THE EVACUATION DEBACLE:

In addition to Israelis and Lebanese, thousands of Americans find themselves in harm's way. Fifteen thousand Americans "have registered with the State Department’s Lebanon Task Force to receive evacuation information" and at least 8,000 have indicated they want to leave. American officials were slow to respond. Only a couple thousand have been able to evacuate so far and "departed two days after the first Europeans left on ships." Denmark, for example, "evacuated more than 4,000 of its citizens" by Thursday. There are still "no plans...for the [evacuation of] several hundred Americans in southern Lebanon." For several days, Americans were told they could only evacuate the country if they paid their own way. After a rash of criticism, Rice waived the requirement.

CNN report by way of
Center for American Progress