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U.S. Embassy Security Warning for Rome and Milan (November 18)

U.S. Embassy Security Warning for Rome and Milan (November 18)

Old Nov 18th, 2015, 04:13 PM
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U.S. Embassy Security Warning for Rome and Milan (November 18)

I just received this alert from the U.S. State Department by way of the U.S. Embassy in Rome .This is making me extremely nervous about my trip to Europe in a few days. I just wanted to share:

UNITED STATES EMBASSY ROME, ITALY
Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Potential for Terrorist Attacks
November 18, 2015

U.S. Embassy Rome informs U.S. citizens that the following locations have been identified as potential targets in Rome and Milan for terrorist attacks:

· St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City (Rome)

· the Duomo and La Scala in Milan

· General venues such as churches, synagogues, restaurants, theatres, and hotels in both cities are possible targets as well.

Terrorist groups may possibly utilize similar methods used in the recent Paris attacks. The Italian authorities are aware of these threats. U.S. citizens are advised to remain vigilant and aware of their surroundings. We encourage U.S. citizens to monitor media and local information sources and factor updated information into personal travel plans and activities.
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Old Nov 18th, 2015, 04:23 PM
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These warnings are to be expected. In general, the UK government sites are somewhat less alarmist, like this:

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-ad...taly/terrorism

I think the odds are in your favor if you carry on with your trip. I tend to avoid crowded places at the best of times and it's probably a good idea in general at the moment.
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Old Nov 18th, 2015, 04:41 PM
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I work for a major movie studio here in LA and Global Security for our studio has just reached out to our executives, including me, who are traveling to Europe in the next month and have strongly encouraged us to cancel our trips unless the trip is of urgent necessity. They have even surveyed us about personal travel and asked that we reconsider vacations overseas as well.
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Old Nov 18th, 2015, 06:03 PM
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It seems to me that the question is not should you take this trip, but should you go to Europe anytime in the foreseeable future. This is not a short-term situation. Back to the odds, the chances of any of us being injured by a terrorist anywhere is infinitesimal. I have a trip to Europe in the works myself, so this is not a hypothetical question for me either.
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Old Nov 18th, 2015, 07:05 PM
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This may indeed be a short-term situation in the sense of the intensity of determination to strike at certain locales in the near future is alarmingly high at the moment. People just makes things up in their heads on this Fodor's forum to calm themselves down, or sleep or whatever, because they are addicted to travel -- or I don't know what the story is with them -- but no one should be guided by their "advice" or peculiar thought processes.

Thank you for posting this. I have long assumed the Vatican is a high-value target for terrorists, but had not thought the Duomo or La Scala (as opposed to the Milan train station) is. I am very glad to have the information.
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Old Nov 18th, 2015, 07:50 PM
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No one should ever be "guided" by the advice of utter strangers on forums in anything. What a relentless bore.
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Old Nov 18th, 2015, 08:03 PM
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What is the point of these warnings? To decrease the number of Americans in a targeted place? Are other countries posting the same warnings to their citizens? What percentage of travelers change their plans after getting one of these alerts?What about people already there?

There was no such warning for Paris last week, was there? So are the warnings meant to deter terrorists?? As in "we're on to your plans for Milan, don't bother"?

Perhaps I'm overthinking this, but I really don't know what to do with this information.
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Old Nov 18th, 2015, 09:01 PM
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Maybe the terrorists are so clever they're only going to shoot Americans? This is from the Canadian foreign office travel site, updated on the 17th, still valid on the 19th

Italy - Exercise normal security precautions

There is no nationwide advisory in effect for Italy. Exercise normal security precautions.
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Old Nov 19th, 2015, 01:40 AM
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The advisory is strange for two reasons IMO.

First, it is very specific about 3 buildings/locations which are quite unlike the targets in Paris and Hamburg. Being so specific one would expect a little more information as to the source/s which I have not seen so far.

Second, the list of general venues is quite ridiculous. It is so wide ranging that it could be interpreted as advising not to go to either Rome or Milan. Alternatively, spend your time in the train stations, metro and bus stations which must be safe as they are not listed!
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Old Nov 19th, 2015, 01:51 AM
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There have been specific threats against Rome for over a year. This is the reason for the new security checks at the Colosseum, and the beefing up of police presence near the Vatican. The Milan Expo (now over) was also considered a target.

