Obama plays safe with embassies Post-Benghazi

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama seems determined to make sure that it does not have another Benghazi.

Put in the pillory by Republicans in Congress for its handling of the attack of last year, his Administration's response very carefully now that intelligence suggests an attack by al - Qaida as possible in the work.

As well as the threat may be winding down, American officials say that they are not taking risks less than a year after militants killed four Americans in the eastern city of Libya and the Republicans are about to pounce on any false step.

After closing 19 diplomatic posts throughout the Muslim world for nearly a week, United States added to global unrest on Friday.

Ordered personnel not essential in Lahore, Pakistan, and warned Americans to avoid travel to the country. The action appeared linked to the threat of al - Qaida come from Yemen, but it reflected a letter earlier in the week to employees of Embassy of United States in that country.

The reason for the recent security measures: "An excess of caution".

It will reopen on Sunday come, all but one of the 19 embassies and consulates, the State Department announced on Friday afternoon. The exception: the Embassy of United States in Sana'a, Yemen. In addition, the Consulate in Lahore was remain closed. A spokesman of the Department do not cite a reason for the decision to reopen the 18 missions.

Obama said at a White House Press Conference on Friday afternoon that core of al - Qaida has been decimated by the counter-terrorism efforts of the United States as the raid 2011 killed Osama bin Laden in its complex in Pakistan. But they remain members of the terrorist network threatening to the United States

"Although it is less likely that it can carry out spectacular attacks homeland as 9/11, they have the ability to go after our embassies", said Obama. "They have the ability to pursue our business. They have the ability to be disruptive and destabilizing in countries where the security apparatus is weak. And that is what we are seeing now."

"We won't completely eliminate terrorism," he said. "What we can do is to weaken and strengthen our partners so that it does not pose the type of horrible threat that posed in the 9/11".

Obama did not speak specifically about the threat or the closing of the Embassy.

But U.S. officials familiar with the discussions recognized that the deadly attack last year on a facility of the United States in Benghazi played a role in the decision-making process. They say that the White House, in particular insisted on handling the situation very carefully, and only persisted the reopening of embassies and consulates to the public when it is not a significant threat. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the deliberations.

Extended closures have consequences for American diplomacy. Means those travelling for business and potential tourists have to wait for visas, American pickpocketed unable to obtain new passports and fewer staff in the work of promoting human rights, facilitating trade agreements or coordinate with foreign Governments on issues vital to the United States security and economic growth. It also takes a toll on the image of the United States in countries with anti-American sentiment already.

The order of off diplomatic facilities in the Northwest that Africa Bangladesh stands in sharp contrast to the Administration's approach favored in September in different circumstances.

The danger present in much of North Africa and Middle East concerns of a possible al - Qaida attack come from Yemen without law, while Pakistan closures refer to a barrage of deadly militant attacks there. The threat a year ago was more amorphous and even less predictable, focusing mainly on an avalanche of protests from West Africa to the Philippines by a fan, anti-Islam film made by an Egyptian who lives in the United States.

When the Administration was reluctant to close their embassies and consulates. Even after September 11 Benghazi assault that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and the other three Americans, and as demonstrators besieged United States jobs in the region, Washington tried to keep their offices in the majority of places open for business.

When the United States took action, it was narrower in scope and geography.

After protesters marched into the compound of the United States in Cairo, they scaled the walls and replaced the American flag with the black flag, favoured by the Islamists, the State Department Visa Office had been closed for a week and suspended the emergency services for Americans for several days.

The building remained in operation, as the U.S. Embassy in Yemen after the violent scenes did similarly days later.

The night of September 11 was most violent of all, although the Government says that already the events there were not connected to any demonstration.

Since the attack of two stages of Benghazi the diplomatic post and then a CIA compound across the city, U.S. diplomats have not returned to the city. But even within Libya, the response was attacked. Non-essential staff was ordered outside the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, the capital, while he remained senior diplomats.

Protests in other places at the same time had impact.

United States closes its Embassy in Sudan after the Government refused to authorize the additional Marines as part of a protection force. United States closed installations throughout Pakistan on September 21 for a day of national holiday dedicated to the Muslim Prophet Mohammed. But in dozens of other places where demonstrations, took place the Department of State maintains a semblance of normality.

Washington reinforced security at the facilities, instead of closing them. In some places, that meant Marines; in others, the local authorities intensified. Armoured vehicles, police cars and surveillance equipment became immediately most conspicuous near the compounds of the United States from Nigeria to the Philippines.

Last week, United States has erred much more cautious.

On the military side, United States drone strikes killed 34 suspected militants in Yemen in the past two weeks, according to a count of Associated Press provided by Yemeni security officials.

And although there has not been any public demonstration yet of the threat of al - Qaida, the Administration continues to openly warn about the permanent danger and the need to limit exposure to United States while taking action against terrorist groups.

A little lost in the response has been the importance of persisting with diplomacy in dangerous places - a subject significantly pointed out a year ago.

"Even as voices of suspicion and mistrust seeking to divide the countries and cultures of each other, the United States of America never withdraw from the world," Obama said at a ceremony for the victims of the attack in Benghazi.

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