San Francisco (Obama.net)- With the memory of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon still fresh in the minds of the citizens of the United States, the threat of terrorism in the air still makes most uneasy.
With reason to believe that al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations attempting to orchestrate new attacks, the United States State Department has sent out a warning that traveling ma be dangerous to Americans currently in Europe.
Potential areas of attack according to the alert are tourist areas, airports, and all other forms of mass public transportation such as the buses and subways of Europe. However, the warning does not tell Americans to avoid going to Europe.
Spain has not changed its level of threat, leaving it at a Level 2, “high, probable, risk” alert. Germany did the same by not changing its level.
England is not adjusting its current threat level, which is already set to “severe.” The current level indicates that British officials believe that the possibility of a terrorist attack is very likely to occur.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has adjusted its terror threat level though. For British going to both France and Germany, the level went from “substantial” to “high.” The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that its change in terror threat was not influenced by the change instituted by President Barack Obama and the United States.
The United States State Department has suggested to Americans in Europe that they coordinate their plans with the United States Embassy Consular Section so that they are accounted for and have a better idea of the risks they are potentially facing.
Even the American military bases in Europe are preparing for potential attacks. The fear of the attacks comes not from new information, but rather from the total amount of information collected recently.
The belief in the State Department is that attacks such as the ones that took place in Mumbai are feared to occur in major cities throughout Europe soon.
As we look back on the Mumbai attacks, as well at the World Trade Center and London Subway attacks, the reason to fear what may be about to happen in Europe is very warranted. With the fears of potential terrorist attacks on high for the last few years, it should be noted that when the already high threat levels are raised even higher, chances are that a real threat occurs.
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