State should give more aid to Americans stuck in Middle East

Sen. Elizabeth Warren questioned Thursday why the U.S. Transportation Command and the State Department aren’t doing more to get American citizens stranded in the middle of a war with Iran out of the Middle East.

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, the Massachusetts Democrat said tens of thousands of U.S. citizens may still be trapped in the region and that the Trump administration was too slow to act as violence spread from Iran to surrounding countries.

“Let’s be clear, the Trump administration chose this war. They planned this war for months and made no plans to protect hundreds of thousands of Americans in the region. There is no excuse for this,” Warren said.

Americans reported feeling stranded in the region in the days immediately following the start of the war. The State Department’s warning to U.S. citizens in 14 countries to “LEAVE NOW” has set off an uproar, with some saying they were left to do so. they defend themselves. Amid criticism, the State Department said last week: We are increasing flights to the USA to exit the area.

Although President Donald Trump said earlier this week that the war would end “very soon,” there is no imminent end in sight, and Americans across the region struggle to combat an ever-evolving regional conflict.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs published regular updates The amount of Americans who have moved out of the region since Trump declared war on Iran on Feb. 28 has been reported, and on Thursday a spokesman said about 47,000 citizens had returned to the United States.

The State Department has completed more than two dozen charter flights, and at this point the number of seats offered on those flights exceeds demand, the spokesperson said.

“As commercial flight availability continues to improve throughout the region, State Department charter flight and ground transportation operations continue,” the spokesperson said, without naming names, in a response to an email sent to the agency’s media investigation account.

TRANSCOM commander Gen. Randall Reed testified at Thursday’s hearing that his command helped airlift hundreds of Americans from the region.

But Warren said the efforts fell short.

“What I’m trying to understand is why you’re not doing more,” Warren asked Reed. “Because I’m hearing from my constituents who are stranded there, who have been stranded there for two weeks, asking for help and not getting help from the U.S. government.”

While many Americans have left the region and some have chosen to remain, others remain stuck. A State Department spokesperson said the department is “now working 24/7 to bring Americans home.”

Some lawmakers are taking matters into their own hands.

Representative Nancy Mace, R.S.C., sent to x He described his trip to the Middle East this week to help a family stranded in his area.

“The family I traveled here with returned home safely. But then I learned there were other families, too. Hundreds of families. Thousands. We are still stranded,” Mace wrote.

Congressional social workers, aides who answer voters’ questions, similarly reported that Americans felt embarassed and frustrated with the federal government’s response to the war.

A Senate Democratic caseworker, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said he had heard from voters in places such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Israel and Kuwait. Some are tourists, others are students or Americans, in some cases with their families, in the area for work.

“People in the Middle East who just want to leave but have no way of leaving are afraid, terrified, and feeling abandoned,” the caseworker said. “Their families here are scared and terrified and wonder why the U.S. government hasn’t brought their loved ones home already.”

A Senate social worker and a House Democratic case worker who spoke on condition of anonymity said inconsistent messaging from the government isn’t working.

The guidance given to Americans in the region in the early days of the war was to shelter in place, the House aide said. But “QUIT NOW” message It caused panic on March 2. The closure of airspace in many countries in the region has made the route home of commercial flights unlikely. The government provided a phone number for the helpline, but it required a long wait. As they passed, from time to time they were told: on their ownthe social worker said.

“What we heard from voters was complete panic,” the House aide said.