Age no barrier at Paris 2024

The Paris 2024 Olympics will feature veteran athletes like Andy Murray, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and 70-year-old Mary Hanna, marking a significant farewell for some.

British tennis star and two-time Olympic champion, Andy Murray, is to retire after Paris 2024, which highlights that the forthcoming festival of sport will not only see some new stars burst onto the scene, but also be the last chance for some veterans to bow out in style.

Murray will be hoping his back holds up as he competes in both singles and doubles, but he is far from the only veteran competing – and one in particular has a great chance of gold.

Andy Murray of Britain reacts in the men's doubles quarterfinal against Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig of Croatia on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Tennis Park on July 28, 2021. (Xinhua/Dai Tianfang)

Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is competing at her fifth Olympics, aiming to be on the podium for the women’s 100 meters for an incredible fifth time.

The 37-year-old has also won five 100 meters World Championships and is the third fastest woman of all time, but in a sport where many burn bright and quickly, her career has lasted.

Thirty-seven seems to be a popular age, because Chinese 20-kilometer walker Liu Hong shares that age with Murray and Fraser-Pryce, and she too competes in her fifth Games, after finishing fourth in Beijing, taking silver in London 2012, gold in the heat of Rio 2016 and bronze in Tokyo in 2021.

Other Chinese athletes who are well into their 30’s are shot-putter Gong Lijiao, with the 35-year-old also at her fifth Olympics.

In a different sport, the U.S. volleyball team has bags of experience in Matt Anderson, who is 37, and 38-year-old, David Smith – both of whom are at their fourth Olympics, while 39-year-old Gyorgy Grozer will once again be vital as Germany looks for glory in the same sport.

Led by Lebron James, the U.S. team are the favorites to claim basketball gold. The 39-year-old power-forward is also expected to be the flag bearer for his country at Friday’s opening ceremony.

Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal refuses to say goodbye and the 38-year-old looks for gold at his favorite venue of all time – Roland Garros, where he has won an incredible 14 times in his astonishing career. The irony is that perhaps it’s Spanish young gun, Carlos Alcaraz, who could deny Nadal his perfect Olympic “adios.”

Always expect Brazil to do well at football and even more so with their women’s football team led by Marta Viera da Silva. The legendary player holds the record for being Brazil’s top goalscorer with 118 goals and over 180 appearances for her country.

Brazil faces world champion Spain in a tough qualifying group and although there are no veterans in the Spanish football team, it’s different in kayaking, where Maialen Chourraut competes in her fifth Olympics at the age of 41 after taking bronze in London, gold in Rio and silver in Tokyo.

Chourraut will go for gold in K1 and Kayak Cross and admitted that the arrival of the latter as an Olympic event was one reason she had kept on training with a view to Paris.

But in terms of age and Olympic experience, all of the above fall well short of Mary Hanna, who is the emergency reserve for Team Australia in dressage.

Hanna who made her Olympic debut in Atlanta 1996, will turn 70 in December and is the oldest athlete taking part in the Paris Games, ahead of Canadian duo of Jill Irving and Mario Deslauriers, who are 61 and 59 and also compete in the equestrian events.

Read More

U.S. Spy on Lula: A Disturbing ‘Backyard’ Mentality

"In recent years, the U.S. control over its so-called 'backyard' seems to have been relaxed on the surface, but this is based on strengthening another kind of control, namely the surveillance of key figures in various fields, which has now reached an unscrupulous level in Latin America," a Brazilian scholar told Xinhua.

by Bian Zhuodan

The revelation that the U.S. government and military agencies have been monitoring Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the current Brazilian president, since more than half a century ago, has caused an uproar in Latin American public opinion.

The mainstream view in Brazilian academic and media circles is that this incident fully proves that the U.S. imperial hegemonic thinking of Latin America as its “backyard” has not changed over the past 200 years since the birth of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends the EU-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States summit in Brussels, Belgium, July 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

“In recent years, the U.S. control over its so-called ‘backyard’ seems to have been relaxed on the surface, but this is based on strengthening another kind of control, namely the surveillance of key figures in various fields, which has now reached an unscrupulous level in Latin America,” Marcos Pires, director of the Institute of Economics and International Studies at Sao Paulo State University, told Xinhua.

