Twenty-two U.S. embassies, as of this writing, are affected by new intelligence which indicates terrorists are planning attacks on American interests. The embassies will close August 4, a few days before the end of the Ramadan fasting period for Muslims, and perhaps other dates as well.

U.S. embassies close not only to protect their staffs but also to prevent injuries to the public. An embassy is a busy place. Those seeking visas, usually to visit or study in the U.S, may be so numerous that they must wait hours in long lines at some embassies. American citizens also visit to renew passports, receive notarial services, or to register new-born children.

To announce a closure does not mean everybody stays home. The majority of the staff in an embassy is usually non-American. Most embassy work is not classified. This includes maintenance of the embassy and housing for Americans assigned to work there. Foreign service nationals, or locally hired staff, as they are now called, also perform skilled work because of their language abilities, knowledge of the country, and continuing contact with local government. They often work their entire adult lives for the embassy and develop valuable contacts for their American employers. Many local staff are asked to stay at home when the routine work at the embassy is shut down.

During the times I served in embassies in the Middle East, I don’t remember a closure in which I stayed home. As one who served American citizens, I needed to be there for emergencies and often to notify our citizen warden networks if new information came in.

I hated when an embassy closed because it meant a double work load the day we opened again.