I can remember the adoption of the Last Redoubt policy, during the 1987 term of Ambassador Brunson McKinley… in which each American Embassy controlled residential structure, would contain “safe-room” – a “last redoubt” with barred windows and door so that the Americans could retreat to this hole when danger appeared.
When I heard of this I commented to the effect that this would be a gift to the bad guys. I said that, if I was a bad guy, I would just break a window, pour 5 gallons of gasoline through the hole, followed by a match.
McKinley smiled wanly, and changed the subject to his planned hiking venture to Jacmel the following weekend. McKinley walked all over Haiti.
Is the Libyan disaster the first time this “Last Redoubt Policy” was put to the test??
The Libyans didn’t use gas. Instead, they used diesel to drench the building, leaving heavy smoke to kill American Ambassador Stevens, trapped inside his locked “Last Redoubt” as heavy smoke suffocated him.
October 10, 10, 2012