US embassies still need $8 bn to be secure

The push to upgrade security began in earnest after bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania a decade ago. The attacks killed 231 people, including 12 Americans.

The security effort took on new urgency after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which led to government-wide vulnerability reviews.

The results so far suggest there is a long way to go to bring all the roughly 265 embassies and consulates up to standard.

The State Department says it will need about USD 7.5 billion to construct buildings at around 50 posts and USD 850 million for ‘major rehabilitation’ at 40 others through 2013. The figures are in the department’s Long-Range Overseas Buildings Plan that was sent to Congress last week.

In addition, about 60 other embassies and consulates will need to be replaced or will require substantial work by 2018, according to documents accompanying the 450-page plan, which is labeled ‘sensitive but unclassified’ and not to be shared with foreign governments, according to officials familiar with its contents.

US diplomatic posts fly the Stars and Stripes in capitals around the globe and are among the most high-profile overseas targets for terrorists and protesters.

From Baghdad to Beijing to Belgrade, they are lightning rods for violence that has claimed the lives of dozens of diplomats over recent decades.

In the current budget year that ends on September 30, the department told Congress in February that it had already opened or would open at least 11 new buildings in Baghdad, Beijing, Berlin, Bogota, Colombia; Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; Khartoum, Sudan; Kigali, Rwanda; Mumbai, India; Skopje, Macedonia; and Quito, Ecuador.