Last Friday’s terror attacks in Paris will likely result in increased co-operation among intelligence agencies around the world as they struggle to keep up with a never-ending stream of threats, says one expert.
Fred Burton, vice-president for intelligence at the Stratfor global intelligence firm, told The West Block’s Tom Clark that the French have been inundated with potential terror plots in recent years, and have managed to thwart the vast majority of them.
“It’s easy to point fingers,” Burton said. “I think if you look at this from an intelligence perspective, the French are simply dealing with an endless threat stream … trying to separate the noise becomes the problem.”
While governments tend to be reactionary, he said, the Paris attacks will probably result in a quiet but significant increase in surveillance resources in most western nations like France, Germany, Britain and Canada.
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“Behind the scenes there’s a lot of moving pieces, and meetings are going to be taking place and there’s going to be actionable intelligence any time somebody in the western intelligence services sees some movement,” Burton said.
“You will see enhanced co-operation, and you will see plots thwarted …. very quietly.”
Friday night’s co-ordinated attacks in the French capital left 129 people dead and hundreds more in hospital. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility and France has declared it “an act of war.”
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