[RightWhale]

and saw "something aggressive" in the wearing of traditional Muslim veils

Indeed, Chirac is making sense lately.

[Monti Cello]

Methinks Chirac doth protest a bit too much. It looks to me like convenient scapegoating for political points against those Arabs who are least likely to provide resistance.

Schoolgirls wearing headscarves is hardly 'aggressive', particularly in relation to other Islamic activities going on these days.

The policy itself may have some validity, but I'm not going to leap to give Chirac credit for dismantling political correctness regarding Islam.