DATE=8/13/98 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT NUMBER=5-41137 TITLE=BOMBINGS / EMBASSIES BYLINE=WILLIAM EAGLE DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR= CONTENT= NOT VOICED: INTRO: THIS WEEK, THE STATE DEPARTMENT ACKNOWLEDGED THE AMERICAN EMBASSIES IN KENYA AND TANZANIA DID NOT MEET STRICT SECURITY GUIDELINES. NEWS SOURCES SAY THE EXPENSE OF BUILDING NEW EMBASSIES -- AND THE BELIEF EAST AFRICA WAS RELATIVELY SAFE FROM TERRORISM -- ARE AMONG THE REASONS WHY NOT ALL THE BUILDINGS WERE COMPLETELY UPGRADED AFTER TERRORIST ATTACKS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD IN THE 1980S. FROM WASHINGTON, WILLIAM EAGLE LOOKS AT SOME OF THE WAYS THE NEEDS FOR INCREASED SECURITY RE CHALLENGING -- AND CHANGING -- AMERICAN EMBASSIES. TEXT: AMERICA HAS OVER 200 EMBASSIES WORLDWIDE. IN RECENT YEARS, MANY HAVE BEEN FORTIFIED TO INCREASE SECURITY: SOME HAVE BEEN MOVED AWAY FROM CROWDED URBAN AREAS TO THE SUBURBS; OTHERS HAVE INSTALLED SURVEILLANCE EQUIPMENT AND HAVE BUILT HIGH WALLS AND GATEHOUSES WITH EXTRA GUARDS. JANE C. LOEFFLER [LEF'-LER] IS AN ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR OF "THE ARCHITECTURE OF DIPLOMACY: BUILDING AMERICA'S EMBASSIES." SHE SAYS AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR, THE U-S WANTED ITS MISSIONS TO SYMBOLIZE THE IDEALS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY -- INCLUDING FREEDOM AND OPENNESS TO ALL PEOPLE. MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC, MS. LOEFFLER SAYS, THEN -- AS NOW -- ARE ENCOURAGED TO VISIT THE U-S INFORMATION AGENCY'S LIBRARIES AND CULTURAL PRESENTATIONS. // LOEFFLER ACT // IN THE EARLY POST WAR YEARS, [MANY AMERICAN EMBASSIES] WERE CONSPICUOUSLY OPEN: EXTREMELY ACCESSIBLE GLASS CUBES, AND THERE WAS AN ACTUAL DESIGN POLICY WRITTEN OUT AND STATED IN 1954 WHERE THE BUILDINGS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DISTINCTLY AMERICAN -- BUT ALSO FIT IN WITH LOCAL HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURAL TRADITIONS. THE BUILDINGS WERE VERY INVITING BY DESIGN. AT THAT TIME IN THE EARLY COLD WAR YEARS WHEN THE SOVIETS WERE BUILDING CLASSICAL-TYPE BUILDINGS THAT WERE PONDEROUS AND FORMIDABLE, AMERICAN ARCHITECTS CALLED ON TO BUILD THE OPPOSITE: DEFINITELY ATTRACTIVE. // END ACT // BUT IN TIME, SECURITY CONCERNS INCREASED -- IN PART BECAUSE OF ATTACKS ON U-S DIPLOMATS IN THE MIDDLE EAST. SHORTLY AFTER TWO ATTACKS IN BEIRUT -- ONE ON A MARINE CORPS BARRACKS IN 1983 AND THE OTHER ON U-S EMBASSY IN 1984 -- THE U-S CONGRESS CONVENED A PANEL TO EXAMINE WAYS TO IMPROVE SECURITY AT U-S EMBASSIES. THE GROUP WAS LED BY RETIRED ADMIRAL BOBBY RAY INMAN. THE INMAN PANEL RECOMMENDED -- AMONG OTHER SUGGESTIONS --- THAT THREE METER HIGH WALLS BE BUILT AROUND ALL EMBASSIES AND