Last week, Charlotte brilliantly told us about a terror plot which would aim to launch Mumbai style attacks on Western powers, and more particularly on Britain, Germany and… France (Did you say « France »??? Yes, I did!! « OH MY GOD » !!!).
On the one hand, according to the article chosen by our classmate on the website of Sky News, the terrifying news was intercepted by intelligence agencies. So, last week, the threat of a terror attack was real, but the article, Charlotte, and I, want to reassure you: the plan would be in an advanced but not imminent stage and the plotters would have been tracked by spy agencies for several weeks! On the other hand, Charlotte spoke about the common European counterterrorism policy. Indeed, according to Sky News, the plot was discovered thanks to collaboration between the countries which were concerned by. However, french sources, including an intelligence source and another government source linked to the intelligence officials, said they did not have knowledge of such a plot miscarried. Therefore, Charlotte mentioned the problem of coordination on the security policy within the European Union. Finally, these events resulted in a controversy debate. Indeed, Charlotte told us that some media would have qualified the French government’s attitude of opportunist: it would use the threat of a terror plot to divert attention from a wave of scandals and protests.
So, after his summary, Charlotte asked two questions: “Are the French government’s warning of a heightened terrorism risk in response to a real escalation in the threat level, or are they simply a device to divert attention from a wave of scandals and protests?” and “Do you think we can really develop an effective common European counterterrorism policy?”. For the first question nobody answered but Charlotte said that the truth was surely in the middle because the social and political context was certainly a good reason of the over-communication of the government on the subject, but she added that it could discredit the government’s actions and the terrorist threat. Moreover, she gave us results of a poll released the day before his presentation which showed that 65 % of French people were skeptical and believed that the risk of attack was not reinforced and that 59% thought the government was doing too much about it. For the second question a student answered that it could pose a problem of national sovereignty for the states.
In my opinion the threat of a terrorist attack is real for Western powers, but to date, we could think that politicians (and especially French politicians) use it to frighten citizens: and we know that the more they are frightened, the more they are subjugated. So, the news about the plot could be seen as a device to divert national fundamental problems. Indeed, surely we know and everybody knows that the threat exists, but instead of insisting on it, politicians should insist on explaining us that there are competent professionals to protect us. Then, the question about the development of a common European counterterrorism is really interesting. For my part, I think it is a good idea. Indeed, maybe countries could be stronger than before if they were together to attack the terrorist threat. The problem about national sovereignty is not important. A state should always try to protect its citizens before it should try to protect its sovereignty. The idea of a common European counterterrorism is developed to reinforce protection, which is the essential. Therefore, it can be seen as a great initiative.
I would like to finish my essay telling you : "DON'T WORRY... BE HAPPY!" :) (and sorry for my bad english!).
No comments:
Post a Comment