Thirty years ago, you joined the Maoists, the Trotskyists, the far left, the Baader group, Action Directe. Today, where do you go? Bin Laden.

229

They are people who feel devalued, despised and by becoming terrorists they suddenly become supermen, heroes.

183

These elections are very important because until now it's been a presidential regime. Karzai has been elected, but it's a one-man regime. To have a Parliament is very important to give a democratic dimension to the regime.

176

It's a game of cowboys and Indians, ... have become a local sport, a rite of passage.

144

If you are a youngster in the French suburbs, your mates are second-generation Muslim immigrants and you want to wage war against society, the system, where do you go?

143

It's difficult. When these guys turn radical, they do that in the framework of a small local network of friends. It's not a real social movement, and we have trouble connecting people who don't have any prior connection, which makes them very difficult to track.

128

There's nothing easier if you follow the smugglers' route.

112

First he wants to cut the grass under the feet of other elements in the regime that favor a more open stance with the U.S.. Secondly, he's a pure product of the revolution, who is just not interested in diplomacy. And finally, the situation in Iraq makes him feel in a position of strength, as an attack from the U.S. or Israel looks highly unlikely at the moment.

70

The French government will not face a Tony Blair moment because the police have enjoyed steadily increasing powers in France for the last few decades. What Blair tried in Britain or Bush did in the U.S. with the Patriot Act were major shifts in the legal landscape.

56