In mid-July, Lula’s biographer Fernando Morais revealed that his writing team had recently obtained 819 documents totaling 3,300 pages of records about Lula from 1966 to 2019 from different U.S. agencies.

According to the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, most of the documents were produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which holds 613 documents on Lula, totaling 2,000 pages. U.S. agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), National Security Agency (NSA) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network have not yet responded to requests for information from Lula’s biographers.

At the same time, the documents applied by the biographers are only records about Lula’s activities before 2019. The number of such documents over the past five years, especially during Lula’s third term starting from 2023, is unknown. Brazilian political analysts believe that the real number of documents related to Lula may far exceed expectations.

The U.S. government’s surveillance of leaders of other countries is nothing new. As early as 2013, Brazilian media reported the NSA’s surveillance activities against Brazil’s then-President Dilma Rousseff and many senior officials in her government. However, the time span and the breadth of surveillance content on Lula are more than staggering.

Ever since Lula joined the metalworkers union in 1966, “the United States has always been there, keeping an eye on him,” Gleisi Hoffmann, president of Brazil’s ruling Workers’ Party, said on X last week.

“In addition to the notorious CIA and NSA, the U.S. Department of Defense, Southern Command are also on the watcher list,” Hoffmann said. “They monitor our national defense, foreign relations, and who knows what others!”

As for why Lula fell victim to surveillance, Reinaldo Azevedo, a columnist for the mainstream portal UOL, refers to Brazil’s importance as an emerging economy with great potential and its geographical proximity to the United States, and Lula as a progressive politician with global influence. “But he is not the kind of person who is reverent to the United States,” Azevedo said.

Brazilian international relations expert Vladimir Feijo believes that the surveillance incident may heighten tensions between Brazil and the United States.

“What is the extent of the investigation of countries that claim to be partners, respectful, that have good relations and why would it be necessary to use a secret service, so to speak, if there are open channels of communication?” he asked.

In this regard, some Brazilian politicians and academics are of one mind — the U.S. government does not actually respect the sovereignty of other countries that it claims to respect. The U.S. government’s surveillance behavior is “not only an unacceptable act of violence against Brazilian citizens, but also an insult to Brazil’s national sovereignty,” according to Hoffmann.

Azevedo pointed out that the United States believes that Brazil, located in its so-called “backyard,” should be a country that is subject to its interests and is “part of the American group.” However, Brazil hopes to maintain its diplomatic independence.

Brazil regards its relationship with the United States as a cooperative and commercial partnership, which makes the United States “unhappy.”

“Brazil is also a key country in the Global South and BRICS that the U.S. is fighting,” said Azevedo.

According to the columnist, the United States is spying on the entire world, which is what an empire does when it thinks it is an empire. Though the world is showing a multi-polar trend, the increasingly decadent America is still monitoring its so-called “backyard.”

Worryingly still, the United States has the power to intervene all over the world. If it intervenes too much in some places, it may destroy the world, Azevedo warned.

Read More

India Supports Philippines in South China Sea

As China continues its aggressive tactics, the Philippines, bolstered by international alliances, stands resilient against Beijing's coercion

by Ashok K Mehta

My enemy’s enemy is my friend is a fitting adage for India; ‘s support to the Philippines which is fighting a battle royale in the  South China Sea with China. Chinese Coast Guards have been regularly intruding into the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone (PEEZ) which they regard as part of the South China Sea under its default claim of 10 dash line that was rejected by an arbitration court at Hague under UNCLOS in 2016. Bash on regardless is PLA’s dictum in coercing the Filipinos as they to us along LAC. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar visited Manila in May and expressed full support for the Philippines in its claims in PEEZ.

