Yes, I know. The Syrians did a great job of protecting our embassy in Damascus. Thanks. But, at the risk of being hyper-cynical, I can't help being skeptical. This seems, after all, like a rather amateurish attack. The "terrorists" never set off the big bomb in the van, they fought ineffectively, and in short, the operation wasn't well-coordinated and didn't seem to have much of a point.
So I have to ask, why did these thugs waste their lives on what appears to have been a futile mission? Maybe they were led to believe that circumstances on the embassy's perimeter would be different from what they were. Maybe, in other words, the Syrian security forces actually put the attackers up to the deed, and then allowed them to be cut to ribbons by the guards at the embassy who appear to have been prepared for the assault.
Why would Assad have orchestrated such treachery and intrigue? Because by appearing to defend the Americans in the embassy the United States becomes indebted to him. He's seen as someone who, despite his flaws, really means well. This makes it considerably more difficult for us to pull the trigger on Syria if it should ever become necessary to do so. Condemning or imposing sanctions against Syria for their sundry crimes and misdeeds after they have fought so nobly in our defense would look like a terrible betrayal of their "friendship".
The attack in Damascus may have been a genuine attempt hatched by inept terrorists to kill Americans, or it may have been a clever attempt by a Machiavellian regime to buy American good will in order to immunize it against sanctions - or worse. Perhaps we'll see soon enough.