BEIRUT, Lebanon – Children took a dip in the ship’s pool, and Americans waved from the top decks, some shouting “Goodbye, Lebanon,” as the Orient Queen steamed away from Beirut, finally extricating them from the war zone.
More than 1,000 U.S. citizens were finally able to escape the fighting in Lebanon on Wednesday, as the first chartered cruise ship carrying American evacuees left Beirut for Cyprus, arriving at the port of Larnaca today after a nine-hour journey. Tuesday’s evacuees are scheduled to arrive on the East Coast early this morning.
As many as 6,000 Americans could be out of Lebanon by the weekend, the U.S. State Department said.
As the evacuation escalated, the White House notified congressional leaders of possible deployment of “combat-equipped U.S. military forces” to Lebanon and Cyprus to assist in the efforts. The notification letter is required by the War Powers Resolution.
A Navy task force of nine ships, seven of which were en route late Wednesday, will help with the evacuation. In addition, said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman, the military has chartered an additional commercial vessel, the Rahmah, which is to arrive in Beirut on Friday. It can hold 1,400 passengers, he said.
But the increasing ability to get Americans to safety is, for the moment, bypassing hundreds who are stranded in southern Lebanon, awaiting safe passage out of the country.
About 8,000 of the 25,000 Americans in Lebanon have asked to be evacuated.
At the State Department, U.S. officials defended the speed of the evacuation, saying that they had to balance swiftness with prudence. “We are always going to err on the side of caution,” said Maura Harty, assistant secretary of state for consular affairs. “It is a volatile situation.”
“We are not going to sacrifice either safety or security to achieve speed in getting American citizens evacuated,” added Army Brig. Gen. Michael Barbero, deputy director for regional operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“This is a war zone,” in which careful coordination and planning are needed, Barbero said. “We are not going to rush to failure.”
At the assembly point, evacuees drank orange juice and ate military ready-to-eat meals as their papers were checked. Then the buses rolled out in several waves to the port.
There were nervous moments. A light-haired woman standing alone waiting to have her passport checked broke into tears when a loud explosion shook Beirut from an airstrike on Hezbollah’s stronghold in the capital’s south.
The departure was delayed slightly because one passenger, 11-day-old infant Rawan Ali Mannoun, didn’t have a passport. Her parents pleaded with embassy officials to allow them on the ship and in the end, a laissez-passer was issued for the infant. As her parents ran toward the waiting ship carrying Rawan, those on the deck applauded.
“The important thing is we’re here, we’re leaving,” said Nader Nader, an electric engineer from Seattle. He arrived in Lebanon with his son, Benjamin, last week.
“Hell broke loose,” he said, shaking his head.
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