Americans stranded in Beirut are being asked to pay for their evacuation from a warzone. Just another reason to be proud of our country.

The White House defended asking Americans to reimburse the estimated $150 cost of their passage, and the ambassador said the evacuation's slow start was intended to safeguard Americans.

To get on board, Americans must sign a note pledging to reimburse the U.S. government. They will be charged the price of a single commercial flight from Beirut to Cyprus - usually $150-$200, although officials refused to specify.

If they have no money to fly onward, they also will be asked to guarantee reimbursement of the price of an airline ticket from Cyprus to the United States.

Snow said the government has to charge evacuees because of a 2003 law. "I dare say that it's something that is causing heartburn for a number of people, but it's the law," he said.

This is total bullshit! How can this White House justify charging Americans for doing what we have done since the inception of our country free of charge? This is just another example of the corporate business model that this administration has adopted. They waste billions of dollars and then try to recoup some of those losses by charging their citizens for daring to get caught in a war that nobody saw coming.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi objected, saying it was not Congress' intent to prevent evacuations by making people sign a commitment to pay.

"A nation that can provide more than $300 billion for a war in Iraq can provide the money to get its people out of Lebanon," Pelosi told CNN.

I hope that the Democrats make some serious political hay out of this embarrassing lack of organization from this Government. I think with this and the Katrina debacle it should not be too hard to show that Republican's solution to a catastrophe is to blame the victims. And then charge them.