France once led the world in lambasting George W. Bush’s “war on terror”. But as François Hollande looks to enshrine emergency powers in the constitution, the country’s leaders are suddenly sounding like the US president they once held in contempt.
No, it’s never waterboarded terror suspects, or outsourced its torture to other countries under a top-secret program of “extraordinary rendition” overseen by the nation’s spymasters.
And - as far as we know - it has no sprawling military prison on an overseas naval base where hundreds of orange-clad alleged jihadists are held without trial.
In a year bookmarked by horrific attacks in the heart of Paris, France has managed to steer clear of the most notorious abuses of America’s anti-terror fight after 9/11.
At the same time, the country’s leaders have tightened the spigot on basic civil liberties to an alarming degree, with little supporting evidence of a clear dividend in terms of greater security.
Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who brought Edward Snowden’s revelations about mass NSA surveillance to the world’s attention, told me in a recent interview that a fearful population is a submissive population.
While Parisians have made a valiant effort to get on with their lives, the public mood is tinged with apprehension – abetted by a non-stop drumbeat of security alerts and terror-related arrests.
More ready to cede freedoms?
The French, presided over by a monarchical president who embodies “Republican” values, have proven more willing than Americans in the wake of the 9/11 attacks to cede their civil liberties if it makes them safer.
More than 90 percent of adults in France support the ... Go on reading on our web site.
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