CONSULATES, THAT MISSIONS BE BUILT OR RELOCATED OUTSIDE URBAN AREAS, AND THAT ALL EMBASSIES SHOULD BE AT LEAST THIRTY METERS FROM BUSY PUBLIC STREETS. (OPT) REPORTS SAY THE EMBASSIES IN NAIROBI AND DAR ES SALAAM WERE NOT MUCH MORE THAN TEN METERS FROM THE ROAD -- THOUGH THE TANZANIAN COMPOUND HAD A WALL AROUND IT. (END OPT) BRIAN JENKINS IS A LOS-ANGELES-BASED SECURITY CONSULTANT. HE WORKED WITH THE INMAN COMMISSION AS PART OF A COMMITTEE CALLED "THE EMBASSY OF THE FUTURE." THE COMMITTEE SUGGESTED WAYS TO REMODEL OR CONSTRUCT NEW MISSIONS THAT WERE MORE RESISTANT TO TERRORIST ATTACK. ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS WAS TO LIMIT, COVER, OR MOVE GLASS WINDOWS. THE FORMER AMERICAN EMBASSY IN BEIRUT WAS AMONG DIPLOMATIC BUILDINGS WITH GLASS FRONTS (OPT) IN THE NAIROBI EMBASSY EXPLOSION LAST WEEK, MANY WERE HARMED BY FLYING GLASS AND DEBRIS -- THOUGH IT IS NOT CLEAR IF IT CAME FROM THE EMBASSY OR A NEIGHBORING BUILDING WHICH COLLAPSED. (END OPT): // JENKINS ACT // IF ONE LOOKS AT SOME OF THESE MODERN GLASS BUILDINGS, YOU HAVE FLOORS THAT ARE SURROUNDED BY WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY A GLASS SHELL WITH VERY LITTLE INTERNAL PARTITIONING EXCEPT FOR THE ACTUAL PILLARS THAT BEAR THE WEIGHT OF THE FLOORS ABOVE. YOU CAN LOOK IN ONE SIDE OF THE BUILDING THROUGH THE GLASS AND SEE ALL THE WAY THROUGH. THAT IS EXCELLENT ARCHITECTURALLY, BUT DANGEROUS IN THE CASE OF AN EXPLOSION. THERE'S NOTHING TO IMPEDE GLASS AND OTHER THINGS FROM FLYING ACROSS THE FLOORS AND CAUSING CASUALTIES. // OPT // A SECOND ISSUE IS THAT BUILDINGS ARE DESIGNED TO TAKE A LOT OF WEIGHT -- DOWNWARD PRESSURE. SO IF A BOMB WERE PLACED ON THE ROOF, THE BUILDING WOULD HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF SURVIVAL BECAUSE THE BLAST WOULD BE COMING [DOWNWARD] -- AND THAT IS HOW THE BUILDING IS DESIGNED TO TAKE THE MOST STRESS. BUT BUILDINGS ARE NOT USUALLY DESIGNED TO TAKE PRESSURE THAT LIFTS UP THE FLOORS. IF THE BOMB IS AT STREET LEVEL, IT GENERATES A FORCE THAT SLAMS INTO THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING AND [BLOWS] UPWARD. IT LIFTS FLOORS, AND WHEN THEY COME DOWN WE SEE A PARTIALLY COLLAPSED BUILDING THAT LOOKS LIKE A CAVED-IN SANDWICH. [HOWEVER] YOU CAN RE-DESIGN THE BUILDING AND CONSTRUCT IT SO IT CAN TAKE GREATER PRESSURE GOING UP AND REDUCE ITS VULNERABILITY TO [STREET BOMBS THAT EXPLODE UPWARD]. // END ACT // // END OPT // THE INMAN COMMISSION ESTIMATED THAT IT WOULD COST UP TO THREE BILLION DOLLARS IN 1986 TO RENOVATE OR REBUILD AMERICA'S EMBASSIES. IT SAID 126 EMBASSIES AND CONSULATES WERE NOT SAFE -- AND CALLED FOR 75 POSTS TO BE REBUILT. BUT CONGRESS ONLY APPROPRIATED ABOUT 700 MILLION DOLLARS -- LESS THAN A THIRD OF WHAT THE COMMISSION RECOMMENDED -- FOR UPGRADING EMBASSY