LIBYA AND THE U.S., THE SEQUEL – AT 10:21 A.M. ET:  There is upheaval in Libya, and theU.S. is evacuating its embassy, probably to avoid another Benghazi.  From Fox: 

The United States shut down its embassy in Libya Saturday and evacuated its diplomats to neighboring Tunisia under U.S. military escort amid a significant deterioration in security in Tripoli as fighting intensified between rival militias, the State Department said.

"Due to the ongoing violence resulting from clashes between Libyan militias in the immediate vicinity of the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, we have temporarily relocated all of our personnel out of Libya," spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

The withdrawal underscored the Obama administration's concern about the heightened risk to American diplomats abroad, particularly in Libya where memories of the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in the eastern city of Benghazi are still vivid and the political uproar over it remain fresh ahead of a new congressional investigation into the incident. A senior military official told Fox News the Pentagon has been advising the State Department to leave the post for weeks.

"Securing our facilities and ensuring the safety of our personnel are top department priorities, and we did not make this decision lightly," Harf said. "Security has to come first. Regrettably, we had to take this step because the location of our embassy is in very close proximity to intense fighting and ongoing violence between armed Libyan factions."

American personnel at the Tripoli embassy, which had already been operating with limited staffing, left the capital around dawn and traveled by road to neighboring Tunisia, according to Harf. Roughly 70 embassy staffers were driven out of the city in a caravan by 80 Marines, Fox News has learned.

"At the request of the Department of State, the U.S. military assisted in the relocation of personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli," a spokesman from the U.S. Department of Defense said.

"During movement, F-16's, ISR assets and an Airborne Response Force with MV-22 Ospreys provided security," the statement said. The evacuation was not announced in advance in order to ensure the staffers safe departure.

The department said embassy operations will be suspended until a determination is made that the security situation has improved. Tripoli has been embroiled for weeks in inter-militia violence that has killed and wounded dozens on all sides.

The fighting has been particularly intense at the city's airport where militias are fighting for control. Residents near the airport have been forced to evacuate their homes after they were hit by shells. On Friday, the official Libyan news agency LANA reported that explosions were heard early in the day near the airport area and continued into the afternoon.

The U.S. evacuation follows Turkey, which on Friday announced that it had closed down its embassy, as the United Nations, aid groups and foreign envoys also chose to leave the region.

COMMENT:  An absolute mess, and we're still leading from behind.  The Mideast is in flames – Syria, Libya, Iraq, Egypt, Gaza.  It has never been as tumultuous, and threatening, as it is today.   I have to believe that at least one reason for the trauma is declining American influence, and Obama's obvious sympathy for the Muslim Brotherhood, an anti-American and fascistic group. 

Polls sadly show that Obama's withdrawal policies actually meet with some public approval.  The next generation will pay the price.  Foreign policy, more than any other area, requires leadership and explanation, and there's no one home in Washington.

July 26,  2014