Warning of a 'Deep Divide' in France Following Terrorist Attacks

The head of France's intelligence agency has urged the government to allocate more resources for monitoring far-right groups. Patrick Calvar warned that the country is on the brink of a civil war due to the deep divide created after the terrorist attacks. According to the Breitbart website, Calvar made these remarks behind closed doors in response to questions from members of the French parliament in November 2015, stating that his fear is not only from the increasing destructive capabilities of terrorists but also from the consequences of the actions of far-right groups in the country. A version of the transcript of this session has been made public this week. Calvar stated that we must not surrender to terrorists, saying, "I believe we will win against terrorists. However, I am more concerned about the radicalization of society and the movements that are emerging within it. This is what worries me more than anything when I speak with my European colleagues. We need to allocate resources to counter extremist groups because confronting them is inevitable." He mentioned that we will witness a confrontation between far-right groups and the Islamic world; the Islamic world, not Islamists. When asked what he meant by 'extremist groups', he replied that these are groups that are extremely right-wing or left-wing: "Left-wing extremists are also another difficulty. We will see a confrontation between far-right groups and the Islamic world; the Islamic world, not Islamists." From this transcript, it can be inferred that Calvar considered the far-right's response to Muslim extremists as dangerous as terrorism itself and is now calling on the government to take serious action against them. Calvar reiterated his statements in May during a national defense committee meeting, stating, "All of Europe is at risk of the spread of extremist ideologies. Therefore, we must allocate resources in our country to monitor far-right extremist groups that are waiting for an opportunity to confront (Muslims)." Calvar believes that terrorist attacks are likely to happen again. Therefore, it is our responsibility to contain groups that are waiting for these opportunities to threaten society and create division within it. Of course, the head of the French intelligence agency also considers the threat from terrorists and Muslim extremists to be very serious. He believes that if they are currently using primitive weapons, it is because they do not have the means to transfer them to Europe. This senior French intelligence official has warned that Islamist extremists will soon train groups within Europe that will pose a serious threat to the peace of societies.