MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI,Japan -- The United States Department of State officially issued a worldwide caution recently to Americans traveling or planning to travel abroad.
The announcement comes in light of terrorist attacks around southeast Asia in recent weeks and is aimed toward better informing travelers of risks on a country-by-country basis.
According to a terrorist threat advisory message from the FBI's Counter-Terrorism Division, the recent broadcast of an audio tape on Al-Jazeera, credited to be the voice of Osama bin Laden, and recorded statements from interviews with apparent senior Al-Qaeda leaders suggest that the organization may be planning to target U.S. interests around the globe.
"The coordinated release of these statements, coupled with our knowledge of ongoing plotting by Al-Qaeda members and threat information described by detainees, has strengthened previous assessments that Al-Qaeda continues to plan major attacks against U.S. interests," stated the release. "Statements suggest that an attack may have been approved, while specific timing is left to operatives in the field. Our concerns are heightened by comments from Al-Qaeda detainees who are independently interpreting these taped remarks as a sign of future attacks."
Service members who intend to travel to these destinations should research the State Department Web site for precautions to take and even reconsider their travel plans if possible, according to Master Sgt. Eric Drummond, Provost Marshal's Office anti-terrorism and force protection chief.
"If you travel, a group is always the preferred method, that is why the buddy system is encouraged and in some instances required," said Drummond. "The first thing people should do is re-evaluate their reason for traveling. If 'have to' is just a better phrase for 'want to' or 'like to,' then don't go."
Whether going on Temporary Assignment of Duty or leave, U.S. citizens should take a few precautionary measures before traveling, according to 1st Lt. Christopher Gigliotti, PMO anti-terrorism officer.
"People have the responsibility to do a little research on the country they intend to go to," said Gigliotti. "They should try to learn about customs, culture, geography and the current political climate as well as a few phrases in that particular country's language for use in emergencies."
Gigliotti added that vulnerability and predictability are just a few things that terrorists may look for in a target.
"The goal is to be a hard target that is inaccessible, observant and aware," said Gigliotti. "People need to be careful about divulging personal information, take notice of what?s going on around them and take appropriate action to what they do see."
Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, areas of eastern Russia and the Philippines are just a few of the 44 countries listed on the State Department's worldwide caution. A complete list of countries and their threat levels is available at http://travel.state.gov.
"Generally, Americans are very safe traveling overseas, but there are certain places where people need to maintain a heightened sense of awareness and take a proactive approach to security," said Gigliotti.
For more information, travelers can also go to http://www.pacom.mil/staff/at/athome.htm or http://www.pacom.mil/staff/at/atpredep.htm.