Questions State Dept. Travel Warnings

I have concerns as to the value of the State Department warnings for travelers going to certain countries. My case in point is the warning on visiting Syria. Having completed my sixth trip to Syria in March ’08, I question their advice.

The wording of the warning seems to indicate that violence and danger are a constant in Syria. From my experience, nothing could be farther from the truth.

The warning concentrates on potential terrorist activities. As an example, they cite the killing of the notorious Hizbollah leader Imad Moughniyeh in February ’08. He was a man who needed to be brought to some kind of justice, and many countries have tried to do so over the past 20 years. It appears Israel accomplished this, something they have not denied.

At the same time, terrible bombings in London and Madrid in recent years have killed and injured scores of people. Which of these incidents should concern you the most as a tourist?

The United Nations completed a study, published in 2004, listing Syria as the world’s third-safest country insofar as crime being committed. The safest I have felt in any city in the world has been in Damascus.

I do not go to Syria to become involved in the politics of the country; rather, I go for the tremendous history, the good food, the absence of crime or violence and, above all, the hospitality of the people.

On our first visit to Syria, in 2002, after entering from Jordan the first comment made to my wife and me by the local guide in a small tour van was, “As Americans you will be treated extra-special, as we love Americans. We just don’t agree with your foreign policy.” Overall, I have found this to be true.

It should be noted that Syria is a secular country where all religions are allowed to worship.

Our government is free to do what it feels is best, but it should provide accurate advice and warnings that are helpful to travelers. With too much emphasis on the political situation of a country, a Travel Warning is trivialized and does not really tell how safe the country actually can be to travel in.

For instance, Morocco is not listed among the State Department warnings, and yet it has raised its terrorist alert level to the “maximum.” Their interior minister, Chakib Benmoussa, said this is due to a “serious terrorist threat” from a group called Ansar al-Islam, whose main complaint is the relationship of that country with the U.S., which would seem to make American tourists a target there.

Turkey, which borders Syria, has continual terrorist activity from the Kurdish rebels and fundamentalists, yet it too is not on the warning list.

I do my own research and take these Travel Warnings with the proverbial grain of salt. Syria is quite stable.

LEO BLUM

Eugene, OR