SECURITY. AS A RESULT OF THE INMAN PANEL'S RECOMMENDATIONS, THE NEW EMBASSIES THAT WERE BUILT BEGAN EMPHASIZING SECURITY OVER DESIGN. THEY WERE OFTEN BUILT IN COMPOUNDS -- LIKE IN SOMALIA, SAUDI ARABIA, CYPRUS, KUWAIT, AND EL SALVADOR. THE EMBASSY IN AMMAN, JORDAN, IS LARGER THAN SIX FOOTBALL FIELDS, AND SURROUNDED BY A THREE-METER HIGH WALL. /// OPT // THE EMBASSY IN ACCRA, GHANA, WAS CLOSED FOR SECURITY REASONS JUST BEFORE THE INMAN GUIDELINES. HISTORIAN JANE LOEFFLER SAYS SAYS THE BUILDING WAS WIDELY ADMIRED FOR ITS DESIGN: BUILT ON STILTS, IT WAS ARCHITECTURALLY DARING -- BUT JUDGED TO BE A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS PLACE TO WORK. AMONG ITS DESIGN PROBLEMS WAS A SINGLE CENTRAL STAIRWAY FOR LEAVING AND ENTERING THE BUILDING -- MAKING IT PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS IN THE EVENT OF ATTACK OR FIRE. MS. LOEFFLER SAYS ONE AMBASSADOR TO GHANA -- SHIRLEY TEMPLE BLACK -- COMPLAINED ABOUT THE BUILDING'S WOODEN WINDOW SHUTTERS: // OPT: LOEFFLER ACT // SHE SAID IT WAS A FIRE TRAP. THE ONLY WAY TO OPEN THEM WAS TO MANUALLY OPEN THE LOUVERS.. AND SHE WAS GIVEN A LITTLE AX WHEN SHE MOVED INTO HER OFFICE AND WAS TOLD, IN CASE OF FIRE, TO SMASH HER WAY OUT THROUGH THE SHUTTERS USING HER AX. SHE SAID SHE COULD NOT DO THAT. THE BUILDING ALSO HAD A SINGLE ENTRANCE THAT ALSO SERVED AS THE SINGLE EXIT -- A SIGNIFICANT DANGER IN CASE OF FIRE OR UNWANTED INTRUSION. // END ACT // // END OPT // BUT SOME OBSERVERS SAY GREATER SECURITY HAS NOT NECESSARILY BROUGHT EFFICIENCY, AND SOME OF THOSE INVOLVED IN PUBLIC DIPLOMACY SAY THE SECURITY RESTRICTIONS KEEP DIPLOMATS FROM MEETING THE PUBLIC -- AND GETTING A PROPER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT PEOPLE ARE THINKING ABOUT A GIVEN ISSUE. WILLIAM C. HARROP IS A RETIRED FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER WHO HAS SERVED AS AMBASSADOR TO ZAIRE, KENYA AND ISRAEL: // HARROP ACT // YOU TEND TO BE REMOVED FROM THE STREET, PHYSICALLY ISOLATED FROM THE COMMUNITY. YOU TEND TO HAVE THICK WALLS, AND PUBLIC ACCESS IS HARD TO GET THROUGH WITH A LOT OF METAL DETECTORS AND A TYPE OF LABYRINTH YOU GO THROUGH TO BE VIEWED AND BE CHECKED. WE FOUND THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE -- POLITICIANS OR CITIZENS -- WERE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THAT SITUATION. PEOPLE WOULD NOT VISIT THE EMBASSIES IF THEY FELT LIKE A SUSPECT OR PRISONERS WHEN (THEY) GO INTO IT. WE TRY TO HAVE AN OPEN SOCIETY. AND WE DO NOT LIKE TO APPEAR TO BE AN AUTHORITARIAN SOCIETY OR A DICTATORSHIP, WHICH IS MORE LIKELY TO HAVE A VIEW TOWARD THE PUBLIC OF SUSPICION, FEAR AND RESERVE. WE ARE A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY, AND WE TEND TO WORK THAT WAY AT HOME OR ABROAD. // END ACT // (OPT) ON THE