Yes, if there's one thing we have learned from recent events is that spies should have more authority and less oversight.
Whenever there is a terrible incident like the Charlie Hebdo attack, the security establishment immediately claim that the incident shows that they need more authority. But before anyone makes any changes, maybe someone should explain how greater authority for spies would have done anything to prevent the Hedbo attack. It's not like the lack of authority prevented intelligence services from learning about the suspected attackers. The French intelligence service was already aware of those guys as were several other western intelligence agencies, and they were already on the U.S. and British no-fly list. So what is the specific flaw that needs to be hastily remedied before we even get the full story of what happened?
Whenever there is a terrible incident like the Charlie Hebdo attack, the security establishment immediately claim that the incident shows that they need more authority. But before anyone makes any changes, maybe someone should explain how greater authority for spies would have done anything to prevent the Hedbo attack. It's not like the lack of authority prevented intelligence services from learning about the suspected attackers. The French intelligence service was already aware of those guys as were several other western intelligence agencies, and they were already on the U.S. and British no-fly list. So what is the specific flaw that needs to be hastily remedied before we even get the full story of what happened?
