The US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, has issued an alert to US citizens to be on the lookout for possible signs of a terror attack, following twin bombings in the capital's center attributable to Hezbollah.
The warning however, has been met with ridicule, due to its wording. The warning in fact cites US or western like businesses or restaurant, as places to be avoided. in particular it warns to stay away from hotels, malls, grocery store of western style, and public and social events where US citizens meet.
It has not been lost on the Lebanese media how silly this sounds. If US citizens are to avoid western style enterprises and the likes, where would they go? It not only sounds strange, but it looks badly that the US so blatantly points the finger at itself, as the ultimate target of terrorism, when most of the dead in recent weeks have all been Lebanese, and the targets were Lebanese politicians.
It also sounds insensitive to the rest of the citizens of Beirut, who must of course deal with the increasing threat of terrorism every day. In some of the Twitter responses to the warning, which appears on the Embassy's internet site, Lebanese have taken to poke fun at the US in Lebanon, exhorting them to either 'blend with the locals', or to run 'red lights', so as to not be so easily identifiable.
Source : Al Jazeera/ 1.7.14
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