Yemen isn't Benghazi, hence Obama closes the embassy there amid terrorist threat

Despite a slew of attacks against Western targets that occurred in Benghazi prior to the September 11, 2012 terrorist attacks - including a couple of attacks on the US consulate - the Obama administration chose not to close down the consulate due to political reasons. What's more, requests for additional security at the consulate were turned down because, after all, President Obama had supposedly ushered in a new sense of tranquility in Libya [heh], and thus providing additional security at the consulate would have reflected poorly on Mr. Obama and his Libyan policy.

However, the same can not be said of the terrorist threat in Yemen. Unlike Benghazi, where Obama's actions brought about absolute chaos and created a brand new terrorist foothold - in Yemen, it is Obama's inaction that is the problem; he didn't create the terror there, he merely allowed the terrorist threat to multiply.

Hence, the President can close down the US embassy in Yemen, if he deems it necessary, because doing so would not reflect poorly on him - because he did not create the problem there. Besides, Obama already won a second term in office, and thus he can easily close down the embassy there without suffering any political repercussions. Hence, the AFP reported on Thursday:

The US embassy was closed to the public Thursday in Yemen after a spate of attacks against foreigners.

"The embassy is closed today. And this will remain in effect until further notice," an employee at the US mission in a heavily-guarded neighborhood in northeast Sanaa, told AFP.

Police were deployed along all roads leading to the embassy and conducted a thorough inspection of vehicles in the vicinity...

State Department spokeswoman Jan Psaki said Wednesday that the embassy would be temporarily closed to the public "due to recent attacks against Western interests in Yemen".

These attacks "and information we have received have given us enough concern to take this precautionary step," she said in a statement...

The interior ministry said it was searching for suspects whose vehicles were involved in recent attacks in Sanaa after "five Al-Qaeda terrorists" were arrested in several parts of the capital...

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), [a merger of Al-Qaeda in Yemen and Saudi Arabia], is seen by the United States as the network's deadliest franchise...

AQAP leader Nasser al-Wuhayshi vowed, in a rare video appearance last month, to attack Western "crusaders" wherever they are.

Unlike Benghazi, Obama's got nothing to lose by closing the US embassy in Yemen, so, the embassy staff there, hopefully, will be spared the same fate as the Benghazi victims.