The U.S. must make clear that future attacks will carry the highest price

Our Vulnerable Embassies

MICHAEL J. TOTTEN

On Tuesday of this week, demonstrators waving al-Qaida flags stormed the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, removed the American flag from its pole, and set it on fire. At roughly the same time, a terrorist cell attacked the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and assassinated U.S. ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three of his senior staff members. The embassy in Yemen was breached the next day. In the wake of all this, the biggest question isn’t what Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, and Barack Obama should say on TV. The most important question is: why weren’t our diplomats able to defend themselves and the overseas property of the United States?

U.S. embassies usually have Marines on hand for protection, but the only security at the Benghazi consulate was provided by Libyans.

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Terrorists constantly probe for weak points. You can bet that al-Qaida leaders took copious notes on our newly exposed vulnerabilities. Our overseas staff had better be prepared when they come again—and they will, for we sent the wrong signal this week. We need to send a new message, and fast, that attacking our embassies is as dangerous as drawing down on a cop: you should expect to be shot.

Michael J. Totten is a contributing editor at City Journal. He is the author of Where the West Ends and The Road to Fatima Gate.

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