State Dept.:Alive or dead-No Free Evacuations For Americans

[kpete]

State Dept.: No Free Evacuations for Dead Americans, Either
By Paul Kiel - July 18, 2006

Earlier I noted that the State Department, in stark contrast to the Canadian government, is requiring U.S. citizens caught in Lebanon to pay for the cost of their evacuation. (Rep. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has since weighed in, saying that this was no time "for quibbling over payment for evacuation.")

I called up the State Department to ask about the policy. "We are not standing there with a cash box asking people to pay before they get on the boat," spokeswoman Janelle Hironimus told me. But if they don't pay (by check, no cash or credit cards accepted), or sign a form promising to pay, they don't go. It's the law: "Reasonable commercial air fare" shall be charged to all evacuees.

What if they're dead?

Same deal, she said. No freebies, even if you're not around to enjoy it.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001155.php

[spanone]

1. Now there's compassionate conservatism all over the place.

No pay, you stay.

[FSogol]

2. Attack of the Compassionate Conservatives! Remember when

our government actually did things to help its citizens?

[pitohui]

6. our gov't NEVER gave free evacuations to usa citizens

this is why you are warned to buy medi-vac and repatriation insurance when you travel abroad, how many times does the state dept. have to knock it into people's heads, they have been saying for years that it can cost up to $50,000 for your body to repatriated if you die overseas

frankly i would hope my family would just be happy to let 'em bury me over there once i'm not using this shell any more

be that as it may...usa gov't has NEVER offered free evacs to its citizens from foreign countries, NEVER, and i'm not sure where people suddenly got this idea that they did

they would RATHER you not travel at all, hence, all the hysterical warnings from the usa state
dept. website

but all the outrage wasted on this non-issue is a distraction from something, clearly, since there seems an organized campaign to whip us up to be pissed off abt some non-existent privilege that no one ever had

[spanone]

7. Guess the ignorants like myself are not aware of such worldly things.

Thanks for your enlightenment.I was not aware of the State Dept. 'knocking' this into our heads either.

[pitohui]

23. do you travel much out of country?

they seem to hammer on it to the point where our usa state dept. is considered a figure of fun by other nations, who considers the warnings and advisories highly exaggerated

i have to admit i feel the same way, i read the advisories and then i say pfffftttt

[northzax]

32. I've never changed a trip because of the State Department

advisories, but they are worth reading. Personally, I carry insurance that covers medical evacuation and repatriation of my remains, should it be neccesary. If I ever need to be evacuated for political reasons (and I've turned down evacs before), I'll sign the IUO.

[pitohui]

34. never changed a trip either

i agree, i do read them, then i do my best to calculate my own risk/reward, sometimes i've had the insurance and...sometimes not...but if i don't have it, it isn't because i think the state dept. is obligated to pay my bills

i'd sign the IOU as well, seems cheap at the price if it's really only $300, most one way tix are greatly inflated!

i should say i never intentionally changed a trip, i did have one to israel cancelled from under me when everyone except me and one other lady backed off because of all the terror issues earlier in the century

[northzax]

27. well, before travelling to a country

I suggest you read the State Department travel advisory for that country. They always recommend you purchase travel, evacuation and repatriation insurance, and have done for the 20 years I have read them. It's not big news.

Every time there is an international incident like this war, this sort of thing happens. So yes, if you are planning to move to, or travel to, a country in which war is a very reasonable possibility, take that under advisement. this isn't Luxembourg, people, it's Lebanon, war's not really all that surprising, is it?

[lapfog_1]

8. I'm pretty sure the medical students in Grenada did not pay ... -n/t

[northzax]

17. that was a different situation

since they were evaced in the face of a US government action, not the action of another state.

[spanone]

CNN just reported that this is from a bill Bush* signed in 2003

So it has not been the policy forever. It's the new Bush* policy.

[spanone]

21. dupe

[benddem]

9. That only applies to tourists

lots of the expatriates are employed by the US embassy and other US organizations. They certainly have been airlifted out of dangerous places before by the US.

[northzax]

16. and the embassy doesn't charge employees

who are evaced. but civilians who aren't there on government business? they should pay. sorry.

and I fully agree with not paying for repatriation of corpses, unless it is in the line of duty. this really is your reponsibility, not the government's.

[RB TexLa]

10. excatly! I don't know where people get the idea that if something

happens to you somewhere in the world the US government is just supposed to fly in and get you.

