In Beirut, Embassy Tells Stranded Americans: Evacuation Is a Mouse-Click AwayLebanon: Telephone service is spotty — both land lines and cellular networks are on-again, off-again in war-struck areas. Some even say that cellular telephone networks are down entirely. Electricity is out in parts of Beirut and southern Lebanon, probably as a result of Israeli bombing runs which targeted civilian infrastructure, including power plants and transformers.
An estimated 25,000 Americans were in Lebanon when the bombing began, according to CNN. A couple hundred appear to have made it out — and the State Department says it plans on evacuating “as many as” 2,400 by Thursday. The rest — by my count, more than 23,000 — are being told to sit tight as the Israeli bombing continues, wait by their phones for a call, and check the embassy Web site for more information. So says undersecretary of state Nicholas Burns: “We have an open line to all American citizens. We’re in touch with them by Web site.”
Yes, Burns assured CNN, “[The evacuation is] very well thought out.”
Heckuva job, Condi?
