|
Save Us, America!!!
|
View this Thread in Original format
| NeoPhono |
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast...mily/index.html
I guess I'm not really seeing the logic behind this, or maybe I'm just lacking in compassion. An American family goes to Lebanon for a vacation. A war breaks out. Now they are upset at America for not coming to Lebanon and removing them quicker.
Did America send the family to Lebanon? Did America cause the war? Did America have any direct influence on the situation the family finds itself in? (The US didn't put the family on the plane and they didn't start firing rockets or missles.)
Why are they mad that America hasn't been quicker in getting them out? |
|
|
| pkcRAISTLIN |
| its every nation's job to protect their nationals overseas as best they can. yeah america should be rescuing their citizens. |
|
|
| Purple |
| They are americans, world needs to do something about it. |
|
|
| NeoPhono |
The State Department has had a travel warning regarding Lebanon in place since May of 2006. The current warning says:
| quote: | American citizens should keep a low profile, varying times and routes for all required travel. Americans should also pay close attention to their personal security at locations where Westerners are generally known to congregate, and should avoid demonstrations and large gatherings.
U.S. citizens who are in 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.
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.
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. |
Now, if you still see that as a nice family vacation destination, then you know what; traveler beware.
And here's the full warning from May.
http://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=46555
Probably the most important from that being:
| quote: | | 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. |
|
|
|
| Lira |
Probably, what they don't get is the fact that they're not the only ones trying to get back home. The article says there are other two thousand Americans in Beirut, isn't it?
This is certainly going to take a while :p |
|
|
| Goashem |
| is it the familys fault for starting the war? is the family responsible for being caught in the fire? is it not the governments responsibility to protect its citizens? |
|
|
| Groundhog Boy |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lira
Probably, what they don't get is the fact that they're not the only ones trying to get back home. The article says there are other two thousand Americans in Beirut, isn't it?
This is certainly going to take a while :p |
I've been hearing on CNN that there are 25,000 US Citizens in Lebanon right now.
I hope they're all OK, but at the same time, I kind of lack compassion for them, too. Also, especially with the travel advisory, the fact that people were outraged that these people would have to pay for their evacuations later kind of annoys me. Basically, you know you shouldn't be going there in the first place, but now you expect the government to save you for free (which they've now voted to do). |
|
|
| Shakka |
People are ultimately responsible for their own decisions. The government's job is not to babysit you and make decisions for you.
Who owns you? Hopefully you own you. You are responsible for yourself and all of the dumbass decisions you choose to make (likewise, you don't ask the government to take all of the credit when you actually make a bright decision). |
|
|
| jdat |
I have lived in places that had advisories isues by the US State Departmenet ..... and I have also visited places that were being bombed ( Yugoslavia ) and ultimately I have always considered it my own responsibility to keep myself out of trouble.
Having had some ruff conversations with policemen, held at gunpoint by officials abusing the law, these were never situations were one could feel in his own countries protection ( but ironically American dollars have saved me and the fam a couple times :toothless ). |
|
|
| NeoPhono |
| quote: | Originally posted by Goashem
is it the familys fault for starting the war? is the family responsible for being caught in the fire? is it not the governments responsibility to protect its citizens? |
No, but it's the family's "fault" for going to Lebanon despite the warnings issued by the State Department.
I do think the government has the responsibility to protect its citizens, but that happens first in its own territory and secondly to those who heed the government's advice when it comes to travel. If this were to be a completely unexpected turn of events in a country without any types of travel warnings, I can see much more of a need for the US to intervene as far as evacuations. But, when the government has been telling people to please stay away from Lebanon for years, but you still want to take your family on vacation there, I'm not sure why the burden of evacuation still falls on the US.
The government says "please don't go there, it's not safe." The family says, "we don't care, we're going anyway." Now, after things get crappy the family is now saying, "oh my, it's not safe here, you have to come get us out of here right now."
I say, "told you so, dumb ass." |
|
|
| Yoepus |
Many of American citizens are dual-citizen holders and Leabonese in part as I suspect this particular family is as well (why else would you want your daughters baptised in Lebanon if you are not Lebanese?).
Yea, sucks to be there right now. But you know, natrual and man-made disasters happen all the time. This is like being in the Tsunami in the east, or the hurrican in Louisiana, always something could be done better. |
|
|
| NeoPhono |
| quote: | Originally posted by Yoepus
Many of American citizens are dual-citizen holders and Leabonese in part as I suspect this particular family is as well (why else would you want your daughters baptised in Lebanon if you are not Lebanese?).
Yea, sucks to be there right now. But you know, natrual and man-made disasters happen all the time. This is like being in the Tsunami in the east, or the hurrican in Louisiana, always something could be done better. |
I agree, although I also think hindsight is 20/20.
I mean, when I hear there's a category 5 hurricane headed towards a particular area of coast line, and they interview Billy Bob, who's telling us he's going to take his chances and ride it out in his double-wide, my sympathy for him is greatly decreased once his trailer is obliterated and he's found in a tree a couple states away. Much the same way my sympathy for a family is greatly decreased if they hear the warnings of the State Department that a region is unsafe, ignore those warnings and go there anyway, and then get into trouble.
Hurricane advisories and travel warnings are there for a reason. If you decide to ignore them, don't get pissed at the people who gave you the warnings in the first place. It was your decision and your's alone to ignore them, now you get to face the cosequences. |
|
|
|
|