[pitohui]

26. i don't know either

no one i know who travels has ever been under such a delusion, where do people come up w. these ideas? it's up to you, your insurer, your employer, etc. to weigh the matter and decide on the appropriate insurance needed for evacuation if you think an issue will arise

it certainly isn't a new policy as of 2003 either, it has always been that way in my time as traveler

[RaleighNCDUer]

13. Are you saying that when our army heroically swept into Grenada

to rescue the American students there, that those students were charged for their air fare home?

When the hostages were released from Iran, who covered the costs there?

Was somebody punching tickets on the embassy rooftop in Saigon in '74?

Can you support that contention?

[northzax]

22. well, let's see

the first example was the direct result of a US government action. the US invaded and evacuated US citizens. If Trinidad and Tobago had invaded, they would have been on their own.

the second example are employees of the US government, acting in an official capacity. They never pay.

the third example was also a direct result of a US government action, in a war zone involving the US. different situations.

if you are required to leave, generally the US will pay (and by required I mean the US government forces you to, since you work for them) otherwise, you will be charged the price of a coach class ticket home.

[pitohui]

28. exactly right

saved me some typing there, northzax

[northzax]

30. it's not even mandatory to evacuate

this is a service being provided by the US government. Anyone who wants to stay is free to.

[FSogol]

35. So Reagan charged those students he "rescued" in Grenada?

I can't remember anytime were the State Department made a big deal over flying someone home. Sure, they may try to recoup the costs, but charging in advance? The way I see it, the * State Dept refuses to do anything. Remember when the hurricane hit Mexico and stranded all of the students? That surprised most Americans. Our Federal Government is broken.

[northzax]

44. the Grenada incident was a different story

since it was the US government's actions (namely the invasion) that caused the need for evacuation.

[C_U_L8R]

3. War profiteering

makes me sick.... yack

[malaise]

4. Get real

these are immigrants with dual nationality. They're not real Merican'ts :sarcasm:

[magellan]

5. We'll evacuate you for a FEE???

My GOD, do the assholes in charge of this country EVER stop thinking about $$$$$$$?

Maybe if they'd stop stuffing their own pockets with it there'd be enough to help US citizens out GRATIS when our "allies" start dropping bombs on them!!

[sinkingfeeling]

11. No, it's the beauty of free enterprise and capitalism....didn't you get

the memo? Guess you'll just have to go down to Florida and take US history there, since that's where their state legislature just passed a law to teach history their way.

[magellan]

14. Lucky me

I live in the Repuke armpit of the US already. Or is it the gonad? Guess I didn't get THAT memo either.

[The Deacon]

12. As said elsewhere

It has never been the policy of the U.S. to evacuate citizens for free (with the exception of government employees who are stationed there.) In extremis they will put you on the plane - and then send a bill to your house for "reasonable commercial transport costs." This is explained on the State Department website. As I knew many kids overseas who would blithely cash in their return tickets for a couple more weeks of living expenses, usually without a plan for when the money ran out, I can see the wisdom of this approach. Repatriation insurance only costs pennies.

[Benhurst]

15. Why would anyone from this country think they'd treated as

well by their government as, say, a Frenchman, an Italian or a Brit by his?

First hint: name the ony major industrialized nation without universal health care.

While America since the Bush coup is no longer the land of the free, it has never been the land of for free.

[northzax]

20. you think the French pay for citizens to be evaced?

not a chance. no one does.

[Benhurst]

37. I sure do. And now even third world BushAmerica has been

shamed into doing the same thing.

The World's Only Superpower. Yeah. Sure.

Impeach Bush/Cheney! Restore the Republic!

[northzax]

38. you would, of course

think wrong. French citizens being evacuated from Lebanon are taken to Cyprus but then they are responsible for moving on from there, or finding accomodations in Cyprus. the US government that you despise so much offers interest free repatriation loans to US citizens in Cyprus to get wherever they are going.

[Benhurst]

39. Getting the people to safety is what counts, not a free trip home.

The Bush Crime family has been shamed belatedly into aping the enlightened policies of our allies and has now agreed to take our citizens to safety without charge.

I don't, as you say, hate the AMERICAN government. I hate the perverted version which passes for it since the Bush Coup, a distinction which most Freepers are unable to grasp.

