Quick takes // By Ben FrankelU.S. Middle East embassies under attack

Three U.S. embassies in the Middle East and North Africa came under attack in the last couple of days. Each of the first two attacks, one in Cairo, the other in Benghazi — the third attack, in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, was similar to the one in Cairo — has raised different questions. The attack in Cairo, which saw a scor of ultraislamist demonstrators scale the walls of the embassy and pull down the U.S. flag, raised questions about a press release issued by the embassy, a release which, some charged, appeared to be more concerned with the hurt feelings of Muslims than with the security of U.S. personnel and the rule of law. The Benghazi attack raises questions of a more operational nature, concerning intelligence and protection.

1. Libya
The attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi was deadly, killing the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other embassy personnel. While the mob attack in  Cairo (see below) was spontaneous, the Obama administration says that intelligence information indicates that the attack on the U.S. embassy compound in Benghazi was planned and that the group behind it had the plans and the means to carry it out, and was just waiting for an opportunity.

The attackers of the Benghazi compound were equipped with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.

The New York Times reports that officials in Washington said no warning had been distributed inside the U.S. government in the days before the assault on the consulate, either on the possibility of an attack to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary or, more specifically, that a plot might be afoot in Libya. The Times says that this suggests that American intelligence was not picking up unusual communications or other evidence pointing to a planned attack.

The Times notes that “If it were established that the deaths of the American diplomats resulted not from the spontaneous anger of a crowd about an insult to Islam but from a long-planned Qaeda plot, that might sharply shift perceptions of the events.”

If the initial intelligence assessments are proved, then U.S. intelligence gathering operations in Libya should be examined, as well as the level and quality of cooperation and information sharing between the U.S. and Libyan intelligence communities. The administration has not shared much information about the attack itself, and how the four embassy personnel were killed, but it is not too early to surmise that the compound was perhaps more exposed and vulnerable than should be, considering the unstable security situation in Libya.

Post-attack investigation of both these aspects should be conducted.