Posted on 03/14/2008 4:51:41 AM PDT by moderatewolverine
Counterterrorism, like espionage and covert action, isn’t a spectator sport. The more a country practices, the better it gets. France has become the most accomplished counterterrorist practitioner in Europe. Whereas September 11, 2001, was a shock to the American counterterrorist establishment, it wasn’t a révolution des mentalités in Paris. Two waves of terrorist attacks, the first in the mid-1980s and the second in the mid-1990s, have made France acutely aware of both state-supported Middle Eastern terrorism and freelancing but organized Islamic extremists.
In comparison, the security services in Great Britain and Germany were slow to awaken to the threat from homegrown radical Muslims. Britain’s gamble was that its multicultural approach to immigrants was superior to France’s forced-assimilation model. But with the discovery of one terrorist plot after another being planned by British Muslims, as well as the deadly transportation bombings that took place in London on July 7, 2005, the British have begun to question the wisdom of their “Londonistan” approach to Muslim immigration. Similarly, until recently, the belief in Berlin was that Germany was safe from homegrown Muslim terrorism; but two major bomb plots over the past year and a half—one aimed at German trains, the second at American installations and interests in Germany—have raised serious doubts in the minds of many German security officials about that previous assumption.
And French scholars and journalists have been way ahead of their European and American counterparts in dissecting Islamic extremism and in analyzing the phenomenon of European-raised Muslim militants. French officials who work in counterterrorism are well apprised of this intellectual spadework, often maintaining friendly relationships with scholars and journalists working in the field. The French interior ministry and prison system, for example, were remarkably helpful to the Franco-Iranian sociologist Farhad Khosrokhavar in his interviews of jailed al-Qaeda members.
(Excerpt) Read more at american.com ...
We haven't had any either.
We’ve disagreed on foreign policy for a few decades with them now. We’ve made fun of their lack of bathing and their easy women.
But America’s oldest ally has managed to retain some of what we are giving away willingly. National identity.
They can’t defend themselves in a head-on war, but then, we aren’t fighting one of those.
I’m not ashamed- Viva France!
Welcoming conquering armies?
Anthrax scare.
OK since since the fall of 2001.
The Beltway sniper shootings of 2002 might fall in that category too, but that's stretching it.
Whatever Dubya was doing seems to be working.
Oh, I agree it’s working. I just wanted to keep you honest. :)
After seeing them vote Sarkozy, I’m thinking they might have some bulbs not burt out yet. (Either that or the American genes are spreading over there faster than over here)
What France does best? Making whine?
Depends on who the “terrorists” are.
That disgraceful incident with the Rainbow Warrior springs to mind...
Very true :-)
I didn’t read the whole thing, but if France is on top of this, why are the ‘yutes’ in the banlieus rioting and burning cars and shooting cops? And no one is doing a thing about it?
If that is ‘on top of things,’ then let’s don’t emulate their model.
Print this thread and show it to anyone who starts gabbling on about America's / Britain's foreign policy causing domestic terrorism . It just goes to show that trying to lay low and avoid any commitment in Iraq or Afgan. is no guarantee that the Mohammonazis will go easy on you .
How many French or German military are there in these places ?
Exactly . For far too long the MSM have been peddling the old chestnut that if we ‘reach out’ or ‘start a dialogue’ then Islam won't be nasty to us .
Naive tossers .
You posted: Whatever Dubya was doing seems to be working.
***
I am inclined to believe that there have been many, many attempted and thwarted strikes on this country since 9/11, of which only a few have been disclosed publicly, and then, without full details. What is reprehensible (yet predictable) is that the Dems feel perfectly comfortable with the knowledge of President Bush’s successes in thwarting these attacks, all the while ridiculing him and making the false case that it is HE who is creating false fear in the country. Some day the truth will come out, but sadly, our country’s population lacks the critical thinking skills to hold the Dems accountable for their treachory and treason.
Dittos
“How many French or German military are there in these places ?”
Actually, thousands. French and German troops are in Afghanistan, and have been there since more or less day one. Check out on CENTCOM’s website about Operation Enduring Freedom to get the exact figures.
“I didn’t read the whole thing, but if France is on top of this, why are the ‘yutes’ in the banlieus rioting and burning cars and shooting cops? And no one is doing a thing about it?*”
One - Burning cars isn’t terrorism, trying to blow up the US embassy in Paris (like they attempted in 2004 IIRC) is. Your argument is like saying the CIA is worthless since it didn’t prevent nor stop the 1990 Los Angeles riots (you do have yutes too, don’t you ?). I’d rather have counter-terrorism operatives work on the serious terrorist cells than on ordinary crimes because in the end, killing 3,000 people tends to upset me more than burning 3,000 Ford Fiestas. Maybe you see things differently ?
Second - Hundreds of perpetrators were arrested after the riots by the police forces. Many were sent to face an instant trial (what we call “comparution immédiate”). Part of the foreign perpatrors were expelled from country, and the French nationals were sentenced to the fines and prison terms that are planned in such cases in the Penal Code.
Thank you for your post. It is good to have people who live in these countries weigh in, sorting out your reality from our perceptions.
It is good to have perceptions from within these countries, however RUDE.
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