An aerial drone photo taken on May 21, 2024 shows China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel Huayang (R) conducting a drill with another CCG vessel in the South China Sea. (Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu)

Foreign Ministry spokesperson after the 17 June clash said “ We oppose destabilizing unilateral action to change status quo by force or coercion”. Earlier in 2022 India made its first international sale of the Brahmos anti-ship missile system to the Philippines. I was in Manila last month, days after the 17 June incident comparable to our own Galwan clash on 15 June 2020. It was evident that the Chinese were bullying   Filipinos in their waters. The 17 June incident has been flogged with Chinese but mainly Filipino accounts. In brief, Chinese Coast Guards are trying to force out Filipino Coast Guards from their outpost on Thomas Shoal 2 which they preemptively occupied in 1999 denying a free run to China in seizing unoccupied islands in PEEZ. 

Like pirates, the Chinese Coast Guard are even poaching in EEZ of Asian countries. Chinese have unilaterally promulgated la in the South China Sea laws that allow them to seize for 60 days without trial, foreign vessels and even fire at them -which they have not done – if necessary.

Chinese Coast Guard is employing lethal weapons short of firearms like picks, axes, spears and rods to inflict casualties with medieval warfare equipment that the PLA used to surprise Indian troops in Galwan.Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Indonesia have quietly accepted Chinese bullying while the Philippines backed by the US is pushing back. All these countries are hugely reliant on China for trade and BRI benefits. The Philippines like Taiwan is resisting Chinese coercion while balancing its economic relations with Beijing. Between 2000 and 2020 China committed a total of USD9.1 bn in financial support to the Philippines.

In Manila, after the violent incident near Thomas Shoal  Chinese Coast Guard intercepted the Philippines Coast Guard that was trying to resupply its small island garrison. Seven Filipino sailors were wounded in the clash and one lost a thumb. Seven rifles were also impounded and have not been returned. President Bong Bong Ferdinand Marcos Jr who had recently warned China at Shangrila Dialogue of ‘consequences’ and vowed not to yield ‘even an inch or a millimeter’ has been blowing hot and cold as have his ministers also.

The Philippines has a Mutual Defence Treaty of 1951 with the US whose conditions are more specific and binding than the US-Taiwan Act. Still, no one wants to invoke the Treaty over the ‘territorial integrity  of a Shoal’. American Ambassador to the Philippines Mary Carlsson said in Manila on 24 June that China should settle disputes by international law and “not bully our partners in their backyard”. The US is wary of opening another front after Ukraine, Gaza and the Red Sea, even as the risk of accidental escalation or misunderstanding is high in the Taiwan Straits. The US plans to revive and modernize Subic Bay and adjoining Clarks Airbase and is deploying the deadly Typhon missile system at some of their ten bases in the Philippines.

The Indian Brahmos missiles are located in Luzon facing the South China Sea and can reach out to Chinese-occupied Mischief Reef, Thomas Shoal 2 and Scarborough Shoal. It is believed that some 3 to 400,000 Americans reside in the Philippines and US-Philippines relations under Marcos Jr are back to its heyday. The Philippines is actively collaborating with QUAD- US, India and Australia.

Japan and the Philippines signed a defence agreement this month that will allow the deployment of troops on each other’s territory with Tokyo pledging to provide additional defence aid. Similarly, Manila and Seoul are coordinating maritime coordination and joint exercises.

South Korean shipyards are likely to receive orders to build Coast Guard vessels for the Philippines. Canada and even the European Union are coordinating maritime activities in PEEZ. None of the Philippines’ brave calls for standing its ground in the South China Sea and pledges of support from its friends and allies has deterred China in its show of force.

It fielded its aircraft carrier Shandong and the world’s largest Coast Guard vessel 5901 in PEEZ while at the same time, it held talks with Filipino officials on de-escalation measures this month. The code of conduct in the South China Sea under preparation for over two decades is expected to be finalized in 2026.

However, the most recent agreement is about establishing hotlines at various levels for stopping maritime incidents. From the US and Indian perspective, the Chinese claimed preeminence in the South China Sea has to be contested by QUAD, AUKUS, the new trilateral between Japan, the Philippines and South Korea.Further resistance to the reunification of Taiwan must continue and Taiwan Straits remain free for navigation and overflights.

 As China’s economy declines, and Asian economies grow through new supply chains and the realization of India’s Act East policy, Western collective deterrence will dampen Chinese bravado in the South China Sea. The Philippines will be the immediate natural southern pillar of the Indo-Pacific strategy.

