There’s no blast wall around the Syrian embassy in Washington. Nor is the wrought iron gate crowned with barbed wire. During a handful of peaceful protests outside the embassy in the Kalorama neighborhood in recent months, no one threw tomatoes or attempted to scale the fence. The embassy and its staff are safe here, no matter how much most Americans might detest a government that has helped kill American troops in Iraq, while supporting attacks against U.S. allies in Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories. Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s latest outrage against the United States was the assault on the U.S. embassy in Damascus on July 11.

The targeting of the U.S. embassy was classic behavior from the Assad regime. For instance, Hafez, the president’s father, orchestrated a raid of the ambassador’s residence in 1998 when he ruled the nation. Under Bashar, the U.S. embassy was stormed in 2000. Just months after he came to power, he allowed demonstrators to breach the facility’s parameter. Extensive damage was done to the compound, but it could have ended much worse. During the incursion, a Syrian attempted to desecrate the American flag and was met atop the embassy roof by a U.S. Marine, who—after drawing his sidearm—informed the protestor that should the flag hit the ground, the protestor would soon follow.