France, incl. terrorism & counter-terrorism (catch all)

[OUTLAW 09]

Interesting visit for two self proclaimed proRussian Congressional supporters.....

US Congressmen King & Rohrabacher pay a visit to discuss Liberty & shared values w/(next president of France?) Marine Le Pen @MLP_officiel

BOTH also anti Ukraine........

[davidbfpo]

The title is almost lurid, but the author does explain why he asks the question.

He concludes, with my emphasis:

Intelligence failures can be determined by the lack of information or the lack of information accuracy, which determines a distortion of the analytical process. This can occur either through ignoring or through the mistaken interpretation of data. The analysis of the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels suggests there is a new form of terrorism, leading to an unpredictable intelligence failure. The asymmetric character of jihadi attacks means that the success of combatting terrorism no longer relies just on the magnitude of available resources. Unlike other fields, the identification of the causes of errors of intelligence activity is especially difficult, given that their main resource – information – is difficult to quantify. Thus, one can legitimately ask the question – are we talking about a failure of the intelligence services or of a failure of public policies that determine the direction of action of these organizations?

Link:https://defenceindepth.co/2017/03/15...gence-failure/

The author is a SME @ Kings College:http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/department...ragiannis.aspx

[OUTLAW 09]

The letter/package bomb that exploded yesterday in IMF HQs Paris injuring the mail person was sent by the same Greek left wing anarchist terror group that sent a similar bomb from Greece to the Germany Finance Ministry that was defused yesterday......

Same group behind a similar package bomb sent last year 2016 to the office of Merkel and also defused....

Hangs together with their dislike of IMF/Germany over the Greek financial bailout....

[OUTLAW 09]

Le Front National is in desperate need of money. In her search for funding Le Pen has hired fixers with connections to the Russians, inc RIS

[davidbfpo]

A long read from the NYT on the French academic Gilles Kepel, which has revealing sections like these two:

In September, a landmark survey commissioned by the Montaigne Institute found that 28 percent of French Muslims had adopted values “clearly opposed to the values of the republic,” with a mix of “authoritarian” and “secessionist” views, including support for polygamy and the niqab, or full-face veil, and opposition to laws enforcing secularism.

(Two later) Jean-Pierre Filiu, another prominent French scholar of the Islamic world, pointed out that several thousand Muslims marched for peace in Mantes-la-Jolie after the Abballa murders (who murdered two police officers at home), many of them bearing pictures of the murdered couple and posters denouncing terrorism, and laid wreaths on the steps of the local Police Headquarters. There was no one there to greet them, and not much news coverage. “The jihadis want to blur the lines, but the lines should be clear,” Filiu told me. “It’s not the Salafis who are against us, and not the Muslims. It’s the jihadis.”

Link:https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/magazine/france-election-gilles-kepel-islam.html?

[davidbfpo]

The NYT has an interesting article on the effect of Algeria on the French political scene, but nothing on the impact of those Algerians who are now voters - a rather large omission, perhaps another article is due?
Link:https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/01/world/europe/echoes-of-colonial-conflict-in-algeria-reverberate-in-french-politics.html?

[OUTLAW 09]

Excellent article on Russia and the French ultra right party Front National leader Le Pen.....

@NataliaAntonova on Russia and Le Pen. Read it people!http://www.politico.eu/article/marin...n-is-winning/#

[AdamG]

The only known surviving suspect in the 2015 Paris terror attacks appeared in court in Brussels Monday, but refused to cooperate or answer questions.
It was the first public appearance for 28-year-old Salah Abdeslam since his arrest in Belgium in March 2016, according to Reuters news agency. He is on trial for charges related to a gunfight with authorities that preceded his arrest.
Abdeslam is accused of attempted murder in a terrorist context and illegal possession of firearms, charges which carry up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The prosecutor is calling for the maximum sentence.

