Yes, just as I would have concerns for the Americans on the ground in harms way. Yes, there is always risk to having personnel in such areas, but that is yet another reason why we should be questioning the lack of security for the embassy. Instead, the media is largely ignoring that.
U.S. Diplomatic Security Tightened With Few Good Options
Within hours of learning about the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, President Barack Obama ordered tighter security at diplomatic posts around the world.
While 50 Marines were sent to Libya, even the increased military presence can’t guarantee security for U.S. personnel, according to veteran diplomats such as Richard Murphy, a former ambassador to Syria and Saudi Arabia.
“They’re not bodyguards,” Murphy said in an interview yesterday, referring to the Marines who stand guard at U.S. embassies.
“Their mission is to safeguard the classified material.”
When it comes to providing security for U.S. embassies and consulates, the U.S. doesn’t have sole responsibility.
The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations established that the host country of an embassy or consulate “is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage.”
In the case of Libya’s government, Murphy said, “They were not up to the job.”
The U.S. bolsters local security with its own forces. The State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, which protects U.S. personnel on official duty abroad, has almost 800 special agents at more than 250 posts worldwide, according to the State Department’s website.
Classified Material
The Marines provide internal protection for U.S. diplomatic posts “to prevent the compromise of classified material vital to the national security of the United States,” said Captain Gregory Wolf, a Marine spokesman. The Marines also can provide protection for U.S. citizens and property during “urgent temporary circumstances which require immediate aid or action,” he said.
Marines aren’t always stationed at consulates. There were none at the Benghazi consulate in Libya at the time of the deadly attack by protesters two days ago, according to a defense official who requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
“The plain fact is we can’t have an army at every diplomatic establishment in the world,” said David Mack, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs who has served in diplomatic posts across the Middle East and North Africa, including Libya.
No ‘Chatter’
Security at the Libyan facilities was considered adequate, the official said.
Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican and chairman of the House intelligence committee, told CNN there was no sign of intelligence “chatter” leading up to the Benghazi consulate attack that would have warned U.S. officials to take extra precautions.
While the U.S. could have followed the British lead in closing its consulate in eastern Libya, Mack and Murphy said such a move would be a mistake.
“This would be a terrible time to do it,” Mack said. “Libyans are in the middle of settling major constitutional issues.” Closing the consulate would be seen “as taking a side in the formation of a government and the constitution of the country,” he said.
The State Department has wrestled for decades with how to build embassies that are both safe and accessible to the public.
