Italians taking no chances
 

Thought some of you wondering about how safe it is to come to Italy would like to know this. <BR>The Italian government is putting military guards at all monuments and things of tourist interest, (ie: Vatican,Colloseum sp?, tower of Pisa, Uffizi, Duomo di Milano, etc). <BR>I also saw on the news that they are working hard on being prepared for events such as having the water contaminated. <BR>They are already testing are want to find a cure in the event something happens. <BR>

Micia, I wish the USA were as prepared and had the foresight to be preventative instead of reactive.

We were impressed by the very heavy police presence when we were in Italy for three weeks in May. (When compared to the Washington, DC area where we live.) We weren't quite sure how to take it, however it was during both national and local elections, and political demonstrations we saw were orderly and obviously expected and planned for. In fact, we noticed enhanced security on our return flight from Rome.

Micia: <BR> <BR>That's good to know, but my experience with the Italian government/bureacracy is that a police presence with guys with guns at the airport (been there, seen that) belies a chaos in the administrative system that may turn out not to be so strong and forceful. It's good they are patrolling the airports, but chances are their administrative records on terrorists are in complete disorder and will take months to sort out. If guns make you feel safe, you'll feel safe landing in Italy. If you're worried about deeper issues, think again. I do business with Italian firms and they are uniformly concerned about the government's documentation of terrorist acts. I don't mean this as a deterrent to travel in Italy, just a footnote. And I would never post something saying "Italians taking no chances." WAY too general, considering the country.

StCirq: I never said that Italians are orderly. Disorganization runs amok here. <BR> <BR>I simply wanted to let people here know that Italy is trying. I haven't seen my own country take some of the steps Italy has. <BR> <BR>Maybe you do business with Italy, know it pretty well, but you do not know what intelligence they have. <BR>You would be very, very, very surprised. <BR> <BR>I, being a proud American, have never been impressed with anything here, as I always think my country is better, but I see some things here are actually working. <BR> <BR>I don't know how many of you knew that when there was the G8 here in Genoa, that word had been put out that terrorists were going to go after Bush when he got here. <BR>When I heard this, I could not believe they were still going to have this meeting and that we were still willing to take chances with Bush. <BR>Well, the authorities went so far as to close the airport. They even places missiles at the airport. They were not taking any chances. <BR>Needless, to say, the authorities that made this desicion have taken a lot of heat for closing the airport. Everyone felt they went to far. <BR>Today, instead, they have prood that the terrorists had actually planned to use an airplane to hit Bush then. <BR>So much for disorganization. <BR>I applaud them. <BR>I do not beleive my country would have ever closed an airport, without knowing what they know now. <BR>