In court Monday, Abdeslam looked very different than the clean-shaven young man who appeared in his arrest photos. His beard was full and his hair was longer and combed back, according to CNN affiliate BFM TV.
Abdeslam had asked to be present at his trial. But he refused to stand or to answer questions, BFM TV reported, and even balked at confirming his identity when asked by the court, telling those assembled that silence was "his defense."
But Abdeslam did lecture the court about the treatment of Muslims by the justice system, reported BFM TV.
"What I see is that Muslims are judged in the worst way," he said. "My silence does not make me a criminal ... I am not afraid of you, nor of your allies. I place my trust in Allah. I have nothing to add."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...cid=spartandhp

[davidbfpo]

From a French think tank (IFRI):

This study, based on original judicial sources, assesses the profiles of 137 individuals sentenced in France for cases related to jihadism.
Among other things, the study reveals several common denominators including a lower level of education, poorer integration into the labor market, higher levels of criminal activity, and stronger ties to the Maghreb and to sub-Saharan Africa than the average French citizen. Moreover, a qualitative analysis provides an understanding of the processes of radicalization and subsequent participation in terrorist activities. As such, it expounds the role played by group dynamics, the internet, and prisons. This study further illustrates the strains imposed on the judicial and penal systems by the jihadist phenomenon. Relapse is specifically explored, notably through the cases of individuals convicted of terrorism, who, after serving their sentence, launched attacks on French soil. The subject is all the more topical in light of the likely release from prison of some sixty individuals, sentenced for acts of terrorism, in the upcoming two years.

It comes with a lengthy presentation in a rolling PPT.
Link:https://www.ifri.org/en/publications...hadists-courts

[davidbfpo]

A short Q&A article after the publication of a book in French, under the headline

How the planners of the 2015 Paris attacks were systematically eliminated

So the intelligence group within IS was targeted, no great surprise as the French can and have been ruthless before in attacking their enemies. A curious sentence:

From 2015, the paradigm shifted, the international community understood that the Islamic State could strike anywhere in the world. Even the Russians and the Chinese cooperated.

Link:https://www.france24.com/en/20181108...islamic-state?

[davidbfpo]

A really interesting France24 (TV) report that opens with:

When Paris was hit by two major terrorist attacks in 2015, France embarked on a painful journey to understand the radicalisation of its youth. Three years later, researchers have discredited initial theories about the “typical” home-grown terrorist.

Link:https://www.france24.com/en/20181111...theories-minds

I suspect other interested parties, including "experts" will not be pleased. At least the French have learnt faster than other nations - hopefully.

[davidbfpo]

A report from Globsec, a NGO based in Slovakia (who have appeared before here IIRC). Perhaps their observations have appeared here before; anyway:

A pattern seems to emerge. Indeed, our research found out that:

• 97% of jihadists that carried out the 22 successful attacks in France since 2012 were known either for radicalisation (82%) or by the police
• 79% were either on France’s terror watch list (61%) or on that of other European nations
• Out of 78 French jihadists either arrested for terrorist offences, killed while staging terrorist attacks or fugitives from justice, 49% had previous convictions and 19% had been multiple offenders, just like Cherif Chekatt, with long track records of classical criminal activity.

A few policy recommendations:

1. 15% of the individuals on France’s terror watch list are foreigners: this calls for France’s following of the successful Italian model when possible, i.e. deporting all the non-nationals or dual nationals to their country of origin when convicted of radicalisation. Despite being at the top of the list of targets of Islamic State, Italy has not witnessed a single jihadist attack.
2. The French government is refusing to look into this while leaving the field open for the far-right to suggest this. A measure that is supported by 83% of the French population.
3. Focus on monitoring radicalised multiple offenders that may have a higher probability to carry out a terror attack (as seen in the case of Chekatt).

Link:https://www.globsec.org/publications...qjWvC4jAw6A.99

Philip Morris plc sponsored the research.

[davidbfpo]

The Yellow Vest protest movement in France has attracted considerable media reporting, sometimes with decent comments; his article by John Lichfield, an experienced British journalist living in Paris beats them all.
Link:https://beergbrexit.blog/2019/02/02/...-giletsjaunes/

He describes why this protest, sometimes violent, has it's geographical roots beyond the cities and reflects the frustration of many. Plus the reaction of the government, the police and the extremes. One of the unreported aspects is the widespread damage to speed cameras.

