"They can get tough. Just ask Algeria."
I disagree. The French would not even fight for Paris (ask Marshal Petain)and they were pushed out of Algeria. Chirac and De Villepin will try to save face and turn on Sarkozy any day now. Naturally, the Socialists hate themselves too much to fight for their country.
That's my take on it too.
Sarkozy will be taken down and France will continue it's slow collapse.
I don't personally think courage is a racial thing. The French have had more than their share of humiliating failures...going all the way back to Poitiers and Agincourt. But under the right leadership and for the right cause...well, I guess we're about to see.
Maybe this will turn into Another Viet Nam for France, substituting Paris for Dien Bien Phu.