Kennedy and Democrats Press for Support for Americans to Leave Lebanon

[kerrygoddess]

As Evacuation Becomes the Middle East Version of Katrina in a War Zone, Kennedy and Democrats Press for Support for Americans Wishing to Leave Lebanon
July 17th, 2006 @ 6:09 pm

AP is reporting that westerners are fleeing as “Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon briefly and Hezbollah rockets knocked down a three-story house in northern Israel.” There have been some signs of “movement on the diplomatic front to end the worst fighting” in the region in 24 years, however Americans and Europeans want out. The U.S. has been slow to move on evacuating it’s citizens from the area, as I have reported here earlier, the State Department claims the cost of the “massive evacuation was beyond U.S. resources.”

These headlines from MSNBC speak volumes -- it's the Middle East version of Katrina in a war zone:

U.S. citizens remain in dark about evacuation
Official: Operation costs more than available resources; 64 have left so far

{snip}
A group of Senate Democrats showed their concerns for Americans trapped in Lebanon, today. They sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, pressing them to “ensure the swift evacuation of all American citizens wishing to leave Lebanon.”

The letter, Senator Kennedy’s press office says, “comes amid disturbing reports that Americans registering with the State Department to leave Lebanon are not being evacuated immediately.” The Senators are urging the Secretaries to “ensure that all necessary Defense Department assets are made available to secure these Americans’ transport out of harm’s way.”

The text of the letter, signed by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Carl Levin, and Armed Services Committee Member Edward M. Kennedy, is below:

{snip}
What we are seeing here is another massive failure from the Bush administration, on so many levels (think Iraq and Katrina). From the aspect of their failure of diplomacy on this growing crisis to their failure to properly ensure the safety of the American people trapped in the region, this entire mess is like a series of bad flashbacks all run together.

While Bush has been busy diddling at G8 — riding around in golf carts, biking the G8 grounds, drinking who knows what and blurting out expletives on microphone — his administration has done squat to ease the situation.

I’ve said for a longtime now that George W. Bush is not my president — I didn’t vote for him, I voted for the other guy. George W. Bush a miserable failure and I can only hope that this mess will serve to wake up a few more of the sheeple who blindly follow President Putz.

MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=3622

EARLIER POST: U.S. Begins to Evacuate Americans from Lebanon and Middle East Crisis Update
http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=3620

[pooja]

1. sad isn't it... We have college students stuck over there, people

who were vacationing, visiting relatives, and working. What is the matter with this administration. We run gung ho into Iraq spouting all kinds of money. Now, war breaks out and look what happens, we don't have the funds to get people out.. We can't negotiate a peaceful way to get out.

[kerrygoddess]

2. This really sucks

and pisses me off to no end!

[DeepModem Mom]

3. K&R

[kerrygoddess]

4. Reading the latest update

on MSNBC the State Department seems unwilling to take the risk - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13902115/

WTF? These people are unfriggin believable!

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Yep: "carries some risk." Unbelievable, indeed. nt

[Vinca]

6. Did I hear correctly that Americans are being asked to sign

promissory notes before boarding any transportation out so the government is reimbursed by them for the travel expense? Unfreakingbelieveable.