American embassy in Syria attacked

The American embassy in Damascus, Syria was attacked today by a group using automatic rifles, hand grenades and at least one van rigged with explosives. Four people were killed, including three of the attackers and one Syrian policeman, but no Americans were hurt.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Syrians blamed the attack on an al-Qaida offshoot group called Jund al-Sham.

U.S. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice, on an official visit to Nova Scotia, Canada praised the work of Syrian security agents who repelled the attack, but said it was too early to know who may have been behind it.

It's called diplomacy 101...

The Syrian Interior Ministry said a fourth attacker now in detention was wounded in the incident, which it called a "terrorist attack," and added an investigation was underway. I guess we'll see.

Television footage showed the abandoned delivery van loaded with pipe bombs strapped to large propane gas canisters outside the embassy. The attackers had plenty of time to detonate the van, which would have caused massive damage in the embassy, but apparently didn't do so for some reason.

I think the Assad government was sending us a message.