The French System of Anti-Terrorism

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According to Whitlock (2004) in many countries of Europe, former inmates of the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay Cuba, have been relishing their freedom; not so in France, where four prisoners from the US naval base were arrested as soon as they arrived home in July, and haven't been heard from since; under French law, they could remain locked up for as long as three years while authorities decide whether to put them on trial--a legal limbo that their attorneys charge is not much different than what they faced at Guantanamo. According to Whitlock, armed with some of the strictest anti-terrorism laws and policies in Europe, the French government has aggressively targeted Islamic radicals and other people deemed to be a potential terrorist threat. According to him, while other Western countries debate the proper balance between security and individual rights, France has experienced scant public dissent over tactics that would be controversial, if not illegal, in the United States and some other countries.

According to Whitlock (2004) French authorities have expelled a dozen Islamic clerics for allegedly promoting hatred or religious extremism; since the start of the school year, the government has been enforcing a ban on wearing religiious garb in school, a policy aimed largely at preventing Muslim girls from wearing veils. According to Whitlock, French counterterrorism officials say that their preemptive approach has paid off, enabling them to disrupt plots before they are carried out and to prevent radical cells from forming in the first place. They have stated that tips from informants and close cooperation with other intelligence services led them to thwart planned attacks on the US Embassy in Paris, French tourist sites on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean and other targets.

According to Whitlock (2004) France has embraced a law enforcement ...