This is the American Consulate building in Karachi. The hotel was right next door. I was there with three blonds who had no trouble in getting in; me they would always point to the end of the line of visa applicants until I showed my passport or TDY badge. From this angle it is hard to see, but the building was surrounded by a steel fence backed by a double row of steel reinforced concrete planter boxes. Enormous planter boxes. The CB detachment that built the planter boxes was just finishing up a new gate system that required two 90 degree turns to get into the consulate when we were there. This came in handy earlier this year when terrorists tried to blow up the consulate and were defeated by the planter boxes. I'm happy terrorists haven't taken a two truck approach yet -- blow a hole with the first and ram the second one through -- which oddly enough is the approach tandem warheads take for penetration.

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