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 ...
I don't think so, but I'm not sure. I had to get U.N. security clearance for my mission so I was registered with the U.N. That sure helped . . . .
thats a much better #, still would take some doing..
I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for anybody stupid enough to visit or attend college in a terrorist-rat infested country like Lebanon. No, I don't want anything to happen to you, but if it does, you put yourself there, as did the college students.
Good luck. I wish you well.
France can act quicker with its imperial past ties to the area and the sheer numbers much smaller. Those are combined factors in their favor.
From the TV reports which are probably limited, the targets appear to be based in Southern Beirut and the military assets on the coast. Hopefully, you and others are far away from those hazardous areas.
Can you tell us anything about the attitudes of the local people? It appears from the reporting that people don't want to say much there, so as to not offend anyone and create a "civil war" mindset.
But I also heard a report that the antipathy to Hezzbollah was strong and that when bombs came on their areas, people on the surrounding areas were applauding.
Unlike everyone else in this country, I only have ONE passport: U.S.
State has been infested with lefties for a long time. Bush should have cleaned house there, just as he should have at Justice.
Because the French travellers are more easily spotted with their white flags aloft. ;)
More seriously, I suspect that you'll be getting out soon. US State, like the rest of the fed, is a slow, inefficient blob at times.
I'm thinking that if Israel sends a large ground force into Lebanon, Hiz will fall back to Beirut. Just as the PLO did in '82. Then Beirut would be the last place on Earth an American would want to be.
Send your e-mail address to lajefa in a Freepmail. That won't reveal your location. After lajefa replies, look at the full headers of the reply e-mail (state.gov or an IP address that'll whois to our government servers--in the first "received" line from his or her end). Then you'll know that it's safe to send.
The system that protected the Cole from attack?
BIG THANK YOU!!!
Your post speaks volumes about your character.
Kofi Annan is having a press conference in Brussels right now announcing his plans to send several thousand blue helmets to Lebanon.
So what? Let the relatives come to the U.S. for family visits. Anybody who goes to a country dominated by a terrorist organization is using poor judgment. Lebanon is harboring a major terrorist militia massed on its southern border with a country it has vowed to annihilate that happens to be endowed with major military power.
DUH.
I am neither boastful or stuck up. Maybe my tone wasn't appreciated. OK, I apologize. Sometimes we have to be places that aren't as secure as we would like. I'm not talking about vacations. Right now, I'm in a place I won't name, but today my company was named on a jihadi website calling for an open season on us. But, I'm not leaving - yet. If things head totally into the crapper with Iran, I will probably have to slip away from where I am, but I doubt I'll have help from the State Department.
My point remains. What the US government is doing is heroic, dangerous, difficult and completely beyond what is required of them.
We ought to be grateful for whatever help they can provide to get us out of what are, truly, fundamentally, our private difficulties, and spend less time complaining about busy phone lines.
The Israeli navy has been turning back small boats. That was my original plan: charter a boat to Larnaca.
Might be because the country of France has a Mediterranean coast line. They have plenty of assets in the area. No excuses, but there has been sea trade between the eastern Med coast and the southern French/Europe coast since ancient times.
So, you let the State Dept. and the UN, of all gawd-awful organizations, do your thinking for you?
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