Andrew Parker, the MI5 director general. Photograph: MI5/PA
Much activity has been visible over the past few days as the neocons and right-wing politicians come out to take advantage of the situation. Some are pointing to the inconsistencies in the “facts” which have thus far come out, the most glaring one being the alibi of one of the suspects at the time of shooting. “Conspiracies” aside, and despite the fact that we are living in an age of mass deception, at the very least, it can be said that there many questions which will need answering before a proper analysis of what happened on the day can be done.
What is established however, is that the alleged perpetrators of the killings were known to the French security services for a decade as well as the European and American authorities. One of them was described as a “ticking time-bomb”. France has one of the most extensive and intrusive surveillance laws in the whole of Europe. RUSI research analyst Shashank Joshi has said that, “France has unusually powerful intelligence agencies”. Despite having “more powers” than Britain, the French security services failed to stop the attack. While some see this as evidence of the need for yet even more power, the more sober question is, what exactly led to the intelligence community’s failure to stop the attack? Although Shashank concludes more resources are the answer, his piece points to a lack of communication between the US and France, weak controls of weapons in and out of the country and a failure in local policing which could have prevented the attack.
CoolnessofHind 