Assuming risk
The whole fiasco going on between Israel and Lebanon (more specifically Hezbollah)is another example of how pathetically powerless the U.N. has become. The U.N. has condemned the actions on both sides and called for a ceasefire. Both sides ignore them.
Israel especially appears to care very little for the citizens of other countries trapped in the area. In their blind rage to exact revenge on Hezbollah, they have invaded a sovereign country and disregarded the U.N. that is supposed to protect the greater good of all nations and citizens.
The Canadian government has sent evacuation resources to the area and the Prime Minister even made a special trip from Paris and picked up some citizens from Cyprus on his Canadian Forces airbus. But with 50,000 Canadians in Lebanon it is a nightmare to imagine the resources necessary to evacuate them all.
But unbelievably, some of the evacuees have the gall to complain. They complain about everything from the time it is taking to the fact that they got sea sick on the boats taking them out of a WAR ZONE they chose to go into. Canadians are such bleeding heart suckers that we are allowing Canadian citizens who have not been resident to Canada for years to also jump the ferry out of the zone in some cases ahead of those there on vacation/family visits. Didn't these people assume a certain amount of risk for making a choice to reside in such an area? While I think the government should do everything it can to evacuate our citizens I think there ought to be a priority given to residents of this country.
The other part that gets me with this is people criticizing the government for not having a plan to handle the situation. Huh? So now we need to have plans in place for evacuating every corner of the globe because, guess what, folks, Canadians are literally everywhere. Again, I say that if you make the choice to live in a region that has the potential for war, tornadoes, tsunami, volcano or your next door neighbour going postal, you can't expect the government to be ready at a moments notice to save your ass. If you assume the risk you need to step up and assume some of the responsibility of a contingency plan.
Fortunately, my neighbours seem rational and well-adjusted. But if any of them get an evil-eye going on or a weird nervous tick, I'm not waiting for the government to send a limo to take me to another location. I'm picking up and moving.