The propaganda magazine of ISIS had a cover photo of their flag flying in St. Peter's Square, and have specifically stated a goal of conquering the "nation signed by the blood of the cross".

There's no way to know if this is propagandistic posturing or a realistic threat. In any case, beefed-up security is certainly judicious.

I wouldn't make any changes in my plans for vague threats like this. It's certainly not the biggest risk factor in my life. I've been to Rome twice since the beefed up security began. We also spent two days at the Milan Expo, and will be in Milan for several days again next month.

Of course, I would report any unattended bags or other suspicious activity!
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Old Nov 19th, 2015, 01:52 AM
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>

Love it, Mme. Perdu. Relentless, haughty bore indeed. Talk about peculiar thought processes!
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Old Nov 19th, 2015, 03:27 AM
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https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...kdown_v1_0.pdf

pages 3 and 4 have valuable info should you find oneself in a hostile situation
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Old Nov 19th, 2015, 03:56 AM
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And the present travel advice of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Italy is: »There are nog special safety risks for travels to Italy«.
Are the Americans over-cautious scaremongering? Are the Dutch flippantly unconcerned?
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Old Nov 19th, 2015, 04:08 AM
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noch: >> Being so specific one would expect a little more information as to the source/s which I have not seen so far.>Maybe the terrorists are so clever they're only going to shoot Americans?
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Old Nov 19th, 2015, 04:13 AM
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A large part of terrorism is creating fear. Sometimes threats are realistic and sometimes they are just playing with people's minds. I don't think anyone here knows which is which.

This morning ISIS issued a threatening photo of Times Square, of course making everyone think of the upcoming Thanksgiving day parade. City officials have of course increased presence of anti-terrorist police (we have special forces of 1500 antiterrorist cops) and bomb sniffing dogs in the area. Also they have significantly increased cameras on main access points to the city (being an island makes it easier).

But they have informed us that the threat is not credible at this point and there is no need to change any plans.

So - everyone has to make up their own minds. We would not go to the parade anyway - but will not avoid Times Square.
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Old Nov 19th, 2015, 04:24 AM
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vincenzo - of course I would not expect confidential source info or "born confidential" but in view of a long standing threat, as illustrated by bvlenci, something a bit more substantive should be available.
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Old Nov 19th, 2015, 04:30 AM
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noch: If you please, give me an example of what what type of "substantive" info you'd deem sufficient without compromising sources, confidentiality or security. I can't think of any.

If they said something as simple as "intercepted email messages," that would lead to:

a. The bad guys saying, "Oh, $hit, we better do a better job of encrypting email"

b. Skeptics like you saying, "What messages? You'll have to be more substantive."
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Old Nov 19th, 2015, 04:37 AM
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Governments have different information, especially in the very short term. They are also dealing with cultural differences in how the information will be digested by citizens. They are also dealing with reach challenges - how many citizens are they trying to warn, how dispersed across the world their citizens are etc.

Inter-country comparisons of how threat warnings are dealt with are a lot trickier than they look.
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Old Nov 19th, 2015, 04:52 AM
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The US State Department has not issued a warning, nor even the less serious "alert" regarding travel to Italy (nor France, nor any other European country, for that matter):

http://travel.state.gov/content/pass...swarnings.html

Their Italy information page makes no mention of this warning:

http://travel.state.gov/content/pass...try/italy.html

I also don't see any warnings on the US Embassy page for the American diplomatic mission to Italy:

http://italy.usembassy.gov/

I don't know why they would be sending such messages to US citizens and not publishing them on their website. Could it be a phishing email? I didn't get any such email, but then I've never registed in the Consulate's Safe Travel program.

According to the noon news here in Italy, the FBI passed on to Italy a specific piece of information they got from the US DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency). They would be seriously remiss not to pass it on, but it's up to Italian security services to evaluate and take any necessary measures. Of course, they wouldn't want to advertise any details about the source of the information or what measures they're taking.
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Old Nov 19th, 2015, 04:52 AM
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selected (i.e. trusted) journalists are often provided with "indications" as to where plausible info has come from. so far the statement is frankly a waste of paper.

that San Pietro is supposedly a target has been out there for a considerable time. the surprise is that Milan and the Scala has been added even though I would not expect many Americans to be in Milan around this period apart from business. how many have tickets for the opening night of the season?

also as I said previously the list of places to avoid is so general as to be almost worthless and also does not list some places which would surely be high risk
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