U.S., BRITAIN, SHUT YEMEN EMBASSIES – AT 10:12 A.M. ET:  From AP:

Both the US and Britain have closed their embassies in Yemen, with American officials citing threats by the al-Qaida group linked to the failed bombing of a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day.

In London, Britain's Foreign Office said the embassy in Yemen was closed Sunday for security reasons. She said officials would decide later whether to reopen it on Monday.

The confrontation with the terrorist group's branch in Yemen has gained new urgency since the 23-year-old Nigerian accused in the attack, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, told US investigators he received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen. President Barack Obama said Saturday that al-Qaida's branch in Yemen was behind the attempt.

A message on the US Embassy Web site read, "The US Embassy in San'a is closed today, January 3, 2010, in response to ongoing threats by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula ... to attack American interests in Yemen."

COMMENT:  Welcome to 2010.  A real improvement over 2009 so far, isn't it?

The closing of the embassy, which may be temporary, raises serious questions:  Why now?  Have the threats escalated, or were we a bit blind to them before the airline incident?  And where, in all this, is the secretary of state, who isn't even mentioned in the story? 

We recall that, after the USS Cole was attacked in a harbor in Yemen in 2000, with the loss of 17 American sailors, the FBI was sent to the country to investigate.  There were reports that the United States ambassador to Yemen, Barbara Bodine, was less than cooperative with the probe, trying to protect the US-Yemeni relationship.  Often, diplomats develop what is known as "localitis," a bias toward the country to which they're sent.  Are we seeing that now, in what, on the surface, appears to have been a laxness toward the Al Qaeda threat in Yemen?

When he was secretary of state in the Reagan administration, George Shultz would invite an American diplomat into his office, walk him or her to a map and ask, "Which is your country?"  Inevitably, the envoy would point to the country where he was posted.  "No," said Shultz, himself pointing to the United States on the map, "this is your country."  Sometimes diplomats forget that.

Love George Shultz.

January 3,  2009