# Embassy Closings **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 4, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354 "2013-08-04T21:33:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/141 "2013-08-06T17:28:44Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > I could not find a single attack on Israeli target attributed to Al Q. > > Can you help out? You clearly didn’t watch Homeland. Everyone in Homeland knows al-Queda and Hezbollah are the same group. Just as the USA and Israel stand shoulder-to-shoulder against them. Etc. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/142 "2013-08-06T17:37:39Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > Pretty much. Now you’re getting the hang of it. The gist is “if I call everything a conspiracy, I sound knowing and worldly.” ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/143 "2013-08-06T17:38:18Z")
This thread seems extremely short on cited facts and overflowing with assertions pulled from asses. Maybe it’s better suited for IMHO? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/144 "2013-08-06T17:50:48Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > No, but they are stepping out of the crosshairs. They’re being moved away from an area thought to be in danger. They are? If everybody is leaving the building doesn’t that make them more vulnerable to attack caught out in the open in a vehicle? All a terrorist needs to do is phone in an attack and sit back and wait for the fish to drive out in a barrel. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > While they are out of the target, the threat can be addressed and we hope eliminated. Well at best that would be hope springing eternal. Realistically it gives the employees a day off. The question then becomes do they get extra money for a final meal because we know there isn’t going to be anybody coming to their defense if attacked when they return. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > Do you also think it’s foolish to evacuate a building during a fire? No, I but I do think it’s unconscionable not to send a fire truck. In this case, nothing was attacked and no embassy was directly threatened with attack. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > Not really. The Benghazi attack is a phony scandal used to inflame right wing hatred of Obama. It seems like the intelligence about the potential Yemen attack is stronger than what we had prior to the Libya attack. Interesting, you think the people who died with no hope of rescue after 8 hours of attack felt as you do? Looks scandalous to me and I’m assuming the people who died didn’t care about who they voted for or what party they registered with. Again, there’s nothing stopping terrorists from attacking an embassy after it reopens except your fantasy that we would find the terrorists and kill them first. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > You take people out of a facility known to be a target and move them elsewhere. It might be that the terrorists are taken out in the next week or they have to reset their plan and we hope that we catch wind of it next time they plan to pull it off. Since they somehow tipped their hand about this week’s planned attack, it might be that we can catch word of the next one, too. Leaving sitting ducks in place seems to me to be a rather silly plan. A silly plan is giving vacation days in lieu of not defending the embassy from attack which can easily be made after the workers return. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/145 "2013-08-06T17:53:08Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > explain please. Are the workers sent to the International Space Station or Cheyenne Mountain for safe keeping? What makes them less vulnerable? Well, they don’t usually **live** in the embassy. If it’s closed, they stay home, elsewhere in town. Terrorists might know where to find them, but hunting them down and picking them off one at a time is just not as exciting a prospect. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/146 "2013-08-06T17:56:37Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > A “credible threat” issued by NSA is a contrivance designed to distract attention away from the NSA. Or they knew they would elevate the probability of a threat by bombing terrorists in Yemen. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/147 "2013-08-06T17:58:41Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > I could not find a single attack on Israeli target attributed to Al Q. > > Can you help out? AQ usually go for the low-hanging fruit. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/148 "2013-08-06T18:01:31Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > They are? If everybody is leaving the building doesn’t that make them more vulnerable to attack caught out in the open in a vehicle? All a terrorist needs to do is phone in an attack and sit back and wait for the fish to drive out in a barrel. Let’s try this- you have a henhouse and have learned that the weasels plan to attack it. Do you leave all the chickens in that one house or would you split them up and move them? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/149 "2013-08-06T18:04:01Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Well, they don’t usually **live** in the embassy. If it’s closed, they stay home, elsewhere in town. Terrorists might know where to find them, but hunting them down and picking them off one at a time is just not as exciting a prospect. probably more fun than a suicide bombing. Of course, they miss that initial rush of adrenalin followed by their adrenal glands. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/150 "2013-08-06T18:08:20Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Let’s try this- you have a henhouse and have learned that the weasels plan to attack it. Do you leave all the chickens in that one house or would you split them up and move them? I’d let slip the dogs of war to guard them knowing the weasels will be back the following day and I have no chance of hunting them all down to eliminate the threat. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/151 "2013-08-06T18:08:34Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > AQ usually go for the low-hanging fruit. So, the answer is Al Q has not made a single attack on Israeli interests in its history. Good. We’re making progress here! I mean, the “eternal hate” ™ is there but, no, no attack yet. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/152 "2013-08-06T18:10:51Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Yes, the US has been conducting drone strikes in Yemen for awhile now. Yes, I know. However some posters were saying the closures didn’t make sense because the alleged attackers would just wait a week- as if the intervening time couldn’t be used for anything. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/153 "2013-08-06T18:17:58Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > So, the answer is Al Q has not made a single attack on Israeli interests in its history. > > Good. > > We’re making progress here! > > I mean, the “eternal hate” ™ is there but, no, no attack yet. you can read their attacks of Israelis [here](http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4677978/ns/world_news-hunt_for_al_qaida/t/al-qaida-timeline-plots-attacks/). If they lack success on the physical land of Israel it isn’t because they Israeli’s were giving out vacation days it’s because they’re successful at eliminating them from equation. And it’s not like the various terrorist groups operate in a vacuum from each other. Like minds share assets toward a common goal. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/154 "2013-08-06T18:19:24Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > This thread seems extremely short on cited facts and overflowing with assertions pulled from asses. Maybe it’s better suited for IMHO? I’d love to share the facts I have right here but I’m afraid it’s a matter of national security. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/155 "2013-08-06T18:22:23Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yes, I know. However some posters were saying the closures didn’t make sense because the alleged attackers would just wait a week- as if the intervening time couldn’t be used for anything. We eventually caught the Beltway Snipers. Should we have closed every business, school and government building? That was a known threat. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/156 "2013-08-06T18:24:56Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I’d let slip the dogs of war to guard them knowing the weasels will be back the following day and I have no chance of hunting them all down to eliminate the threat. And when they do return, all they’ll find are a bunch of gorged dogs sleeping on scattered feathers. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/157 "2013-08-06T18:33:26Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > We eventually caught the Beltway Snipers. Should we have closed every business, school and government building? That was a known threat. That’s unmanageably vague and disruptive. Closing some embassies isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/158 "2013-08-06T18:33:47Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > And when they do return, all they’ll find are a bunch of gorged dogs sleeping on scattered feathers. the people who died defending the embassy would disagree with your assessment. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/159 "2013-08-06T18:35:30Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That’s unmanageably vague and disruptive. Closing some embassies isn’t. One was an active threat, the other wasn’t. One had the assets of the US military to defend it, the other did not. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354/160 "2013-08-06T18:38:49Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > One was an active threat, the other wasn’t. One had the assets of the US military to defend it, the other did not. You’re saying that sending soldiers into 19 countries seems simpler than briefly closing some embassies? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embassy-closings/665354.md?page=9)