U.S. Evacuates Diplomats From Lebanon

The State Department has issued a travel warning for Lebanon, ordering nonessential staff to leave Beirut and urging private citizens to do the same “due to potential threats to U.S. Mission facilities and personnel.” The warning has been under consideration since President Obama introduced a plan to strike the country’s northern neighbor, Syria, last week. The alert names terrorist organization and Assad ally Hezbollah as a particular threat to Americans in the region and cites numerous security incidents that have spilled over from Syria including shelling of border villages and kidnappings of Lebanese citizens.