President Obama took his latest appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno Tuesday night as his opportunity to warn Americans travelling abroad to be careful. A threat from Al Qaeda was intercepted that detailed a major attack on Yemen or Western countries. This represented his first comments on the subject since an intercepted phone call related to more violent attacks from Al Qaeda led to a series of international responses from the American government.

So far nineteen U.S embassies and consulates in sixteen countries have been ordered to close to the public.

Americans Travelling Abroad Warning

According to Fox News, President Obama used his Tonight Show appearance to urge Americans to continue on with their travel plans but to use “common sense” and know that some countries are more dangerous than others although he did not specifically mention which those are although according to the Washington Post, the embassies and U.S consulates the closures that were implemented were mostly in Yemen’s neighbors in the Middle East and Africa.

These threats, just as any other, are being treated very seriously and the hope is that no American is hurt abroad. Yet, reality is that these are the realities of travelling abroad in 2013. Many Americans remember the tragic story of Sarai Sierra, an American who was killed in Istanbul, Turkey earlier this year. There is hope that this can be avoided from being repeated with a little caution.