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France is seeking an extension of the state of emergency imposed after the Nov. 2015 Paris terrorist attacks until at least May 2017:
The French government will ask parliament for a second extension to the state of emergency imposed in the wake of the November 2015 attacks in Paris, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Tuesday. Speaking to lawmakers, Valls said France's upcoming elections and its backing for the Western coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria meant that the threat of further atrocities could not be ignored.
Is French freedom gone for good (or bad)?
Some fear that France itself is adrift, its government unable to defeat the amorphous extremist enemy even as authorities encroach on liberties the French hold dear. While French warplanes are targeting ISIS strongholds in Iraq and Syria, the state of emergency at home allows broadened police powers to search homes and monitor communications. But it could not prevent further attacks on France over the past year, including a truck rampage in Nice by a man claiming allegiance to ISIS. "Yes, terrorism will strike us again," Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned this weekend.
The International Federation for Human Rights warned in a recent report: "France is now in a situation where an 'exceptional' regime is becoming permanent, in the name of combating terrorism. But there is little evidence that this approach is working and it comes at a cost to fundamental rights."
Also at BBC and RT. Here is an older article about the state of emergency.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by fritsd on Wednesday November 16 2016, @04:58PM
I can imagine that the French see the need to extend the state of emergency:
Most of the so-called "Syria-goers" from Europe were from France, AFAIK. Confirmed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_fighters_in_the_Syrian_and_Iraqi_Civil_Wars#2015_Soufan_Group_Report [wikipedia.org]
So they're all going to try their best to come back to France, and possibly begin attacks there, after they have lost the battle for Mosul [aljazeera.com].
Or maybe their commanders have told them: "you've got a EU pass, why don't you go home already and claim you deserted from us?".
That is impossible to distinguish from real Daesh deserters, of which there must be a fair lot suddenly.
I can't imagine that the siege of Mosul will take more than half a year. After that Daesh will have to have made new plans. If they have no more land,
they will shift back from tyranny to terrorism, until they're dead or give up. That is what the EU, Middle East, and Maghreb countries have to deal with now.