9/11, New Orleans and Lebanon

On June 28th I wrote an article here stating the next sound you heard from the administration would be along the lines of "Nobody could have envisioned this unrest in Gaza would lead to a broader conflict." Much like we heard that nobody could have foresaw the events of 9/11 or the devastation of hurricane Katrina. Only later we found that the President was fully briefed on both such possibilities and they simply lied about not being able to predict the outcome to cover for their utter incompetence in handling the crisis...

Well today, almost three weeks after my post, we hear this:

Slow U.S. evacuation plans leave thousands stranded

WASHINGTON — Thousands of Americans remained stranded Monday in Lebanon as the State and Defense departments developed plans to evacuate them.

By late Monday, 64 Americans had been flown by Marine helicopter to safety on the island of Cyprus. The pace of the evacuation angered some in the USA with relatives in the country.

"If anything, it seems to me the administration is willing to tolerate this, and they are not willing to interject themselves," said Nora Colton, whose husband, Middle Eastern studies expert Fawaz Gerges, and three of her children are in Lebanon.

For example, about 850 Swedes among about 5,000 in Lebanon have been evacuated, and Sweden also chartered three ships to bring Swedes from Beirut to Cyprus.

The Defense and State departments are developing a plan to evacuate those of the 25,000 Americans in Lebanon who want to leave, said Thomas Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Cyprus.

A U.S. Embassy statement issued Monday instructed American citizens to be ready to leave immediately. It may be a week or more before the evacuation is fully underway, Miller said.