| Submit your comments on this article |
| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Orient Queen chartered to evac |
| 2006-07-18 |
| The State Department has hired the cruise ship Orient Queen to evacuate U.S. citizens from Beirut starting Tuesday, according to the Pentagon. The Orient Queen can carry about 750 passengers for the approximate five-hour crossing from Beirut to Cyprus, according to Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. An American Navy destroyer, the USS Gonzales will escort the ship for security reasons. At least 8,000 of the estimated 25,000 American citizens in Lebanon registered with the American embassy prior to the war between Israel and the terrorist group Hezbollah. Several hundred have expressed interest in being evacuated. USS Gonzalez is named after Medal of Honor winner Marine Sergeant Freddy Gonzalez. Here are links to photos of the cruise ship. Note the helicopter pad on the ship. |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #11 actually the Paleos and civil war started the downhill slide |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-07-18 14:23 |
| #10 Can anyone tell me why in hell there are 25,000 US citizens in this shithole to begin with ? Well first, it wasn't always a shithole. In fact, it was the garden spot of the Middle East until Syria took over, bring their gun-sexing death cultists with them. Now the Iranian Hezzies are doing their dead level best to meet their shit deposit quota as well. Answer: Annihilation of the Hezzies. Airstrikes on Syria, eliminating the few remaining old and broken down MIG's they have left. And then, as Ironic as it sounds, helping the democratically elected Christian Lebanese government rebuild their country, and military capability. Oh, and I wouldn't mind the US mixing in a few airstrikes on Iran as well. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-07-18 14:22 |
| #9 Probably because Israeli intelligence reads Yahoo just like Thinemp Whimble2412 did, 3dc. ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-07-18 14:17 |
| #8 Its a moot point now! Israel won't let the ship into the port. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-07-18 10:04 |
| #7 Wife heard that the US will be charging for the evac. (heh) Something about putting yourself in a danger zone. Hope its in the $25K+ range for the little trip. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-07-18 09:40 |
| #6 Quote from Yahoo news on evacuation plans: Ali Khreiss, a 46-year-old man said he wished to stay behind and fight alongside Hezbollah but his wife was begging to leave. "I want to be part of this. This is the first time an Arab country bombs Haifa," he said, referring to the Israel's third-largest city targeted by Hezbollah rockets for the first time this week. "I will drop them off in Sweden and return," he added. I have a feeling there are a lot of Ali's among the 40,000 Lebanese-Canadians we're supposed to collect as well. Free shuttle service for the fighters' families. Might want to do some ID checks on the departing ex-pats as well for the same reason. |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 2006-07-18 08:02 |
| #5 Sounds like a good reason to get rid of dual citizenship. I'd rather see my tax dollars spent on fixing the Big Dig. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-07-18 07:59 |
| #4 I got the same feeling flyover. Like when the Marines get there they will have to ask wich ones are the Americans. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-07-18 07:56 |
| #3 I had the feeling that most of 'em weren't much like old Bill down at the Rotary or Hank who tends bar at the Elk's. |
| Posted by: flyover 2006-07-18 03:44 |
| #2 Because the US has a very large and wealthy Lebanese Christian population. Example, Danny and Marlo Thomas. Also, most of those 25 thousand have dual American and Lebanese citizenship - sort of like all of the Hong Kong Chinese who were smart had Canadian citizenship as backup. When Lebanon gets too bad, they can flash the US passport and have the US Marines pull their collective butts out of the trap. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2006-07-18 03:30 |
| #1 Can anyone tell me why in hell there are 25,000 US citizens in this shithole to begin with ? |
| Posted by: SOP35/Rat 2006-07-18 01:54 |