Extra Security Measures in Europe

[furrbear]

This was sent to me by a fiend with contacts in the Intelligence/Law Enforment communities. Permission was granted to share anonymously.

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Lately, the public has been intensely interested in alleged al-Qaeda operations in Europe.  The United Kingdom and France have each issued non-specific warnings, and the United States Department of State is cautioning about travel to continental Europe.  The United States media outlet ABC News reports that al-Qaeda operators have "moved through the surveillance stage" and "received the go-ahead to strike."

This reporting appears to be circular: the only corroboration for one story is the next one in the closed loop.  None of the U.S., the U.K., France or Germany have moved to the highest level of alert, which we would expect to see if there was a known and imminent danger.  Further, neither are are the U.S. or U.K. governments forbidding their employees from traveling to continental Europe.

Still, there is some cause for concern.  When al-Qaeda's leadership sends activation messages to operations cells, they often do so by appending them to the end of public statements.  These messages often appear to be out-of-context Quranic verses, citations of hadith, or mentions of important persons.

A recent al-Zawahiri statement ended with the unusual question, "Where are the Muslims to protect their Prophet?"  A few days ago al-Sahab, al-Qaeda's media arm, released two messages from bin Laden.  The second ended with, "Who will give victory to Wafa Qustantin and Camellia Shehata and their sisters?"

Although these strange questions are troubling, it cannot be stressed enough: we do not know if they are activation signals.  Even if they are, many operations get called off at the last second due to an enhanced security posture.  al-Qaeda may also be trying to play head games with us.  It's only natural to think the worst and to let our imaginations run wild, but we need to be careful not to overreact.

The best precautions today are the same as the best precautions pre-9/11.  Register your travel with the State Department.  Stay alert.  Know how to contact the local police and the nearest U.S. Embassy.  Be wary of overly-helpful people near airports, train stations, and tourism destinations.  Obey local laws and customs.  Show your European hosts that you are an American, that you are their friend, and that you are not afraid.  By doing this, you will play an important role in fighting terror.

Travel smart.  Make friends.  Take lots of photographs.  Create some great memories.  Send postcards.  Enjoy your time in Europe!

Comments

[maxauburn.livejournal.com]

I wish someone would crack Bin Laden's code and give all his operatives the signal for them to all march into the nearest ocean and drown themselves!

[barengeist.livejournal.com]

That would be another heaping pile of grass-fed bullshit. There is nothing like a nice non-specific threat used as justification to hassle anyone and everyone at random more so than usual.

A friend of mine traveled up the east coast Saturday. She took the auto train from south Florida to the end of that line in Virginia. Upon arrival in Virginia, everyone was treated to warrant-less searches of their persons and vehicles, complete with dogs and law officers going through items in the vehicles. The security angle is complete horse shit as searching everyone and their vehicles at the end of the line wouldn't be very effective in stopping an attack on the train now, would it?

Whether this had anything to do with the march that was going on Saturday or some other "non-specific" threat is irrelevant. This country is completely fucked and we all deserve this treatment as long as we are willing to put up with it.

[ursine1.livejournal.com]

This past weekend I received a warning message from the US Consulate here. I get these messages about twice a year. Most of it is boilerplate and doesn't change. This message was the same: maybe a sentence or two about "threats", but nothing concrete.

There are often "security" that ride on the local commuter trains, sometimes with dogs. Likewise for the Metro. I think it is more to dissuade pickpockets than anything else.

Chuck