OTHER HAND, ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN JANE LOEFFLER SAYS SAFETY -- AND UTILITY -- CAN BE COMBINED. FOR EXAMPLE, SHE SAYS ARCHITECTS CAN REDUCE THE NUMBER OF WINDOWS AND STILL GIVE THE BUILDING AN OPEN FEEL: BY HAVING THE WINDOWS FACE AN INNER COURTYARD, RATHER THAN A PUBLIC STREET. // OPT: LOEFFLER ACT // YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BUILD A CRYPT TO BUILD A [RELATIVELY SAFE] EMBASSY. NATURALLY, YOU'D BE SAFER UNDERGROUND IN A CONCRETE BUNKER, BUT THAT IS NOT THE WAY THE U-S WANTS TO REPRESENT ITSELF ABROAD, NOR SHOULD IT. THE EMBASSY IN [MALAYSIA] IS HEAVILY FORTIFIED, BUT VERY ATTRACTIVE. THE ARCHITECT SAID "IT LOOKS FRIENDLY, BUT IT'S BUILT LIKE A FORTRESS." IT LOOKS LIKE A LARGE HOUSE WITH BALCONIES AROUND IT, BUT THEY ARE REALLY BULLET PROOF SHIELDS. // END ACT // IT'S TOO EARLY TO TELL WHAT LESSONS WILL BE LEARNED FROM LAST WEEK'S EMBASSY BOMBINGS. (OPT) THE U-S EMBASSY IN NAIROBI WAS BUILT IN 1981, BEFORE THE INMAN GUIDELINES. THE FIVE STORY BUILDING WAS DUE FOR A THREE MILLION DOLLAR REHABILITATION AND SECURITY IMPROVEMENT IN JANUARY 1999. THE NEW YORK TIMES SAYS THOSE CHANGES WOULD HAVE SEPARATED THE EMBASSY'S BUSINESS AND OPERATIONS AREAS FROM THE MORE PUBLIC CONSULAR SECTION. (END OPT) THE NEWSPAPER SAYS THE STATE DEPARTMENT SPENT MORE THAN 750 THOUSAND DOLLARS 10 YEARS AGO TO MODIFY THE DAR ES SALAAM EMBASSY. IT IS IN A 44-YEAR-OLD THREE STORY OFFICE BUILDING THAT WAS ONCE THE ISRAELI CHANCELLERY UNTIL THE TANZANIAN GOVERNMENT TOOK OVER OWNERSHIP IN 1973. SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS THAT SURVIVED THE DAR ES SALAAM ATTACK REPORTEDLY DID NOT CONTAIN VIDEOTAPE -- THEY WERE USED STRICTLY FOR MONITORING. A N EMBASSY SPOKESMAN IS QUOTED AS SAYING THAT POLICY WOULD BE CHANGED. (END OPT) FROM 1996 THROUGH THE NEW FISCAL 1999 BUDGET, THE U-S CONGRESS HAS PROVIDED 112 MILLION DOLLARS TO INCREASE EMBASSY SECURITY. SINCE LAST WEEK'S BOMBINGS, LAWMAKERS ARE CALLING FOR RENEWED ATTENTION TO THE SECURITY OF AMERICA'S OVERSEAS MISSIONS. THE CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE, BENJAMIN GILMAN, AND THE CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS SUBCOMMITTEE, CHRISTOPHER SMITH, HAVE CALLED FOR EMBASSY SECURITY TO BE A TOP PRIORITY. HOWEVER, SOME ANALYSTS WARN NO BUILDING IS EVER COMPLETELY SAFE. THE NEW YORK TIMES QUOTES THE UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS, THOMAS PICKERING, ON THE MATTER OF SECURITY. WHEN ASKED TO ASSESS THE VULNERABILITY OF THE NAIROBI AND DAR ES SALAAM EMBASSIES TO ATTACK, HE REPLIED, "BOMB PROOF IS A RELATIVE TERM. TELL ME WHAT SIZE THE BOMB, AND I'LL TELL YOU WHAT THE PROOF IS." (SIGNED) NEB/WE/KL 13-Aug-98 11:49 AM EDT (1549 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .