[HitmanLV]

I agree. As far as the dem strategy goes, they are just playing the role of chronic, perpetual critic. If help comes in 4 days, why didn't it come in 3 or 2 days?

They also argue inconsistent positions - one one hand, bash the admin for not connecting the dots prior to 9/11, and on the other hand, criticize attempts to collect and connect the dots as violations of civil rights.

Lost in all this is any idea of exactly what they would do. In that event, arguing for inconsistent positions doesn't work.

Dr Dean flipped out recently (again) saying that this Israel-Lebanon situation wouldn't even be happening if the dems were in charge. Increasingly it's clear that this guy is a bona fide nutjob.

As for the stranded, angry Americans who want out of Lebanon (and fast), they clearly have poor judgment when it comes to places to visit. They know the dangers, and they know the risks. I have no doubt the USA will get its citizens out of Lebanon (the ones that want to leave), but the perpetual whiners will just continue to do what they do best: complain and not even seem to appreciate that they have some responsibility for being in the situation that they are in.

[hoosierham]

People who CHOOSE to go anywhere should live with the known and foreseeable consequences,whether it is living in a city below sea level,on the side of an active volcano or going to areas known for a high level of violence. Don't demand I pay for your mistakes.

[Victoria Delsoul]

The problem for me arises when those who got their American citizenship went back to Lebanon and have been living and paying taxes there for a number of years. We shouldn't be picking up the tab to rescue them. In that regard, they are not at the same level of American tourists. They are Lebanese holding a green card.

I read an article yesterday which makes this point very clear. So I will post here:

THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS IN LEBANON ARE HEZBOLLAH SUPPORTERS. Most of them are Shiite Muslims, many of whom hold dual U.S. and Lebanese citizenship. Many are anchor babies born here to Muslims in the U.S. illegally. Some are illegal aliens who became citizens through rubber-stamping Citizenship and Immigration Services (and its INS predecessor) coupled with political pressure by spineless politicians.

Of the 25,000 American citizens and green-card holders in Lebanon, at least 7,000 are from Dearborn, Michigan, the heart of Islamic America, and especially Shia Islam. These 7,000 are mostly Shi'ite Muslims who openly and strongly support Hezbollah. Ditto for many of the rest of the 25,000 that are there.

Many of the 7,000 plus Detroiters in Lebanon are active in Dearborn's Bint Jbeil cultural center (the Lebanese American Heritage Club also features mostly Hezbollah fans). Bint Jbeil is a Hezbollah-dominated city in the South of Lebanon, a frequent destination of Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, who is very at home there. Bint Jbeil is a frequent source of shellings on Northern Israel.

Bint Jbeil natives now living in our country so strongly support Hezbollah that they got Republican Congressman Joe Knollenberg (and his then top staffer, Paul Welday) and then-U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham to give Hezbollah forces in Southern about $86 million of our tax money, no strings.

Given this information, and the fact that several Shi'ite Muslim Lebanese U.S. citizens from Dearborn have been indicted and/or convicted of laundering money to Hezbollah, is it a good idea to rush to bring 25,000 such persons back to the U.S. at a time when Hezbollah is at war against our strongest U.S. ally? Does the fact, that Hezbollah numerous times--and especially now--has announced veiled and not-so-veiled intentions to attack Americans on U.S. soil, make the case to quickly bring these terror-sympathizing Americans back to U.S. soil? Many are individuals whose activity should have mandated prosecution and jail-time. But they are free because a spineless U.S. Attorney, Stephen Murphy III, and equally weak federal law enforcement chiefs of Michigan FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) who pander to them.

These are people who hold U.S. citizenship but support a group that murdered over 300 U.S. Marines and civilians, some through torture; a group that is part of the Al-Qaeda network; a group that is training insurgent terrorists against our troops in Iraq and giving them IEDs to blow them up; a group that worked with Qaeda to bomb the Khobar Towers. Americans who support this group are not American. They merely possess the proper paperwork. Link