Ashok K. Mehta is a radio and television commentator, and a columnist on defence and security issues. He is a former Major General of Indian Army. After joining the Indian Army in 1957, he was commissioned in the 5th Gorkha Rifles infantry regiment in the same year. He had fought in all major wars India went into, except the Sino-Indian War of 1962. And he was also on a peacekeeping mission in Zaire in the year 1962 and in the Indian Peace Keeping Force, Sri Lanka (1988-90) and it was his last assignment in the Indian Army. He is also a writer of several books and a founder-member of the Defense Planning Staff in the Ministry of Defence, India.

Read More

Fresh Military Alliances in the Pacific

Ironically, the underlying rationale for Nixon and Kissinger making peace with China was to prevent a more powerful alliance between Russia and China.

by Alice Slater

 

On the heels of a new alliance announced this summer by Russia and North Korea for a pact pledging mutual defense, with the support of China, it is now shockingly being suggested in South Korea that it review its security policy with the US and end its reliance on the US guarantee, to employ on South Koreas’ behalf, US nuclear weapons as part of its “nuclear umbrella”.

Vladimir Putin arrived in Pyongyang. With Chairman of State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Jong-un.

The “umbrella” is offered to all NATO states as well as the Pacific states of Japan, Australia, and South Korea. Such questioning is evidence of the growing havoc faced in the world by the failure of the United States to make good on its legal obligation under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) for good faith efforts for nuclear disarmament.

The nuclear umbrella, to the extent that it includes the stationing of nuclear weapons in five NATO states (Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Turkey) is in itself an illegal violation of the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty in which five nuclear weapons states, the US, Russia, UK, France, and China, promised to make “good faith efforts” for nuclear disarmament while all the other countries of the world agreed not to get nuclear weapons.

Everyone, including South Korea signed the NPT except for Israel, Pakistan and India who developed their own nuclear arsenals. The NPT had a Faustian bargain that if a country promised not to get nuclear weapons, they would have an “inalienable right” to so-called “peaceful” nuclear power.

Since every “peaceful” nuclear power plant produced the material needed to make nuclear weapons the NPT gives those nations the keys to the bomb factory, North Korea walked out of the NPT and used its nuclear power to produce a nuclear arsenal. Iran has been enriching its nuclear materials but has not yet made a bomb.

The fact that Russia is allying with North Korea and China at this time is a result of the failure of US diplomacy and the drive by the US military-industrial-congressional-media-academic-think tank complex (MICIMATT) to expand the US empire beyond its 800 US military bases in 87 nations.

The US is now surrounding China with new bases recently established in the Pacific and forming AUKUS, a new military alliance with Australia, the UK and the US. The US has been breaking its agreement made with China in 1972 as we now are arming Taiwan despite promises made by Nixon and Kissinger to recognize China and remain neutral on the question of the future of Taiwan, to where the anti-communist forces retreated after the Chinese Revolution.

The US, after the end of the Cold War in 1989 with Russia walked out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 1992 and put missile bases in Poland and Romania, walked out of the 1987 Intermediate Missile Forces Treaty negotiated by Reagan and Gorbachev in 1972, expanded NATO up to Russia’s border despite promises to Gorbachev that we wouldn’t expand NATO “one inch” eastward beyond a unified Germany.

Indeed, horrified by the NATO expansion, Putin at one point asked Clinton if Russia could be invited to join NATO which was refused, and announced often and pointedly in the years leading up to the Ukrainian War, that taking Ukraine into NATO was a “red line” for Russia!

The Empire was indifferent and kept expanding until we reached this sorry and perilous moment we are experiencing now. In retaliation, Putin just put Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus—a first incidence of Russian nuclear sharing!

Ironically, the underlying rationale for Nixon and Kissinger making peace with China was to prevent a more powerful alliance between Russia and China.

The US will be reaping the whirlwind if it doesn’t comply with its nuclear disarmament obligations and take the path to peace. More nuclear armed countries such as South Korea may proliferate. Saudi Arabia is currently seeking “peaceful” nuclear power without safeguards on its use.

