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| Europe |
| France to spend $800m on anti-terror measures |
| 2015-01-22 |
| [IsraelTimes] Efforts will focus on strengthening intelligence services, fighting radicalization La Belle France unveiled a raft of measures Wednesday to curb radicalization and better monitor jihadists two weeks after an Islamist killing spree in Gay Paree that sent shock waves across Europe. Jitters from the worst attack on French soil in decades have spread to the country's neighbors and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... promised a new counter-terrorism strategy would be ready by May. Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced more than 700 million euros ($800 million) would be spent over the next three years on "the fight against terrorism." The attacks by known Islamists exposed weaknesses in French intelligence, and Valls said some 3,000 people with jihadist ties needed to be monitored, adding that the number of people with links to "terrorist networks" in Syria and Iraq had soared 130 percent in the past year. And a defense ministry source, who wished to remain anonymous, revealed that a dozen former French soldiers had joined jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria, raising concerns over the possible existence of radical elements within the military. In response, La Belle France will create 2,680 new jobs to fight extremism, just under half of them in the intelligence services. President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... added that La Belle France would slash 7,500 fewer military jobs than planned as part of steep defense cuts. "The number one priority is to further reinforce the human and technical resources of intelligence services," Valls said, adding that a draft law to do just that would be debated in parliament in early March. A large part of the effort to combat murderous Moslem violence will be concentrated on fighting radicalization, and Valls announced an extra 60 Moslem chaplains would be hired on top of the 182 who already work in jails. Two of the Gay Paree gunnies, Amedy Coulibaly and Cherif Kouachi, are believed to have turned to radical Islam in prison where they met, after coming under the influence of radical Islamist detainees. La Belle France is already experimenting with the isolation of radical prisoners in one jail, and Valls wants to extend this to other penitentiaries. The government is also targeting the Internet, with the creation of an informative website on radical indoctrination and more resources to monitor "cyber jihadism." The attacks have forced La Belle France to face up to its failure to integrate poorer, migrant families, with Valls saying on Tuesday that the country was plagued by "social and ethnic apartheid." Valls said he would also propose a cross-party debate on bringing back the offense of "national disgrace" -- used after World War II against collaborators with the Nazi regime and abolished in 1951. Less severe than treason, and allowing authorities to strip citizens of some rights, Valls said that reviving the offense would be a strong symbol of "the consequences of... committing a terrorist act." Europe mulls security measures The attacks were followed by a flurry of police activity across Europe with raids taking place on suspected Islamist cells in Belgium and Germany. European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans said the 28-nation bloc was determined to respond to the threat in keeping with its core values of tolerance and inclusion. "Whether they are Jewish, Moslem, Christian or atheist, everybody has a place in this society," he said. Timmermans said Europeans must use education and other tools "to make sure that we don't lose part of our population to extremism, to fanaticism, to exclusion." He added that the Commission, the EU's executive arm, would work especially hard to meet European Parliament concerns over data protection which have held up agreement on an air passenger tracking system. Many member states back use of the Passenger Name Record system as an essential tool to track suspected "imported muscle" but politicians have held up an EU-wide system for years. Timmermans raised the possibility that the EU could look at tightening up its Schengen passport-free system so as to boost checks on its external border to pick up hard boys. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #3 Far less than the cost of the benefits paid to feckless muzzoes |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2015-01-22 15:05 |
| #2 No grom, that will be the anti-terror measures. More aid to the barbarians. |
| Posted by: bigjim-CA 2015-01-22 08:37 |
| #1 Take it from the aid to Palestinians? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2015-01-22 04:47 |