France's elite counterterrorism forces prepare for the worst

When three militants took hostages at two locations in and around Paris last week, the French governmentdeployed its special counterterrorism units,elite forces that havehad much experience in a country with a historyof militant attacks.

The raids to free a hostage being held in a printing house northeast of Paris by two brothers and 19 other hostages at a kosher market were led by France's elite force Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN).

GIGN, along with another tactical force, Recherche Assistance Intervention Dissuasion (RAID) were able to secure the safe release of all the surviving hostages (four had already been killed at the market) and kill all three hostage-takers.

Since those incidents, including the deadly attack at the Paris office of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, France has deployed 10,000 troops to protect sensitive sites including Jewish schools and neighbourhoods.

'Very robust capabilities'

"France has beenthe subject of militant activity forsome time. They are very tough when it comes to this approach," said Thomas Sanderson, co-director and senior fellow of the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies."They have very robustcapabilities for domestic security issues."

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France's history with domestic militant attacks goes back decades, to the Algerian War, where it was subject to attacks from Algerian militants seeking independence. It has since been the targetof a number of organizations, including the left-wing groupAction Directe, the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA) and other al-Qaedaand Islamic-linked groups.

"We're probablythe European country that haddealt the most withterrorism on the forefront," saidClaude Moniquet, CEO of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Centre. "We have experience with this."

The GIGN was formed in 1974following the Palestinianmilitants' deadly attack against Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. While the tactical unit RAID ispart of the French National Police, and limits its operations for domestic crises, the GIGN ispart of the GendarmerieNationale, which in turn falls under the controlof France's armed forces, and hasbeen also deployed abroad.

The GIGN is a relatively small force that borrows elements from the FBI, police SWAT teams and U.S. military special ops, and it ishighlyrespected,well-resourcedandwell-exercised,Sanderson said.

It also trainsvarious Mideast police and security forces and has long been considered a Tier 1hostage rescue force around the world, he said.

"People in America have this ridiculous notion that'salways mentionedby comedians orpoliticians, that the French are weak, they like tosurrenderbecause ofWorld War II, and the reality is that theirlevel of trainingand attitudeanddispositionto these [militants]is much closer to the U.S.,Israelis andthe Russians than it is to what we wouldconsider weaker countries."

"I've often said they're closer to the Russian model than the U.S.model, as far as not a lot ofquestions are asked. Theygo in and kick down doors and they are very rough dudes."

But security forces can only provide so much protection.

'As prepared as they can be'

"I thinkthey are as prepared as they can be without putting a policeman behind each French citizen," said StephaniePezard, a RAND Corporation political scientist with a specialty in Frenchpolicy. "Theresonlyso much youcan do toprevent attacks thatbasicallycan come fromeverywhere. It's going to be mostly intelligence services that willhave to make sure that everyone on their watch list is being watched."

Intelligencegathering for counterterrorism isthe responsibility of theCentral Directorate of Interior Intelligence (DCRI) which has come under scrutiny and criticism for its failure to pay closer attention to the three suspects in the recent attacks,as they were known to authorities.

Along with its intelligence gathering,France also deploys a national security alert system to indicate a potential threat levelvigilance or attack alert (which was put in place following the Charlie Hebdo attacks).

At that heightened level, automatic measures come into place, which include deploying more military to support the police and at sites deemed sensitive, such as department stores, airports, train stationsany placewith alot of traffic,Pezard said.

Afterrecent events, schools are beingmonitored as well as every synagogue.

But Moniquetsaid the biggest challenge is the sheer numbers of possible suspects living inside France, including those involved in Syria, former militants who want to fight again, and thousands of radicals and sympathizers.

"So thatmakes something like5,000 people which are suspect and could be dangerous and extremely dangerous. And there, very clearly, we are at the limit of the possibilities for the internal security and the intelligence."