[Richard]

I'd like to hear the 'entire' story on this one before passing judgment.

I was in the US Embassy-Bonn when we were attacked in February 1991 by the RAF in response to DS/DS. The embassy, as well as the consular housing area in the Plittersdorf suburb bordering the Rhein, was closed to all for several hours - nobody could leave and nobody could enter - until security forces (ours and our host nation's) could determine the extent of the RAF's efforts, the likelihood of further attacks, and the execution of enhanced security controls. I couldn't leave the DAO. My family was at the movie theater, which was placed under guard, and nobody was allowed to leave it to return to their residences until the area was cleared and a security cordon had been established.

In the case of the US embassy in Paris, located adjacent to the Place de la Concorde in one of the busiest trafficked areas and at a time when there would be minimum staffing with the majority of the 'decision makers' out of embassy, the closing of the embassy experienced by that couple may have been the execution of a security response plan in conjunction with a directive by the French security forces pending clarification of the situation, the possibility of further attacks, and their efforts to execute further security plans.

So it goes...

Richard