But I find it inexcusable that the State Department was unprepared for the call volume an incident like this would generate.
I don't mean to come across like I'm busting your chops. I'm not. I realize you are under a lot of strain.
But everyone needs to understand that the government is like a big locomotive. You got to build up some steam before you can move and then slowly.
Once momentum is built, anything is possible and in a timely manner.
Same thing with Katrina. Even though tens of thousands were in position with supplies, it took that initial period of X hours.
God bless . . .
Regarding extraction insurance, available from most large carriers:
CBC and Canwest Global would not disclose the cost of covering their reporters.
But Jan Vrem says that the insurance Global bought from Manulife is not costing as much as the network budgeted.
Global also purchases long-term disability insurance and extraction insurance that helps cover the cost of getting a reporter out of an area in an emergency. However, none of the three news organizations interviewed carry kidnapping insurance, but they say that they are prepared to deal with this eventuality.
Source
Understand that governments do something called "contingency planning." That is one of the things I have been teaching governments over here in the Middle East. You try to foresee these problems and see if you have the resources to deal with them. Call volume for a major international incident falls in that category. State gets an "F" for contingency planning.
As for extraction insurance, it doesn't get you out when there is a military blockade. At least not in any manner I'd like to try, like through Syria. But you may be comfortable with that sort of trip.