State Department orders drawdown at more Mideast diplomatic missions as familiar criticism mounts

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department on Monday drew down personnel at more U.S. diplomatic missions in and around the Middle East as it faces increasing, but historically familiar, criticism for not doing enough to prepare embassies, consulates and American citizens living abroad for conflict.

The department ordered the departure of nonessential staff and families from Saudi Arabia and the U.S. consulate in Adana, Turkey, a NATO ally, in response to escalating Iranian retaliation to U.S.-Israeli attacks.

The moves bring to 10 the number of U.S. embassies and consulates in the region with reduced staffing, although only two have fully suspended operations. The reductions, the largest since the Iraq War began in 2003, could complicate efforts to respond to complaints pouring in from lawmakers and others accusing the department of not adequately planning for the war and not acting quickly enough to help U.S. citizens.

Department officials acknowledge that they — and the Trump administration more broadly — underestimated the scale and scope of Iran’s retaliation just after the war began. However, as these officials and their predecessors have argued in previous crises, they are constrained by congressional limits on their authority to act, the need to respect operational military security and rapidly changing events.

Three department officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due the sensitivity of the matter, said the agency was prepared for the conflict but stressed that they had to move quickly through the bureaucracy to put contingency plans in place after the extent of Iran’s response became clear.

Criticism about the US response

The State Department said Monday that it has assisted more than 23,000 people with either information or offers of seats on charter flights to return to the U.S. It has advised Americans in 14 countries in the Middle East to leave, issuing a warning two days after the war began as closed airspace and flight cancellations made travel difficult.

As of Monday, at least 36,000 Americans had returned to the U.S., the vast majority of whom made their own way home commercially without government assistance, the department said.

Officials say at least half of the people offered seats on U.S.-organized charter flights — for which the State Department has waived a congressional requirement for Americans to reimburse the government — have declined. A flight from the United Arab Emirates was canceled over the weekend because no one showed up, the three officials said.

In response to a news report about Americans making it home safely but complaining about little government assistance, Rep. Gregory Meeks said Monday on X that he was glad they got back.

“But it’s an unacceptable failure of leadership that (Secretary of State Marco) Rubio did not have plans in place to evacuate New Yorkers & Americans in the Middle East until after Trump started dropping bombs,” wrote Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

A group of eight Democratic senators, led by Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, said in a letter to Rubio last week that “despite clear military planning for a significant conflict in the Middle East with the potential for regional escalation, it appears the administration failed to take sufficient steps to protect our diplomats and their families.”

State Department says it responded quickly

Before the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, the State Department had a general advisory for Americans to use caution throughout the Middle East. It had ordered nonessential diplomats to leave the embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, and allowed the departure of nonessential staff from missions in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

The department has since expanded orders for all but critical staff to leave embassies in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and the consulates in Karachi, Pakistan, and Adana, Turkey. Only the embassy in Kuwait City and the consulate in Karachi have fully suspended operations.

No Americans have been injured at embassies or during evacuations so far. A strike on the embassy in Riyadh caused part of its roof to collapse, while a helicopter landing pad inside the U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad was hit. Strikes also landed in a parking lot adjacent to the U.S. consulate in Dubai and near the embassy in Kuwait City.

According to internal State Department cables and documents known as situation reports that were obtained by The Associated Press, the agency generally approved requests from embassies and consulates either to allow or order evacuations of nonessential staffers and families within 24 hours. The documents say:

— On March 1, the U.S. embassies in Doha, Qatar, and Kuwait City, Kuwait, requested voluntary departure status. Those requests were approved later that day and announced on March 2.

— On March 2, the department advised Americans in 14 Middle East countries “to depart now via commercial means due to serious safety risks.”

— On March 3, Iranian retaliation increased and many diplomats eligible for voluntary departure had declined, so the department ordered nonessential staff to leave Kuwait and Qatar, along with those in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

— On March 5, operations at the embassy in Kuwait were suspended.

— On Monday, the department ordered nonessential personnel and families in Saudi Arabia and the consulate in Adana, Turkey, to leave.

State Department often criticized in crises

Criticism of the State Department for its actions in crisis situations has been consistent through Democratic and Republican administrations, from the Iraq War to the chaotic 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan.

As the Biden administration withdrew the U.S. from Afghanistan, Republican lawmakers complained that not enough was being done to help Americans before the attack on the Kabul airport killed 13 troops.

“Under your direction, contingency planning by the State Department has been woefully inadequate, and now we are seeing the tragic results,” Rep. Mike McCaul of Texas and other House Republicans said in a letter.

After-action reports and analyses by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service and Government Accountability Office say about 125,000 people were evacuated from Afghanistan during the withdrawal.

In March 2020, nine Democratic senators sent a letter criticizing the State Department for failing to do enough to help Americans trying to get home during the coronavirus pandemic. A November 2021 GAO report found the agency bought back more than 100,000 Americans from 137 countries during the first six months of the pandemic.