State Dept: New 24-Hour Monitoring Team to Watch for More Embassy Attacks

White House Says Troops Will Stay as Long as They Are Needed

The State Department has announced that a 24-hour monitoring team has been established to keep on eye on security situations related to US embassies worldwide, as massive protests break out against sites in dozens of nations and US officials scramble to deal with the aftermath of attacks on embassies and consulates.

“We have been monitoring events in the Middle East and North Africa intensively today, and working with our personnel and missions overseas and host governments to strengthen security in all locations and to respond effectively where protests have turned violent,” one of the officials said.

The US has deployed additional security in the form of Marines to both Libya and Yemen following attacks on the Benghazi Consulate and the Saana Embassy. The White House issued a statement saying those troops will remain “as long as they are needed.”

Several other embassies are believed to be at risk, as officials across the Muslim World struggle to deal with soaring anti-US sentiments in the wake of the release of a trailer for an anti-Muslim movie.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.