I don't disagree that people who visit countries with travel warnings are taking a risk. But I don't think the US' obligation to its citizens ends when an American travels overseas. We have embassies specifically to protect American interests abroad. This includes providing consular services for Americans traveling to those countries. Granted, the level of protection provided by our consular services is a heck of a lot lower than that what should be expected in the U.S.
A lot of the problem with the federal government (and my biggest gripe about the Bush administration) is that it has NEVER done a good job of managing expectations. For example, instead of just giving a phone number to Fox News to put on its ticker, the State Department should have noted that due to the expected call volume, long wait times are expected. It should have told people not to try to call the embassy in Lebanon, if it knew that the phone infrastructure couldn't handle the deluge.
All things considered, I think the evacuation process has gone as best as could be expected under the circumstances. Some people seem to t the President can snap his fingers and magically have a hundred cruise ships and the entire Sixth Fleet appear in the middle of an active war zone to evacuate Americans. The real world doesn't work that way. Logistics take time to figure out, and become more difficult the further you get from the U.S.
Note that there is and has been a travel warning for Israel for years. If things start to get really dicey in Israel, there are a lot more Americans that will need to get evacuated than in Lebanon. Let's hope that doesn't happen.
On this I agree.
People who travel to other countries really need to be realistic, and I personally do believe US obligation ends when a citizen leaves here, other than those in military or other gov't capacity.
My brother was arrested and put in prison in another country once (not drugs- wrong place, wrong time for US citizen to be there) my father went into that country, hired a translator and negotiated his release. He did not notify SD, or expect US gov't to help or ask for their help. Maybe he should have and I do know what he did was very dangerous for both of them. Fact is my dad had my brother and another US citizen that was traveling with my brother released and headed back to US within hours of his arrival. My father, nor my brother felt it was the obligation of the US gov't to solve the problem.
During the Iranian hostage crisis a good friend of mine was working in Iran, his company arranged for him to get out safely after a tense period of time. He never expected or depended on the US gov't to get him out. As it turns out he would likely have stayed quite a while if he had. The US gov't always tries to help citizens in trouble in other countries, but fact is they are not always able to help, one should never depend on them. I guess I see things differently.