DOD Sends Marine Team to U.S. Embassy in Yemen

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By Cheryl PellerinAmerican Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2012 – A MarineCorps fleet antiterrorism security team, called a “FAST team” is now on theground in Yemen to help with security at the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, PentagonPress Secretary George Little said today.
This is the second FAST team, consistingof about 50 Marines, authorized by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta to bolstersecurity at U.S. diplomatic installations in the past two days.   The move comes a day after protestersattacked the U.S. Embassy in the Yemeni capital.
The first team was sent to Libya afterthe Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed four StateDepartment employees, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. ChristopherStevens.
The FAST platoon was dispatched, Littletold reporters here, “partly in response to events over the past two days atour embassy in Yemen, but it’s also in part a precautionary measure.”
Protests began earlier this week inLibya and at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo over what was reportedly anAmerican-produced film posted on the Internet considered insulting to theProphet Mohammed.   Since then, therehave been reports of protests in other countries in the Middle East, includingat the U.S. embassy in Tunisia and the German Embassy in Sudan.
Travel alerts posted on the StateDepartment website are advising Americans to exercise caution because ofpossible demonstrations elsewhere, including in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, andJakarta, Indonesia.
About ongoing protests in Cairo at theU.S. Embassy there, Little said “the situation hasn’t to this pointnecessitated a change in security posture. Naturally, we stand ready to supportour State Department colleagues if a request for additional military supportcomes through.”
In Afghanistan, protests so far havebeen peaceful, he said.
“We’re gratified based on what we knownow,” Little said, “that religious leaders have appealed for nonviolentprotests … so for at the moment we have not seen outbursts of violence againstour diplomatic installations or military bases in Afghanistan.”
In Libya, he added, “we are continuingto investigate what happened and DOD will do its part, working with ourpartners across the government, to determine what happened and, if asked,support the president’s call to deliver justice.”
He said the department is incommunication with State Department colleagues to discuss military support toembassy and consulate security around the world, but that it is premature toreach final conclusions about the recent violence against U.S. diplomatic postsin Libya, Cairo and elsewhere or about who is responsible.
“I really am asking respectfully for alittle bit of patience as we work through this,” Little said. “It’s importantto get this answer absolutely correct, and that is the goal of this government-- to make sure that when a call is made that it’s accurate and complete.”