As I Suspected
American officials in Lebabnon are confirming what I have suspected for a while now. The delay in evacuating American nationals from Lebanon stemmed from security concerns. There were fears that Hezbollah might attempt attacks on Americans moving to Beirut to be evacuated.
Amid complaints the U.S. effort had lagged, American officials made clear that fears about Americans traveling on roads in Beirut, especially at night, and on roads to Syria had led to some of the delays. The U.S. ambassador said Tuesday that an orderly and safe evacuation had been a first priority.
The Europeans faced some of the same difficulties: the airport closed by Israeli strikes and concerns about the safety of roads to Syria. But it was clear U.S. officials feared any large evacuation effort moving Americans might be targeted by Hezbollah or other hostile groups.
Lebanese police lined the main coastal road in Beirut as armored SUVs full of security guards escorted buses of Americans from an assembly point to the port to board the ship.
U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey D. Feltman, waving on the dock as the ship pulled out, said the evacuation would quickly swell to up to 2,000 Americans a day, both by sea and by helicopter.
"We expect this to go on for the next week until every American who has asked us for help to leave, gets to leave," Feltman told The Associated Press.
Around 8,000 of the 25,000 Americans in Lebanon have asked to be evacuated.
I'd rather have a delay to bring them out safely than let Hezbollah kill Americans. How about you?
By Ken, Wednesday, 19 July , 2006 @ 5:07 pm
I agree. Do it safely.
Those who are comparing this to the Katrina response are out of their minds! Where in the Constitution does someone have the right to ride a cruise ship out of the middle east at Taxpayer expense? get real!
The military will help, but it will take time.
By crosspatch, Wednesday, 19 July , 2006 @ 5:56 pm
Also, it seemed evident from the video of initial evacuations that they were taking families with infants and toddlers first. That makes sense. Once they have been safely moved out of the area, the evacuation of those who can get about better and more easily follow verbal instructions can proceed at a faster pace. I would suspect families with older kids and the older folks would be next followed by the remaining individuals last. A single guy in his 20s is probably going to be among the last to get out.
By crosspatch, Wednesday, 19 July , 2006 @ 7:40 pm
Hannity and Combs on CNN are reporting that there may be Hezbollah agents attempting to be evacuated with the Americans. I live on the West coast so this hasn’t aired yet as I type this, but I would imagine it aired three hours ago on the East coast. That could also be part of the delay. The embassy probably wants to vet the evacuees as well as they can.
By Gaius, Wednesday, 19 July , 2006 @ 7:43 pm
No matter the reason, the left will screech. If they got them out in a day it would be too fast.