With either nuclear annihilation or cataclysmic climate collapse facing our beleaguered planet, it’s time to cooperate with other countries—make peace not war!!

Alice Slater serves on the boards of World BEYOND War and the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, and is a UN NGO Representative for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

Read More

US Spy Chief Cheatle: Gone But Not Forgotten

The Secret Service director was clueless to the end

by Jeff Stein

 

Bipartisanship is rare in Washington, to say the least. But there was unanimity here yesterday as Kimberly Cheatle tried to dodge and weave through sharp questioning from Democrats and Republicans alike about her agency’s big fail in Butler, Pa., and her own dissembling statements in the wake of the near assassination of Donald Trump.

In an oversight hearing yesterday, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina neatly summed up her colleagues’ reaction to Cheatle’s shape-shifting explanations with, “You’re full of shit today. You’re just being completely dishonest.” Mace’s crude outburst followed a tough grilling by Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Maryland Democrat who’s normally quick to defend Biden administration appointees against Republican attacks. When you lose Raskin, you’re toast.

United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee during a hearing at the Rayburn House Office Building on July 22, 2024 in Washington, D.C. KENT NISHIMURA/GETTY IMAGES

Cheatle resigned today, saying in a letter to her staff that she took “full responsibility” for the agency’s egregious security lapses. Of course, from Day One Cheatle constantly claimed she was “accountable” and took “full responsibility” for what happened, although she never did in fact until today—10 days after she should have resigned or been fired for the near catastrophe.

Biden deserves blame for the political debacle that followed. In a classic case of his too little, too late style, he praised Cheatle for her “honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service. We all know what happened that day can never happen again,” he added in a statement from Wilmington, De., where he’s recovering from a bout with Covid but not his deflated presidency.

But it will happen again, if chronic problems of understaffing, bad management and poor morale in the Secret Service aren’t fixed fast. Republican attacks on Kamala Harris, from Trump and J.D. Vance down to their shills on Fox News, are already so personal and incendiary that they’re bound to excite some MAGA hothead or a deranged kid like Thomas Crooks to take a shot.

Former DHS chief of intelligence John Cohen warned last week that, thanks to administration bumbling, the security situation was rapidly unravelling at a time of maximum danger.

“This is the most dangerous threat environment that I’ve experienced in the 40-plus years that I’ve been involved in law enforcement and homeland security,” Cohen told SpyTalk Contributing Editor Michael Isikoff on the Spytalk podcast.

“I think they’ve got a lot to explain and they need to get it explained pretty quickly or the situation is going to spiral out of control even more so than it is today,” said Cohen, who served as intelligence chief of the Department of Homeland Security until 2022. “And it’s pretty much out of control” right now. 

It’s been that way for some time. As I pointed out back on July 14:

In her magnificent, 500-page deep dive 2021 book, Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service, three-time Pulitzer winning Washington Post investigative reporter Carol Leonnig cited pratfall after pratfall and concluded that  the “elite, hardworking band of patriots” responsible for protecting presidents from JFK’s fate morphed into “a frat boy culture of infighting, indulgence and obsolescence.” 

Judging by events over the past 10 days, there’s still something seriously wrong with the Secret Service, starting with a lack of real accountability from the top down.

Cheatle’s gone now, but not forgotten. She and her damaged agency will be on he hot seat in the Republican-controlled House, with Democrats assenting, for weeks, if not months, to come—and rightly so.

Jeff Stein is the editor-in-chief of SpyTalk, a newsletter covering U.S. intelligence, defense and foreign policy, on the Substack platform. Previously, he was the SpyTalk columnist (and national security correspondent) at Newsweek, and before that, the SpyTalk blogger at The Washington Post.

