DGSE: France
The Directorate-General for External Security (French: Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure), the French counterpart of MI6 and the CIA. Its main purpose is to provide intelligence through counterintelligence operations internationally and safeguarding French national security.
The DGSE head office is located in the 20th arrondissement of Paris mostly engaged in economic espionage. Terrorism is funded through entities that cover their transactions through legitimate and sympathetic corporations during their normal working processes. In the early 1990s a senior French intelligence officer revealed that the DGSE had conducted economic intelligence operations against American businessmen in France, hence the rivalry with the CIA.
In 1985 the Rainbow Warrior was sunk by DGSE operatives in Opération Satanique, killing one Dutch crew member. The operation was ordered by the French President, François Mitterrand. New Zealand (an ally) was outraged for infringing its sovereignty, as was the Netherlands for the death of the Dutch Greenpeace activist and that Amsterdam was the ship’s port of origin.
In the 70’s the DGSE conducted Operation Barracuda, a coup d’état against Emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa in the Central African Republic. In September 1979, a pro-French government was installed.
During the early 1970s to late 80s, the DGSE had infiltrated agents in major U.S. companies, such as Texas Instruments, IBM and Corning. The economic intelligence acquired was shared with French corporations, such as the Compagnie des Machines Bull. In many cases corporate espionage overlaps with national security. Most recently, President Trump has indicated the US position to block the China developed Tik Tok app. The reason for this, is the collection of meta-data from US residents that can be weaponised. The collection of this data goes far and beyond social trends and marketing initiatives, but can be used to track your whereabouts, lifestyle choices and agents can even predict your next move.
Disinformation is not a new weapon, its deployment and dissemination is simply easier with today’s technology. During the Rwandan Civil War, the DGSE deployed a disinformation campaign in various French newspapers. The disinformation was the creation of a false scenario where renewed fighting in 1993 was something completely new (although the regional conflict had been ongoing since 1990) and was portrayed as a straightforward foreign invasion. The RPF rebels were portrayed as merely Ugandans under a different guise. The disinformation prepared the ground for increased French involvement during the final stages of the war.
The DGSE includes the following services:
· Directorate of Administration.
· Directorate of Strategy.
· Directorate of Intelligence.
o Political intelligence service.
o Security intelligence service.
· Technical Directorate (Responsible for electronic intelligence and devices).
· Directorate of Operations.
o Action Division (Responsible for clandestine operations).
The French passport for refugees is a special passport with green pages instead of beige that allows refugees leaving France legally to travel abroad.