It seems everyone pretty much agrees that he was blaming Israel so I won't bother with all his bashing and second guessing them. Also I would like to note that many said he was right to be angry about no updates on SD website- rebel posted several SD updates- didn't he get them off SD website? From what I could tell Rebel was complaining because SD was not contacting him personally or updating info daily (could it be they at times had no update from previous info?)
At bottom are rebels posts that ticked me and many others off; not all that set me on edge mind you, but many. We can agree to disagree- I really don't care if you don't see it the way I do.
Mind you he was continually told by those with military background that detailed planning and diplomacy had to be done before successful US Military rescue, and was reminded of possibility of attack on US rescue by Hez. Yet he was still critical of Navy's slowness to respond- BTW since the Marines are w/Navy ships those close to Marines naturally got their hackles up too. It is pretty clear he expected Navy bringing Marines to drop everything and rush in to get him, would not let others explain logistics of operation to him.
I also copied his references to being held hostage by Israel, that was over the top.
Everything that follows was posted by Rebel:
The Iwo Jima battle group was in the Red Sea last Wednesday when this all started. Contingency planning might suggest beginning to move it through the Suez Canal and toward Lebanon a bit quicker?
Actually, all they really need to get started is a destroyer or two and a couple of chartered cruise ships. That is what is happening today, six days later.
I am unhappy about being held hostage by a foreign government.
I love all of these "I told you so" tsk-tskers who are so unsympathetic to fellow citizens who are being held hostage by a foreign government. The funny thing is that it isn't Hizbollah that prevents us from leaving Beirut; it is our staunchest ally.
Let me point out that the Iwo Jima amphibious landing group is STILL in the Red Sea, seven days after this thing began. You have to START moving a ship before it can get somewhere.
Can someone explain to me (real slow because I'm real slow) why the Iwo Jima and its amphibious landing ship cohorts, which have been in the Red Sea for the past seven days, were only dispatched to the Lebanese coast today, and won't be here until Thursday? This sounds like the work of the same contingency planners that work at State; a day late and a dime short.
But then Israel took close to 100,000 foreign nationals hostage by bombing Beirut airport and imposing a blockade.
Nearly everyone I've heard who is over there has blamed the State Department and they've said all the same things that Rebel has said, so I won't bother repeating them in the interests of time.
And yes, we all understand that military planning needs to be done for the extractions. It's a dicey situation and I was a wreck that the helicopters would be shot at; they still could be shot at.
But it is noted by a lot of people in a lot of countries that somehow France was able to extract their people a lot faster. Why is that? Weren't they afraid of being shot at?
The hostage language was an unfortunate choice of words, but I can guarantee you that DC and other governments aren't delighted that the port is not accessible and that the airport is unusable before over 100K people were extracted.
In addition, there have been posts that he's complained about the cost of extraction. Not true. That he's a Hezbollah supporter. Not true and an obscene suggestion. I've listed the lies and won't go through them all again.
You're all entitled to your feelings as I'm entitled to mine. I'm not trying to change your mind but when I see outright lies posted about him or his posts, I'll challenge them.
I agree with you, he needed some historical perspective.
'Can someone explain to me (real slow because I'm real slow) why the Iwo Jima and its amphibious landing ship cohorts, which have been in the Red Sea for the past seven days, were only dispatched to the Lebanese coast today, and won't be here until Thursday?'
Sure, they were doing something more important. The MEU's planning for a NEO is already done. Coordination with the embassy remains. If the embassy isn't up to it, there is no point in having the MEU standoff. You'll notice that 53Es have already been transporting evacuees. Notice that they haven't taken many pax/trip. The bottleneck is at the embassy. They haven't screened the folks yet.
'This sounds like the work of the same contingency planners that work at State; a day late and a dime short.'
Sounds like, but isn't. DoD and the Navy/Marine Corps are doing their jobs rather quickly. These aren't fast ships anyway, they had a mission, and the coordination isn't complete. Why standoff Lebanon?
'But then Israel took close to 100,000 foreign nationals hostage by bombing Beirut airport and imposing a blockade.'
Pure BS. Hostage at the bar in a hotel in Beirut, minus Beirut, sign me up.