Every once and awhile, a topic of conversation seems to come up with French people that I meet…one of how they could not have imagined how September 11th affected me, or my mindset. It’s odd, seeing that this comes up usually as a sense that I am still a victim of an attack that hit me personally. In a way this is completely true, but in an ideological sense. Many of the French react to this with concerns for their own safety.
For me, having to explain that yes, such an event was catastrophic in some terms, but can’t be the be-all and end-all of a foreign policy bewilders a few people, as I almost expected. One man told me that the French could never imagine something like this happening to their own country, and that because of this, they could not see the choices we have made, right or wrong.
It’s hard because I already have my strong opinions about those choices. That the reactionist, security blanket movements of my government which chose to blindly lash out against anything that could be a threat was not only morally wrong, but chose to steer the world in a downward spiral. While many of the French do not agree with American policy in general, I get the impression among many people that the current security measures are fine.
Paris, and perhaps France in general, is currently under the Plan Vigipirate (I laugh cause it almost sounds like “vigilant pirate”). In translation, this is RED ALERT! Hence, the government has authorized soldiers in many public places, usually carrying large automatic machine guns. This comes as a surprise, as the last time I entered a mall near the La Defense skyscraper district, I saw these soldiers parading around with the myriad of shoppers. The same situation happened when I was on the subway one night, as four soldiers appeared on the train. Everyone stood away from them, and from what I could tell, not trying to make eye contact. I was staring most of the way because of the oddity for an American to witness armed soldiers parading around a public space for no apparent reason, especially in a country that was supposed to have the same rights.
Well, that is not entirely true. French citizens are all issued national identity cards, which for any reason, could be asked for by an official or by someone such as security personnel (i.e., these soldiers). For a foreigner like myself, it means carrying a version of a national identity card, and in an American’s case, a passport with official government documentation and photograph. If you do not have one and are asked to present it, you could not only be fined, but put in jail.
For an American, where movement and general annonimity seem to be unwritten rights, it’s contrary to the guarantees of expression, the guarantees of voice. I asked a few people why this was, that they had to keep such a card on themselves at all times, why the soldiers with big guns and no pretense to appear at random anywhere you might be is this way? Well, a few people said, it was for “security.” What kind of security? “So we don’t have an attack like what happened in your country.”
What perturbes me about this response is that people assume this is going to happen. That it is perfectly fine for soldiers to control the public order, to watch to make sure that all is well and no one is misbehaving or acting out of place. France was rocked a few years ago by angry youths destroying their neighborhoods in protest of the miserable living conditions and lack of oppurtunities within the supposed egalitarian system. Since the London Bombings and these events, I have not seen the police and soldiers leave the streets or large public spaces. But why? Where has the threat come from and from who?
This question still dogs me. Is it really better to have armed people parading around as a way to deter crime and possible attacks? Or is this just a masqarade for a correct social and politcal order, especially for a president who is not only vastly unpopular at the moment (36% of the French approve) but seems to not have a firm grasp upon the issues?
