship would begin boarding evacuees at dawn.
"We're trying to move quickly, trying to move large numbers of people as fast as we can," said Vice Adm. Patrick Walsh, the top U.S. naval officer in the Middle East. A larger commercial vessel also would be used, he said, and a Pentagon spokesman said the U.S. government was considering hiring as many as four more cruise ships to carry Americans.
Thousands of Europeans already have fled the country, which is under fierce Israeli air attack. Earlier in the day, 320 Americans, mostly children, students and the elderly, left by military helicopter and a European ship. U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey D. Feltman told The Associated Press more than 1,000 Americans would depart today.
The White House defended asking Americans to reimburse the estimated $150 cost of their passage, and the ambassador said the evacuation's slow start was intended to safeguard Americans.
"We at the embassy don't have the experience to move a lot of people," Feltman said. "Luckily, the U.S. government does," he said. "Security and safe travel were what's on our minds."
An estimated 8,000 of the 25,000 Americans in Lebanon want to leave.
European countries began moving hundreds of their citizens to Cyprus on Monday. Nearly 1,000 were on a Swedish-chartered ship that left Beirut on Tuesday, and a British warship and Greek frigate transported nearly 600 of those countries' nationals away from Lebanon.
Canada also has yet to start large-scale evacuations, but has ships headed to Beirut.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the primary concern was that people be taken out in a safe and organized manner. He said the Beirut port was working at a higher capacity than normal, making it challenging to get ships from various countries in and out.
The Orient Queen, the ship that docked late Tuesday, was carrying a number of Lebanese passengers, and "we needed to do some coordination" to allow them to pass through the Israeli naval blockade of Lebanon and leave the ship in Beirut, Whitman said.
Outside the gates of the U.S. Embassy, Californian Elie Kawkabani, who lives in Beirut, was angry about the delay.
"The embassy is providing us with sketchy information and they are being rude to us here at the gate," he said. "We have other options, like leaving through Syria, but they keep stringing us along day after day."
White House spokesman Tony Snow said the United States has determined it was not safe to travel by road, adding: "We understand the anxieties of people in Lebanon."
To get on board, Americans must sign a note pledging to reimburse the U.S. government. They will be charged the price of a single commercial flight from Beirut to Cyprus - usually $150-$200, although officials refused to specify.
If they have no money to fly onward, they also will be asked to guarantee reimbursement of the price of an airline ticket from Cyprus to the United States.
Snow said the government has to charge evacuees because of a 2003 law. "I dare say that it's something that is causing heartburn for a number of people, but it's the law," he said.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi objected, saying it was not Congress' intent to prevent evacuations by making people sign a commitment to pay.
"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," Pelosi told CNN.
Some other European countries, including the Netherlands, said they asked for repayment but did not expect it in many cases.
The Orient Queen - which can carry 876 passengers - had been on a cruise of the eastern Mediterranean with 400 people aboard, mostly Lebanese. It was supposed to have returned to Beirut three days ago but was unable to do so because of the Israeli blockade, a U.S. official in Beirut said. While it was in Cyprus, it was chartered by the U.S. to evacuate Americans.
Speaking to Pentagon reporters from Bahrain, Walsh said there were no plans yet to put U.S. Marines ashore in Beirut for security.
The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, conducting exercises in the Red Sea, was ordered into the waters off Lebanon to help with the evacuation. U.S. ships expected in the area include the amphibious assault ships USS Iwo Jima, USS Nashville and USS Whidbey Island.
The ships, part of a five-vessel Navy unit, carry a battalion of Marines with a helicopter squadron. The ships also have hospital facilities.
European nations also intensified their evacuation effort, moving thousands out of harm's way.
- Britain's HMS Gloucester departed with 180 people on board, the vast majority of them British. Another Royal Navy warship, York, was offshore.
Up to 3,000 Britons want to be evacuated, said British Ambassador James Watt. He called Tuesday's departures "an experiment," adding that there will be more and in bigger numbers in coming days, using navy and chartered ships.
- A Greek navy frigate steamed out of Beirut harbor with about 400 Greeks, Cypriots and other Europeans aboard.
- Six chartered passenger ships were due off Lebanon on Wednesday to begin evacuating up to 25,000 Canadians.
"Every time I call to see what's going on the lines are busy," he said of the U.S. Embassy. "When they answer, they say they don't know," said Chakhtoura, who wants to be back in Boston before his fashion design classes start Sept. 6."
All together now ... Waaaahhhh!
Here comes the MSM trying to manufacture another "Katrina-like' crisis for President Bush.
Boy, the whiners really learned from Katrina, didn't they.
Here we go...watch the MSM and the Democrats whip this story in Katrina-like fashion!
Beirut--New Orleans of the Levant
I don't suppose that these people accept any responsibility at all for being there in the first place? Or for the fact that the evac puts others at risk? Nah....
"Every time I call to see what's going on the lines are busy," he said of the U.S. Embassy. "When they answer, they say they don't know," said Chakhtoura, who wants to be back in Boston before his fashion design classes start Sept. 6."
LMAO...big time...
"who wants to be back in Boston before his fashion design classes start Sept. 6."
I think that says it all. I am sure he was right there at the Bush Victory party in the front row.
I have a great idea, lets go to a war zone and then complain when the sh!t hits the fan.
Wasn't there a poll that showed a huge majority of Americans in Lebanon are sympathetic to Hezbullah?
Why is it that the whiners always get the ink? If you are going to live in war torn countries or hurricane torn areas, you had better have your exit bags packed and ready to go....... These irresponsible people are using time and resources that would be better spent fighting the WOT and winning it. Leave anyone who whines………ungrateful nits………
Bush didn't rescue that guy that died on Mt. Everest either.
failed Presidency
/sarc off
Perfect.
Ask not what your country can do for you...instead shut the hell up and we'll get to you as soon as we can.
Chicks on first!
It's all Bush's fault.
More Katrina-like morons who expect an immediate response and immediate protection from dangers into which they placed themselves.
Confusion in a war zone? Gee, who would have guessed?
This is typical of the left....Refusing to take responsibility for their own decisions, and then blaming the government for not bailing them out.
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Jonathan Chakhtoura, a 19-year-old Lebanese-American, is eager to escape the outbreak of Mideast fighting here. But he says he's extremely disappointed with the way U.S. authorities have handled the evacuation."Every time I call to see what's going on the lines are busy," he said of the U.S. Embassy. "When they answer, they say they don't know," said Chakhtoura, who wants to be back in Boston before his fashion design classes start Sept. 6.
So, what was his exit strategy PRE-WAR to leaving Lebanon to go back to college by September 6th?
I really fail to see what the issue is here. He could head to a border and LEAVE the area of combat.
Where does he plan to spend his time until then? And why does he think he wouldn't be in Boston by 9/6?
I don't know, but there was a report here someplace that 7,000 of them were Muslims.
However, I'll bet you would 'waaaaahhh' if you were in his same shoes. Oh, sorry, that's right. You'll say that you wouldn't do such a thing as complain when faced with lousy service that you had already paid for as a taxpayer. Sorry to make the charge.
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