[9mm_fan]

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/c...?story_id=3353


How the French deal with terrorism, domestically. Interesting in light of the political uproard in the US over tactics and methods, freedoms and rights. As the article points out, it's largely about what kinds of tactics your society is willing to put up with.

From news article:

France’s early awareness of the terrorist threat grew out of experience rather than prescience. France was the first Western country struck on its soil by state-sponsored terrorism from the Middle East. France had been hit by terrorist attacks linked to the war in Algeria in the 1950s and to Palestinian groups in the 1970s. But, much like the United States on the morning of 9/11, France was caught largely unprepared when a series of deadly attacks shook Paris in the mid-1980s. The new terror wave, allegedly ordered by Iran and Syria, involved a geopolitical dimension that the antiquated French police and justice systems were in no position to counter. That prompted the adoption in 1986 of a comprehensive antiterrorism law, which set up a centralized unit of investigating magistrates in Paris—led by Marsaud and later by judge Jean-Louis Bruguière—with jurisdiction over all terrorism cases. Unlike normal French criminal proceedings, terrorist trials in France are judged only by panels of professional magistrates, without the participation of juries.


In the French system, an investigating judge is the equivalent of an empowered U.S. prosecutor. The judge is in charge of a secret probe, through which he or she can file charges, order wiretaps, and issue warrants and subpoenas. The conclusions of the judge are then transmitted to the prosecutor’s office, which decides whether to send the case to trial. The antiterrorist magistrates have even broader powers than their peers. For instance, they can request the assistance of the police and intelligence services, order the preventive detention of suspects for six days without charge, and justify keeping someone behind bars for several years pending an investigation. In addition, they have an international mandate when a French national is involved in a terrorist act, be it as a perpetrator or as a victim. As a result, France today has a pool of specialized judges and investigators adept at dismantling and prosecuting terrorist networks.

[LottiFurmann]

Mediocrates has already offended me twice today.

First he compares the French to Americans, ick!

Second, he called Hamastan "Palistoned" - take it from someone whom occassionally gets blunted and who knows other professionals who do as well, "stoners" are peaceful people who don't go around terrorizing others.

[Ifroham4]

Isn't assassin from hashish? Sometimes I guess you get peaceful hippies at Phish shows. Sometimes you get maniacs who blow stuff up.

I just thought it was interesting that France quietly goes along trampling on what we would normally call 'civil rights' and there doesn't seem to be much backlash. In the wide sweep of who your enemies are, it seems counterintuitive for the Islamists to hate the US more for being 'more' free than France which is relatively speaking 'less' tolerant of muslim extremists. If that's the case then its possible that our entire approach to counterterrorism might be wrong.

[LottiFurmann]

4188 posts now...do you have a day job ?

[Beerinkol]

Funny you asked because a few associates and I will be making extra money this weekend driving people from all around the metro Detroit area into Detroit and back out, several times a day, and get this, in our SUVs. Only concerns are financial and social. You should come to the poorest city in America, spend a day trying to get a permit to rehab a house (as part of their supposed "beautification" project) and marvel at the speed and technical acumen of the most corrupt, leftist, and minority government in America. After you spend the next year reliving Kafka's The Castle, you'd walk out of their questioning everything you believe. Anyway, welcome back!