A political storm has swept France in recent days. It follows the publication of an open letter by twenty retired generals to Emmanuel Macron. In their declaration, originally published on an obscure website and then reproduced in conservative magazine, Valeurs Actuelles, the officers warned that Islamist terrorism was pushing France towards civil war.
The reaction among the political class was predictable. Marine Le Pen invited the signatories (1,000 in total) to join her National Rally party, while the government condemned the letter as ‘irresponsible’. It promised action if any serving soldiers or gendarmes have put their name to to it.
Some on the left want a criminal investigation launched, accusing those behind the letter of ‘provocation and disobedience’. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the far-left France Insoumise, had been particularly outspoken, describing the letter as an ‘insurrection’ that must be punished. This is the same Jean-Luc Mélenchon who in 2018 at the height of the Yellow Vest protests tweeted:
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