Impeach Bush/Cheney! Restore the Republic!

[northzax]

40. but this has been US government policy

since the time of JFK, at least. Bush's government is giving away evacs, this has never been the policy of the US government, at least not since the 50's. so this perverted version, you refer to, is the only one in recent memory to provide free evacuations. Clinton didn't, Bush Sr. didn't, Reagan didn't, Carter didn't, Ford didn't, Nixon didn't, LBJ didn't, Kennedy didn't, Eisenhower didn't, Truman didn;t. Ever since at least WWII, it has been the policy of the US government that evacuations of US citizens from non-US war zones is at cost. Sorry to inform you of this, but it's the facts of life. So your perverted version, since the Bush coup, is doing something that hasn't been done since WWII. keep that in mind. \

I personally don't want my money to go to this, either that, or I want the money that Bill Clinton's government charged me for an evac during a war not related to the US. but not really, cause this is long standing policy, not GW Bush related. anyone who travels internationally should understand this.

[Benhurst]

42. The White House attempted to justify its charging for evacuations

by citing a 2003 law.

"White House officials said they had no choice, citing a 2003 law requiring that evacuees sign promissory notes agreeing to reimburse the government for the costs of their transportation."

News Wire Services
7/19/2006

If you have a better legislative history upon which the administration can base a defense for such charges, you should give Tony Snow a call. I'm sure the administration found having to cite a 2003 law a bit awkward, since the Republicans controlled both the White House and Congress that year. But then it is a bit late to give Tony a helping hand, since the White House has backed off from charging to evacuate Americans. How European of them.

[northzax]

43. I can base it on personal experience, if you'd like

I have been offered two evacuations by the US government in my life, both came with a price tag (minimal, yes, but a price tag nonetheless) I turned them both down, by the way. and both were before 2003. how many people do you know how have been evaced by the US government?

the law simply codified what was already government practice.

[Benhurst]

45. It's strange then that the White House, always so quick to

blame former -- especially Democratic-- administrations, didn't jump on that, rather than citing one of their own laws.

Perhaps the White House spin machine was too busy trying to cover-up Bush's drunken antics and his groping the Chancellor of Germany to pass the buck and decided to just give into public pressure, waving all evacuation fees.

Poor Tony Snow. He'll have to learn to do better if he's going to fill Goebbels' shoes. You really should give him a call. Anecdotal evidence isn't the best; but it's better than nothing. Tony could use some help.

[mmonk]

18. Ownership society.

If you can't pay even if your life depends on it.....too bad. The leaders in this country are dog shit bad. The worst I've ever seen. No conscience whatsoever.

[RaleighNCDUer]

24. I guess that explains Katrina, too.

If those people had been waving handfuls of cash instead of signs pleading for help, they'd have all been picked up.

[truebrit71]

19. Absolutely despicable....

...simply unreal.... :shakeshead:

[Generator]

25. I would think that signing a promisary note to pay airfare to Cyprus

would be down there on the list of outrages I would experience. Now, if they required payment up front on the spot-I'd be outraged.

But really this is worthy of bitching about? There are few zillion things more unfair. I personally expect next to nothing from this government.

[pitohui]

31. yeah really

if they don't have the money, so what, it isn't like the usa will then stomp its feet and ship em back to beirut

somehow they could all afford to fly over there, i suspect they can all afford to chip in a mere $300 to get back

i think i would consider it cheap at the price, considering i've heard scare stories over the years of much higher fees being charged

[DanCa]

29. How is that less government thing working out

for all of you non Kerry voters. I am I wondering if your truly happier with the Chimps style of government rather than a government for and of the people.

[pitohui]

33. there are no nonkerry voters here

be that as it may, i agree that there are many shitty outrages being perpetrated by *co -- but this policy is not one of them, you also had to pay to be evacuated and repatriated under bill clinton, not just under reagan/bush

i have never known a time when you would not have to pay and when state dept. did not advise you to have evacuation/repatriation insurance to visit certain areas or past a certain age -- (even if it's paris, if you're 82 and there's some chance you'll die on your trip, might want to have the repatriation insurance in case you pass and want your body sent home to family for the funeral, for example)

[DanCa]

36. Oh come on

On a website this size don't you think that there are people here that voted liberterian, green, and even for the chimp?

[LittleClarkie]

41. I'd love to know what previous administrations have done

I wonder if there's a precedent for this.