Paying for Other Peoples' Risky Behavior

Despite the dangers, many Americans decide to travel to parts of the world which are very hostile. The Middle East is a great example. I do not know why anyone in their right mind would freely go to such places such as Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, or Afghanistan; these places all have a history of violence and are generally hostile to Westerners. I suppose some Americans have families in these places and others pursue lucrative contracts to build infrastructure. Personally, if I came from one of these hell holes, I seriously doubt I would ever want to come back, even for a short visit. Before accepting a contract to work in one of these places, I would have to consider the extreme risks versus the rewards of doing the work. I do not think I could be paid enough.

These of course are my preferences. I do not begrudge another American the right to travel anywhere in the world as long as he or she is willing to do so at his or her own risk. As a policy, the United States does not negotiate with terrorists. This means that if in your travels outside the United States you are captured by some terrorist group you are on your own. The same ought to hold true if the country which you are visiting suddenly is under attack by another. Enter the current war between Israel and Lebanon. The A.P. writes:

An eight-deck cruise liner carrying more than 1,000 Americans sailed out of Beirut’s port Wednesday, the first mass U.S. evacuation from Lebanon since Israeli airstrikes started more than a week ago.

[…]

Many of those aboard were relieved to depart, after complaints of slow action by the United States compared to European countries that sent cruise ships, ferries and warships over the past three days to move out thousands.

Here we have a bunch of Americans who willfully left the relative safety of U.S. soil to visit a Middle Eastern country, which no one could ever consider ‘stable,’ and are now complaining that the U.S. government is not coming to their rescue fast enough? Who the hell do these people think they are? It gets even better. The article continues:

Despite the increased efforts, some expressed frustration.

“I can’t believe the Americans,” said Danni Atiyeh, a civil engineer from Kansas City, Mo., waiting earlier Wednesday with his pregnant wife and sons, ages 6 and 10, for a bus to take them to the cruise ship. “Everybody else has gone home ... We’re still here.”

The U.S. State Department said Tuesday it had dropped a plan to make Americans reimburse the government for the transport, but Atiyeh said he and others were asked to sign promissory notes to pay for the trip before they could leave.

How irresponsible! We are supposed to feel sorry for this jerk for bringing his pregnant wife and two young children into such an unstable environment? I’m just sorry that the two childrens’ father is such an incompetent ass! Even more insulting is this notion that this man expects, no demands, that his fellow citizens pay the bill for getting him and his family out of a region they had no business being in in the first place. If he was evacuating his home in Kansas City due to an attack on his life, liberty, or property, then he and others would have a legitimate claim to be promptly rescued.