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.
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