Fifteen Years

Earlier this week, more than a dozen U.S. embassies were closed due to a threat from Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula. Yesterday, non-essential personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Sa’naa were evacuated. I discussed those issues with a colleague about how they were probably over-reactions because of Benghazi. But I had forgotten that fifteen years ago today, Al-Qaeda bombed the U.S. Embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi.

I walked down to the memorial site. I had there before but today was different. There was a great crowd surrounding the memorial wall, gathered to remember and listen to speakers discuss their views. The former mayor of Nairobi spoke about what his day was like. I wandered the museum once more although I was banned from taking photos (why anyone does this, I will never know). It was still as sad as before though.

For my readers in the U.S., wake up and enjoy your lives because in Kenya, people have their eyes and ears open for you, listening and looking for the threats including the ones discovered the warnings earlier this week. Our embassies are the front-

line of America's national security.