Nearly speechless

[jay]

After a long day at JPL, I arrived back here at my hotel and checked email... and was shocked. A broadcast message to employees:

Effective immediately, all Agencies at the U.S. Embassy in Paris must submit a complete and current list of all travelers in France on a weekly basis. In addition, all Paris agencies must have the ability to quickly contact travelers in the event that the Embassy's emergency cascade system is activated.

France? France??? Yes, things have been tense, but do they seriously think US Government employees or their dependents might have to be evacuated en masse? Or rescued? This is the sort of precaution that we used to have to take when visiting East Bloc countries during the Cold War, or when going into a third-world trouble spot.

(shakes head in disbelief)

Comments

[geekchick]

Could it be related to the fact that they found ricin in a locker in a Paris train station today?

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... I doubt it. The broadcast was mailed to employees at about the same time as the news report. They're not usually that quick. And I'd be amazed if terrorists retaliated against the French for US offenses... that'd be hugely ironic, if nothing else...

[geekchick]

And I'd be amazed if terrorists retaliated against the French for US offenses...

Well, I imagine there had to be some reason someone left such a thing in the locker other than "I was out of closet space at home".

[shadopanther.livejournal.com]

Perhaps they believe there may be a risk from terrorists against the US Embassy or US citizens in Paris?

-- Shadopanther

Or perhaps violent anti-war protesters...

[shadopanther.livejournal.com]

UK Guardian article on around the world anti-war protests, including violent protests around the world. The article starts:

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of people marched on American embassies in world capitals Thursday to protest the war against Iraq, including a violent clash in Cairo, where demonstrators hurled stones and metal barricades and pounded on cars. [...more at the link.]

(I found the Guardian article c/o lkeele's journal. She is a US citizen making her home in Cairo, Egypt.)

-- Shadopanther

Re: Or perhaps violent anti-war protesters...

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

That might apply to Americans elsewhere in the Middle East... or perhaps fixed targets like embassies. But why France, and not, say, Germany or Greece?

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

I'd be amazed if terrorists retaliated against the French for US offenses

France has it's own group of pissed off Islamic militants who hate the French. It could be something totaly seperate.

[cathouse-blues.livejournal.com]

Seems to me like they're taking practical precautions, in the light of the start of the war and the anti-American feeling that's beeen appearing in most of Europe. I would rather they be overly concerned for safety in case someone gets a bug up their backside and decides to personally take out an American - any American. I get the sense that they just don't want anyone vanishing.

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

Hmm... you're imputing a concern for personal safety that I'd doubt, given the current administration. I don't think they'd care, unless there was the possibility of negative political (or media) fallout.

If it was a Europe-wide concern, then why only single out France (and not other countries)? Unless this administration is planning some punitive action specifically against France in the near future, which could then lead to local reprisals there against US citizens...

[geekchick]

Unless this administration is planning some punitive action specifically against France in the near future, which could then lead to local reprisals there against US citizens...

That seems quite unlikely to me.