[War] France: "The Devil's Playground"

[Bryan Tribble]

"The Devil's Playground"
President Adrien Durant
French Republic
4 February 2013
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The president's motorcade wound its way lazily through the streets of Paris,
going quietly down back streets to prevent worsening Parisian traffic any
more than it already was. Their eventual goal was Notre Dame de Paris for an
impromptu meeting with the Cardinal-Archbishop by way of the Centre
Administratif des Tourelles, DGSE headquarters in the 10th arrondissement.
But for now Adrien was content to meander down tree-lined streets.

"I heard from the Americans," Adrien said finally, still looking out the
window. He was accompanied only by his long-time friends and associates
Laurent Chevalier, now Director of the external intelligence agency
Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE), and Claude Lacoste, his
chief of staff and political advisor.

"And?" Laurent asked.

"Aside from the solidarity on terrorism business, they have agreed to
provide us with intelligence regarding terrorist groups working against the
Republic in exchange for our own intelligence on organisations working
against the United States. They also offered an FBI Critical Incident
Resource group to work through their embassy, under our guidance."

"If the circumstances were any different, I can only imagine how the
opposition would crucify you for going to the Americans for help. You can be
stupidly bold sometimes, Adrien," Claude scoffed, turning to stare out his
own window. "Do you really expect they'll be able to provide us with
anything useful?"

"We have to work with them through the North Atlantic framework, not to
mention any number of other forums. The Americans are a fact of life, much
as the People may dislike it. Do you think I care to go crawling to another
leader to plead for their help? Hardly. But if you wish to lead, then you
must be willing to make the difficult choices. Looking out only for your own
hide is certainly not one of the hallmarks of great statesmen."

Laurent remained quiet, watching the white façades of row houses go past the
limousine, and Claude seemed mollified for the moment.

"I trust you will cooperate fully with them, both of you. I'd like to review
the relevant information before it's given to the White House."

"Of course I will be cooperative; I'm stubborn, not defiant," Laurent piped
up. "Should I establish a DGSE/DCRI task force to review the American
intelligence and liaise with the American FBI team? Bourbois is a lot easier
to work with than Verdier; I'm sure you can find other things to keep
Jean-François busy aside from the finer points of operations, no?"

"Yes, work through Bourbois on this one. Minister Verdier has a lot more on
his plate to worry about, as you say." Adrien stayed silent for a few long
moments and then turned in his seat, putting his back to the window to face
the DGSE Director. "Do you think we'll actually catch these fellows,
Laurent? It seems like we're grasping for straws at this point."

Laurent smirked. "We'll have an easier time catching them if they should
dare to return to Algeria. It's a lot harder to hide in a hole like that
than within the Union. And that's what we'll have to worry about, locating
them within the European Union if they've moved outside our borders. Open
border policies certainly have their disadvantages in some cases, this
definitely being one of them. But I have some small amount of faith in
Bourbois and DCRI."

"Well placed faith, I hope."

=-=-=

"Pressure is mounting to move on immigration. I can't hold off the
opposition forever, and, more importantly, we have a limited amount of time
before the media picks up the smell of blood," Claude Lacoste said.

The two had met at a series of political fundraisers during Adrien's time in
the Chirac administration. They got along so well that Adrien asked Claude
to be his campaign manager for his National Assembly bid and the two had
been inseparable since the win. His political instincts were considerably
sharper and more refined than Adrien's own but the poor man lacked the charm
and drive necessary to attain an office in France.

"We certainly have two different approaches in the Italians and Japanese,"
Adrien mused, motioning half-heartedly at a newspaper sitting on the seat
next to Claude. The Italian decision to clamp down and clamp down hard on
immigration had grabbed the front page headline in Le Monde. Buried in the
international section was a story on the proposed revisions to Japanese
citizenship legislation. "I don't suppose you have a brilliant plan to leave
everyone happy and us political unscathed, do you?"

Claude's wry smile said that he was amused at the prospect. "Coming up with
a defence for an invasion of the Low Countries would be easier by
comparison. The problem with immigration policy, like a lot of other hot
button domestic issues, is that in the end people are rarely satisfied on
either side of the issue and you never come out without at least a handful
of bruises."

"So we can choose to crack down or work with the immigrant communities,"
Adrien grumbled. "I don't know that I care for either option to be honest,
but I'm concerned that this is going to explode in the suburbs. Again."

"It's easier in the short term to take the Italian way out. Send the police
force into the suburbs, round up illegals, ship them back to Algeria or
whatever country they've come from and make it damn difficult for them to
get back into the country. Severely restrict the rights and monitor the
movements of those that remain and we'll be able to round up the rest of the
troublemakers. 

"I'd wager xenophobia and anti-immigration are the direction that most of
Europe is going in, even if there are certain demographic pressures to open
up to immigration. Our growth rate defies the rest of the EU but the
Republic has a strong tradition of immigration. We could survive without it
but we'd be turning our backs on decades worth of immigration policy."

Adrien shook his head. "Cracking down on people is just sowing the seeds for
discontent. That will come back against us sooner or later."

"It'll be later, and it'll be another president's problem by then," Claude
interjected.

"Nonsense. If I were concerned solely with law and order and saving my own
skin then I'd have cracked down on everyone who even looked like an Algerian
the day after the attack," Adrien said sharply, waving a dismissive hand. He
was highly critical of political manoeuvring at the expense of the
constituency and tolerated no such talk from politicians in his party or
members of his administration.

"The other option is politically difficult, risky and has no guarantee that
it'll even begin to work. There are a number of options open to us along
that path ­ work with religious and civic groups, open up education
opportunities, encourage employment. The list is practically endless. But
with that path there is the issue of laïcité..."

"Hence the visit to the Cardinal-Archbishop," Adrien replied. "I don't
intend to abandon a cultural institution in the midst of the opportunism of
the Church and the radical pressure of a gaggle of sheikhs, mullahs and
Imams. There are other ways available to us within the secular framework of
the Republic and its Constitution, traditions and culture."

"Sounds like you've made up your mind. I hope this isn't a snap decision."

"I don't make snap decisions, Claude. Haven't you read the papers? I'm slow
to respond to everything according to them. Sometimes I wonder if people
wouldn't prefer for you to make snap decisions. It's never made any sense to
me ­ action before thought," the French president said. "As you say, we can
engage the immigrant community on a number of levels. I'm not ruling out
some level of interreligious dialogue but my true feeling is that Islamic
fundamentalists are not the ones immigrating to this country. Youth turn
into fundamentalists because they have been unable to take advantage of
educational and economic opportunities, or they have simply refused to do
so. No matter the method, they've fallen prey to outside influences. After
all, idle hands are the Devil's playground."

Actions:
1.) Release pre-arranged intelligence to United States and receive
intelligence on terrorist activities within France and Europe.

2.) Welcome U.S. FBI Critical Incident Resource unit to Paris and place them
under the direction of the DGSE/DCRI task force with the mandate to identify
and locate the terrorists involved in the Notre Dame attack.

3.) Seek out pro-French or otherwise friendly immigrant civic and religious
groups/societies in preparation for establishing some dialogue on the ills
of the immigrant community within Parisian and other suburbs.