Miserable Ingrates

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/19/AR2006071900249_pf.html

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_071906/content/anchorman_2.guest.html

The recent exodus of Americans from Lebanon has shown a less than flattering portrait of my countrymen. First of all, I am surprised that there would be 25,000 Americans staying in a country that the US State Dept had, four times since November 2005, issued warnings discouraging Americans from going there. One warning said:
The U.S. Government considers the potential threat to U.S. Government personnel assigned to Beirut sufficiently serious to require them to live and work under a strict security regime. This limits, and may occasionally prevent, the movement of U.S. Embassy officials in certain areas of the country. These factors, plus limited staffing, may hinder timely assistance to Americans in Lebanon. Unofficial travel to Lebanon by U.S. Government employees and their family members requires prior approval by the Department of State. U.S. citizens who travel to Lebanon despite this Travel Warning should exercise heightened caution when traveling in parts of the southern suburbs of Beirut, portions of the Bekaa Valley and South Lebanon, and the cities of Sidon and Tripoli. Hizballah has not been disarmed, it maintains a strong presence in many of these areas, and there is the potential for action by other extremist groups in Tripoli. American air carriers are prohibited from using Beirut International Airport (BIA) due to continuing concern about airport and aircraft security arrangements. For similar reasons, the Lebanese carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) is not permitted to operate service into the United States. Official U.S. government travelers exercise additional security measures when using Beirut International Airport. Palestinian groups hostile to both the Lebanese government and the U.S. operate largely autonomously inside refugee camps in different areas of the country. Intra-communal violence within the camps has resulted in violent incidents such as shootings and explosions. Occasionally this violence spills over into neighboring cities and towns. Travel by U.S. citizens to Palestinian camps should be avoided. Asbat al-Ansar, a terrorist group with apparent links to al-Qaeda, has targeted Lebanese, U.S. and other foreign government interests. It has been outlawed by the Lebanese government but continues to maintain a presence in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp. Dangers posed by landmines and unexploded ordnance throughout south Lebanon are significant and also exist in other areas where civil war fighting was intense. Travelers should be aware of posted landmine warnings and strictly avoid all areas where landmines and unexploded ordnance may be present. Tensions remain in Lebanon's southern border with the possibility of Hizballah and Palestinian militant activity at any time.

Another recent state dept bulletin says "Events in Lebanon underscore the need for caution and sound personal security precautions. Since March 2005, there have been 13 separate bombings in Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of at least 11 people and injuries to more than 100 others. " Would YOU got to a place that your government had issued this kind of warnings about? For a vacation? If you absolutely had to go for some urgent reason, would you take your family with you? So first off, I am curious as to what would prompt anyone to go to Lebanon considering these warnings. And could anyone credibly say they were caught unaware by the developments there?

There are a number of people complaining about how long it took for the American government to rescue them from a place they should never have gone to in the first place. The American government was castigated for not being as fast to have arrangements made for removing their citizens as some other countries. America has substantially more citizens in Lebanon than most other countries, and Americans would be "high profile" targets, so it would be reasonable to assume that it might take longer to set up removal plans for American citizens .

Then we have people complaining about the state of the accomodations that they are escaping on. One particularly vapid young woman ( we can be fairly certain she was vapid because she was identified as having been attending college in Lebanon despite the aforementioned warnings) complained that there was no food on board the cruise ship and complained even more that when US Marines arrived with 130 chicken sandwiches for Americans ONLY that they ( the Marines) should have brought more. Perhaps they should have brought more, but perhaps the cruise ship company should have stocked some food on the ship. Furthermore, the trip is only 100 miles, was hurriedly arranged, and under emergency evacuation conditions so perhaps the fact that these people were able to even get out of Lebanon should be given credit instead of whining about the conditions. A quick skim of the news today shows that citizens of many other countries also were whining and moaning about the service they received from their governments, instead of thanking God that they were able to escape.
These people were in Lebanon due to their own stupidity, either because they knew about the warnings and chose to ignore them ( really really dumb) or had no idea there even were any warnings ( breathtakingly uber-stupid). They should be ashamed to kvetch about the style in which they escaped Lebanon , and grateful to the government that had to rush to rescue them from their own stupidity.