This is not a France-only phenomenon. It sits best here for now.

He ends in part with:

What scares me is not the fact of the GJ movement – not the fact of the anger – but the fact of the fury, the white-hot fury. We speak a great deal about radicalisation, especially of young Muslims etc. But what explains the radicalisation of home carers and garage mechanics in small towns who don’t understands the basics of how their own country’s political and tax system works but know they’re out of the loop, left behind. They have been persuaded that they are being cheated, conspired against. This is partly explained by lack of trusted guides such as political parties, media, church, unions – to shape public opinion. But the white-hot anger can only be explained by the facing mirrors, the multiplier effect, the compound or viral effect of social media. Thus, the Gilets Jaunes is a French crisis but also part of a wider, existential crisis for all 21^st century economies and democracies.

Thanks to 'Red Rat' providing the pointer.

[Bill Moore]

but what explains the radicalisation of home carers and garage mechanics in small towns who don’t understands the basics of how their own country’s political and tax system works but know they’re out of the loop, left behind.

First blame a particular group (Muslims, Jews, homosexuals, white males, the rich, cops, the homeless, pick your adversary), groups then form around this hatred and begin to reinforce their beliefes leading to radicalization and violent action in the pursuit of political power. Nazis, Maoists, etc., provide examples of where it can lead over time.

[davidbfpo]

A book review of the 2017 book by Gilles Kepel, a French academic expert on terrorism, by Aaron Zelin and yes the book is in English. The title is from the last sentence of the review.
Link:https://www.academia.edu/38395664/A_...d_in_the_West_

[AdamG]

Temporary separate thread, as we see which way the wind blows on this.

Caveat: plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

From March 16th

PARIS — French yellow vest protesters set life-threatening fires, smashed up luxury stores and clashed with police Saturday in the 18th straight weekend of demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron. Large plumes of smoke rose above the rioting on Paris’ landmark Champs-Elysees Avenue, and a mother and her child were just barely saved from a building blaze.

French police tried to contain the demonstrators with tear gas and water cannon with limited success.

*

Yellow vest groups representing teachers, unemployed people and labor unions were among those that organized dozens of rallies and marches Saturday in the capital and around France.

Protesters dismiss Macron’s national debate on the economy as empty words and a campaign ploy by Macron to gain support for the European Parliament elections in May. Protesters are angry over high taxes and Macron policies seen as coddling business.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/f...er-child-saved


From March 23rd -

PARIS — Thousands of French yellow vest demonstrators were marching through Paris on Saturday as authorities enforced bans on protests in certain areas and displayed enhanced security measures to avoid a repeat of last week’s riots in the capital.

The crowd gathered peacefully Saturday at Denfert-Rochereau Square in southern Paris and then headed north. The protesters are expected to finish Saturday’s march in the tourist-heavy neighborhood of Montmartre around its signature monument, the hilltop Sacre-Coeur Cathedral.

French authorities have banned protests from the Champs-Elysees Avenue in Paris and the central neighborhoods of several other cities including Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille and Nice in the south, and Rouen in western France.

*

The new Paris police chief, Didier Lallement, who took charge following the destruction wrought by last week’s protests, said specific police units have been created to react faster to any violence.

About 6,000 police officers were deployed in the capital on Saturday and two drones were helping to monitor the demonstrations. French authorities also deployed soldiers to protect sensitive sites, allowing police forces to focus on maintaining order during the protests.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/f...troops-monitor

Plot twist - yes, source is World Socialist Work Site.

Yesterday, the governor of the Paris military district told France Info that soldiers of the Operation Sentinel counter-terror mission had been authorized to fire today on the “yellow vests.” Asked about whether soldiers were capable of carrying out law enforcement duties, General Bruno Le Ray replied: “Our orders are sufficiently clear that we do not need to be worried at all. The soldiers’ rules of engagement will be fixed very rigorously.”

“They will have different means for action faced with all types of threats,” he continued. “That can go as far as opening fire.”

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/201.../fren-m23.html