A French parliamentary investigation found multiple intelligence failures before the Islamic extremist attacks that killed 147 people in Paris last year, lawmakers said Tuesday.
(FOX)- Urging the creation of a U.S.-style counterterrorism agency to better prevent further violence.
All the extremists involved in the 2015 attacks — on newspaper Charlie Hebdo, a kosher market, the national stadium, Parisian cafes and the Bataclan concert hall — had been previously flagged to authorities, said conservative legislator Georges Fenech, who headed the investigation commission. Some of the attackers had past convictions, or were under judicial surveillance when they attacked.
Intelligence authorities questioned in the parliamentary inquiry acknowledged failures, Fenech said. He blamed a multi-layered, cumbersome intelligence apparatus, saying France is trying to fight terrorism with “lead boots.”
He and the lawmaker presenting the report, Socialist Sebastien Pietrasanta, recommended creating a national counterterrorism agency like that created in the U.S. after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Pietrasanta noted that the attack that killed 49 people in Orlando, Florida, show that “there is no zero risk,” and said France remains under threat even if it overhauls its intelligence services.