Read More

Defending the Flame: The Threat Landscape Surrounding the 2024 Paris Olympics

The 2024 Paris Olympics are not just a celebration of human athleticism but a litmus test for global security cooperation.

by Rashane Jude Pintoe

 

The 2024 Paris Olympics, scheduled from 26 July to 11 August, promise to be a global carnival of athleticism and culture. Yet, this grand festival also casts long shadows as it draws the interest of those who lurk in the darker corners of human intent. The Games are a tantalising beacon for terrorists, particularly jihadi factions and far-right extremists, eager to crash the party. As everyone awaits weeks of record-breaking feats and jubilant crowds, it is necessary to remain vigilant and aware of the intricate web of threats that loom over this monumental event.

Torch bearer Matthias Dandois holds the Olympic Torch during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Torch Relay at the Trocadero in Paris, France, on July 15, 2024. (Xinhua/Cao Can)

The ghost of Munich 1972 still haunts the Olympic spirit. The massacre that unfolded when the Palestinian group Black September took eleven Israeli athletes hostage ended in a tragic crescendo of violence. Fast forward to 1996, the Atlanta Games were rocked by a bombing that echoed through the Centennial Olympic Park, killing two and wounding over a hundred. These grim precedents highlight the symbolic and strategic allure of the Olympics for terrorists craving a global stage. It is the duty of national security practitioners to evaluate and comment on the threat landscape.

Islamist terrorism, spearheaded by the likes of the Islamic State, remains a formidable menace. Despite losing physical territory in the Middle East, groups such as this have morphed, urging their followers to turn any corner of the globe into a battleground. France, with its prominent role in global counterterrorism and a complex socio-political landscape, is a favoured target. The chilling Paris attacks in 2015, Charlie Hebdo attacks in the same year, and the 2016 Bastille Day attacks in Nice are major attacks that shocked the nation and region. These serve as stark reminders that Islamist extremists see France as a ripe canvas for their violent artistry.

This year’s Summer Olympics come at a time of a complex international security landscape. With a major war in Eastern Europe between Russia and Ukraine, severe unrest in the Middle East surrounding Israel’s war with Hamas/Palestine, and the rise of far-right elements within Europe, multiple threat actors come into focus.

Islamist terrorism is the primary threat, especially due to the rise of the Islamic State Khurasan Province (ISKP) in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Formally established in January 2015, ISKP is a mostly-autonomous province of the greater IS organisation. Although primarily targeting elements in Afghanistan such as the Taliban and civilian communities, especially Shia Hazaras, ISKP has also proven to have the willingness and ability to launch large attacks on foreign targets, especially after the January 2024 Kerman Bombings in Iran that killed over 100 and the March 2024 Crocus Hall Attack in Russia that killed around 145.

The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in 2021 along with the botched US withdrawal at the same time has led to a severe security vacuum in the region. The absence of foreign security presence in the country along with the leadership of the Taliban has led to a number of terrorist groups flourishing within the country and opening training camps for future operations. Although ISKP and the Taliban are at odds and war, the security vacuum nonetheless supported the ISKP as two key opposition actors were removed – the US-led Resolute Support coalition and the former Afghan government.

Further, the emergence of Sanaullah Ghafari, alias Shahab al-Mujahir as the Emir of ISKP has led to a series of developments in the group. Al-Mujahir’s leadership has led to focusing on urban targets within Afghanistan, significant foreign activity and also expansion of the group. ISKP has therefore transformed from a purely regional threat to a transnational one.

The threat to Europe is not surprising. In 2022, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal stated that an attack in Strasbourg, north-eastern France had been thwarted. Likewise, during the 2024 Euro Soccer tournament in Germany, the country’s authorities arrested an ISKP supporter who donated to the ISKP through cryptocurrency.

What we are seeing here is a network of individual cells and groups sympathetic to the IS-brand, especially through the rampant propaganda campaigns of ISKP. Through its publication, ‘Voice of Khurasan’, ISKP seeks to radicalise and inspire. A plethora of stories of ISKP fighters, successes and attacks are written in the publication to motivate individuals across the world to launch attacks against the enemies of ISKP – any group that does not follow the strict IS-brand of fundamentalist Salafism.

Following the disastrous events of the 1972 Black September attacks on the Olympic Games, it is no doubt that security and protection at the Paris Olympics would be top-notch. But the real threat lies not in the stadiums and arenas, but rather in the clubs, rallies, restaurants and hotels that would be blooming when the Games begin. This article is focused on warning people to remain vigilant in face of the threat.

