It's great to see people getting out alive, but I can't help but wonder - 25,000 Americans in a country they've been warned not to visit? Is there ever 25,000 Americans at any given moment in - say, oh - Jamaica? Call me crazy, but somethin' smells here.
Most are "dual citizens" (or "triple/quadruple citizens") who live in Lebanon but hold both Lebanese and U.S. passports. They weren't "visiting." You will find the same thing in Israel, but for very different reasons. What do you "smell?" Perhaps a State Dept. that hands out passports like candy?