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Travel Alert for Europe Warns of Terrorism, But is Super Vague

October 4, 2010 at 10:34 AM | by | Comment (1)

So, the US Government (now joined by the British Government) has issued an official travel alert for Americans (and Brits) traveling around Europe. The major gist of the issues prompting this is that Al Qaeda has apparently been planning more strikes, similar to the tourist-targeted Mumbai bombings in November 2008. Specific countries where tourists should be vigilant are Germany and France, which are of course some of the most popular destinations for traveling Americans.

This is pretty much the vaguest travel alert there can be. Stay away from public transportation and other tourist infrastructure? Well, that's pretty much impossible, and without a precise subway or train station named, we believe it'll just be business as usual for tourists in Europe. However, we're totally on board with the alert's request for tourists to be aware of their surroundings, because duh that is always excellent advice.

You can see the entire alert at the State Department's website, but here's the most important section for your reference:

Terrorists may elect to use a variety of means and weapons and target both official and private interests. 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. U.S. citizens should take every precaution to be aware of their surroundings and to adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when traveling.

Note that just because there is a travel alert in place for Europe, it will not affect normal airplane or other transportation schedules.

[Photo: javic]

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Return to » Travel Alert for Europe Warns of Terrorism, But is Super Vague


Super vague

Which I find to be annoying. Also I kept trying to track down more specific ways to be "cautious" and finally, I read in the WSJ some more tips from the State Department like "Don't use luggage tags that identify you as American" and "Don't discuss your travel plans with strangers." Still not very helpful.
juliana on October 4, 2010 at 12:04 PM #Permalink

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