On June 6, there was an IED attack on the USG office in Benghazi:

U.S. citizens are advised that there was an improvised explosive device (IED) attack on the U.S. Office in Benghazi during the early morning hours of June 6. There were no casualties. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. This incident is a reminder of the fluid security situation in Libya.

About a week later, there was an armed attack on a UK diplomatic convoy in Benghazi where two individuals sustained injuries.

Yesterday, there was another armed attacked on a US embassy vehicle:

In the early morning of August 6, U.S. Embassy personnel were attacked by armed assailants in a possible carjacking. The personnel evaded the attack and arrived safely at their destination. This event underscores the uncertain security environment in Tripoli. U.S. citizens are reminded to maintain vigilance at all times. The U.S. Embassy remains open for business.

Above is a photo of US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens visiting Misrata in northwestern Libya, situated 187 km (116 mi) to the east of Tripoli.  Misrata is the third largest city in Libya and has been called the business capital of Libya. During the Libyan civil war, the city was shelled by artillery, tanks, and snipers, and for over 40 days and had its water supply shut off by Gaddafi’s forces (read more about the Battle of Misrata here).

Hard to say how many of the U.S. citizens who resided in Libya before the civil war are back in the country. While the US Embassy in Tripoli has been pretty good at posting their emergency messages to U.S. citizens online, like other U.S. missions there seems to be a wall between these emergency messages and the embassy’s social media digs.  Perhaps the wall is unintentional, but there is a lack of cohesiveness in the information stream; what gets on the official website, does not always gets amplified in its official Facebook or Twitter pages.

We should note that the US Embassy in Tripoli is looking to hire a bi-lingual Multimedia Specialist in its Public Affairs Office. That individual will be responsible for the analysis of social media sites and reports on trends in Post’s media summary. He/she will also manage the mission’s social media sites including engagement with “followers and coordinating with Washington-based colleagues.”

Which means, one day soon somebody will be able to deal with one of the embassy’s regular fans and fan of OBL who seems to write only one thing on the embassy’s FB wall repeatedly in poor chalk marks:

Selibya Libya We rule and we are all Osama bin Laden and the West knows that we are proud of pigs Qadatna death because they were martyrs, and that death increases our strength and determination to win the battle with al-Qaeda has not yet primitive, but these skirmishes

Well, provided, of course, that State’s Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs has a social media strategy for “engagement” with those on the other lane in this …. ongoing war of ideas, is it? Unless ignoring the “we are proud of pigs Qadatna” or letting him/her have a run of the FB wall is all part of that strategy. Or unless, posts are expected to come up with their own social media strategeries for the non-fans masquerading as fans.

Related articles

• Red Cross attacked with rockets, grenades in Libya (news.yahoo.com)
• Libya Red Cross building attacked (bbc.co.uk)
• Bomb Targets U.S. Embassy in Libya (nytimes.com)
• After Gaddafi, Libya splits into disparate militia zones (guardian.co.uk)
• ICRC suspends work in Misrata, Benghazi after attack: statement (news.terra.com)