The Olympics, a symbol of international unity and peace, makes a tempting target for those who despise such ideals. An attack on the Games would be a megaphone for terrorists, broadcasting their agenda to a global audience and sowing fear far and wide. The presence of world leaders, celebrities, and athletes from every corner of the globe only heightens the stakes. An attack here would not just be a local tragedy but a seismic event with political and social aftershocks rippling across continents – something that ISKP will reap the rewards for years to come.

While Islamist terrorism often steals the headlines, far-right extremism also remains a threat, especially in Europe’s current climate. Far-right groups have often traded in their placards for more lethal tools, driven by an insidious blend of xenophobia, ultra-nationalism, and anti-immigrant fervour. Far-right extremists see the Olympics as an opportunity to strike at the heart of multiculturalism and global unity. They, too, are masters of violence, opting for bombings, shootings, and any means necessary to spread their hateful doctrine. A good example of this is the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park Bombing during the US Olympics perpetrated by Eric Rudolph, a far-right white supremacist.

In response, French authorities, along with international partners, have weaved a sophisticated security tapestry for the Games. Intelligence operations are the bedrock of these efforts. Agencies like the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) and Co-ordination Unit of the Fight Against Terrorism (UCLAT) are in a perpetual dance with regional and global counterparts, sharing information and thwarting plots before they mature. Advanced surveillance technologies are also in place being the watchful eyes over Paris.

Cybersecurity is another crucial front. With the digital revolution permeating every aspect of our lives, the French National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) is on high alert to fend off cyberattacks that could disrupt the Games. Protecting the communication networks, transportation systems, and other critical infrastructures from digital saboteurs is paramount. In addition to cyberattacks, a significant portion of communication between IS groups are now done over encrypted platforms such as Telegram, Threema and Rocket Chat/Tech Haven, which ought to be focused on as well.

The vast crowds and multiple venues provide ample soft targets, making complete security a Herculean task, but the superior security systems in place in France and Europe make the Olympics generally safe. Yet, there is limited purview to locate and predict long-wolf attackers and smaller cells – something that the author has warned about in the past.

Public awareness is the key to making citizens and visitors into a strong line of detection and defence. Knowing what to look for and how to report suspicious activity can make all the difference. Emergency preparedness drills ensure that, should the unthinkable happen, responses will be swift and coordinated. The global nature of the Olympics necessitates international cooperation. France is not alone in this endeavour. The European Union’s security frameworks and bilateral agreements with allies like the United States, the United Kingdom, and other NATO members bolster a collective defence. It is a concerted effort to safeguard the spirit of the Games.

However, challenges remain. Balancing security with civil liberties is a tightrope walk. Too much surveillance and the populace might feel they are living in a police state, fostering resentment. There is already the possibility of mass-scale protests and demonstrations surrounding the Olympics, especially on the war in Gaza. It is a delicate dance to maintain public trust while ensuring safety. Terrorist tactics are ever-evolving, requiring constant innovation in counterterrorism strategies. And in the age of social media, managing public perception and preventing panic is as crucial as preventing the attack itself.

The 2024 Paris Olympics are not just a celebration of human athleticism but a litmus test for global security cooperation. The twin threats of Islamist and far-right extremism pose significant challenges, but with comprehensive intelligence operations, robust security measures, international collaboration, and public engagement, France and its allies are determined to safeguard this beacon of global harmony. While the threat landscape is daunting, the commitment to upholding the Olympic spirit of unity and peace remains unwavering. The world will be watching, not just the sporting events, but also the collective effort to protect a symbol of hope and unity.

Rashane Jude Pintoe is a researcher on international and national security. He is a research analyst at the Global Peace Institute, UK. He was formerly attached to the Institute of National Security Studies under the Ministry of Defence, Sri Lanka. He specialises in global insurgencies, Islamist extremism and counterterrorism. Having multiple pieces of research publications to his name, Rashane also writes on topics relating to terrorism, peace and the status quo of the political attributes in both Sri Lankan and foreign aspects.'

Read More