State Department: Travel to Europe OK, just be careful
The State Department’s Travel Alert on Sunday raised fears of Mumbai-style terror attacks across the continent of Europe — but State isn’t telling Americans to cancel their travel plans just yet. "U.S. citizens are reminded of the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure. Terrorists have targeted and attacked subway ...
The State Department's Travel Alert on Sunday raised fears of Mumbai-style terror attacks across the continent of Europe -- but State isn't telling Americans to cancel their travel plans just yet.
The State Department’s Travel Alert on Sunday raised fears of Mumbai-style terror attacks across the continent of Europe — but State isn’t telling Americans to cancel their travel plans just yet.
"U.S. citizens are reminded of the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure. Terrorists have targeted and attacked subway and rail systems, as well as aviation and maritime services," the alert stated. "U.S. citizens should take every precaution to be aware of their surroundings and to adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when traveling."
Undersecretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy told reporters in a Sunday conference call that the travel alert was the result of "cumulative" reporting about ongoing terrorist intentions to attack European sites, not one "eureka" piece of information that caused the U.S. government to spring to action immediately. He also reiterated that the warning did not advise Americans to not go to Europe.
He said the alert was to remind American travelers in Europe to take common-sense precautions, such as noticing unattended packages and moving away from loud booms when they are heard. He encouraged all Americans traveling to Europe to sign up on the State Department’s travel registration page, so the U.S. government can know to try and find them if something happens.
"Avoid public demonstrations, avoid civil disturbances. Don’t discuss your travel plans or where you’re going with others or where others may overhear them. Know what you’re doing, be aware of your circumstances around you. If you see something that looks untoward, move away from it and inform law enforcement personnel. If you see unattended packages, or such, move away from them and inform law enforcement," Kennedy said."Now is the time to issue a Travel Alert, and the situation, I think, can be really summed up by what Secretary Clinton said couple of days ago, which is that we all know that al Qaeda and its networks of terrorists wish to attack both European and American targets," he said, appearing to downplay the alert.
He refused to say when the State Department began considering issuing the alert, but said it had been discussed for weeks.
If the threat was even more serious, the State Department could have issued a Travel Warning, which would actually recommend that Americans defer travel.
"And so the material that we have available to us, fully analyzed, fully reviewed, and the weight of the material is such that a Travel Alert is the appropriate answer," Kennedy said.
While such a broad alert is extremely rare, there are some similar examples in the recent past. Last month, the State Department issued a Worldwide Travel Alert urging U.S. citizens to exercise caution due to possible anti-U.S. demonstrations in response to plans by a Florida church to burn Qurans.
After the 2004 train bombing in Madrid, the department issued a Travel Alert (then called a Public Announcement), and, following the London terror attacks in July 2005, the department updated its Worldwide Caution, an ongoing warning about the overall terror threat, to reference the attacks.
Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.
Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.
A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.
Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin
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