Compared to your rifle, it's major. Compared to a full-size M61 Vulcan 20mm machine-cannon, it's mini:
Posted on 11/06/2005 1:21:11 PM PST by JustaCowgirl
By Elizabeth Pineau and Sophie Louet
PARIS (Reuters) - President Jacques Chirac on Sunday vowed to restore order in France after riots in Paris spread across the country and began to unnerve his European neighbours.
"The Republic is quite determined, by definition, to be stronger than those who want to sow violence or fear," Chirac said after a special domestic security council met to respond to the latest violence in which 1,300 vehicles went up in flames.
"The law must have the last word," Chirac said in his first public comments since the riots started in the poor suburbs, noting the importance of the respect of all, the law and the equality of chances.
Signs of a fresh wave of violence emerged on Sunday evening when youths seized a bus in Saint-Etienne, in southern France, ordering passengers to get off and then torching the vehicle.
The driver and one passenger were hurt, officials said.
In Rouen, in the north, rioters pushed a burning car against a police building. No-one was hurt, police said. Cars were also burnt in the cities of Nantes, Rennes and Orleans, media said.
Chirac's government is struggling to cope with an explosion of unrest with complex social, economic and racial causes.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said the government would step up security wherever necessary. Some 2,300 extra officers have already been drafted in.
"We cannot accept any 'no-go' areas," Villepin said after meeting Chirac, adding he would announce his plans for the country's underprivileged suburbs on national television on Monday.
Rioting began 10 days ago with the accidental electrocution of two youths apparently fleeing police. Their deaths ignited frustration among ethnic minorities over racism, unemployment, police treatment and their marginal place in French society.
"This is too much, stop!" sobbed a woman in Evreux, a normally quiet town in rural Normandy where a shopping mall, 50 vehicles, a post office and two schools were destroyed.
"FRANCE IS NOT BURNING"
Across France, 1,300 vehicles went up in flames overnight. For the first time, more than 30 were destroyed inside the city walls of Paris. Previously quiet towns such as Dreux, to the west, and the city of Nantes were also affected.
Police said 349 people had been arrested, including six youths caught stockpiling 90 Molotov cocktails in a disused police building south of Paris.
Despite the worst destruction since the riots started, a police spokesman called for a sense of proportion: "It's 211 districts out of 36,000, so France is not burning."
Authorities say drug traffickers and Islamist militants are helping to organise the unrest, via the Internet and mobile phones, among the North and sub-Saharan African immigrant communities who make up a significant part of many suburban housing estates.
The violence has tarnished France's image abroad, forcing Villepin to cancel a trip to Canada, while Russia and the United States have warned their citizens to avoid troubled suburbs.
Neighbouring Germany, too, has a large immigrant population, including over 3 million Muslims -- most of Turkish origin.
Wolfgang Bosbach, deputy leader of the conservative Christian Democrats in parliament, said Germany should be under no illusion that similar events could happen there too.
In Italy, opposition leader Romano Prodi called on the government to take urgent action, telling reporters:
"We have the worst suburbs in Europe. I don't think things are so different from Paris. It's only a question of time."
Jean-Marie Huet, a senior Justice Ministry official, said 160 people had been brought before the courts since the unrest started. Around 20 had been jailed, 30 others released on bail, and 50 minors had been brought before juvenile courts.
French Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande said the riots were a failure of government policy and leadership. Communist and Green Party officials demanded Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who wants to run for president in 2007, resign over remarks opponents say stoked the violence.
(Additional reporting by Brian Rohan, Astrid Wendlandt, Kerstin Gehmlich and Jon Boyle in Paris, Paul Carrel in Evreux)
"The riots were a failure of government policy and leadership."What a bunch of losers.
'A parallel course in the US is the tolerance of "mutilingual" ballots and the promotion of school vouchers.'
Thanks for writing. I agree there are parallels in the US, but I don't think either multilingual ballots or school vouchers are parallels. I see where you're going with this, and they would lead to self-apartheid, if we allowed the kids to not learn English, and not learn our mores, history, etc. Come to think on it, the NEA is not our friend in this regard. I know, I know- you're shocked, SHOCKED I should say such a thing. And Ebonics- what a dumb idea that was.
Compared to your rifle, it's major. Compared to a full-size M61 Vulcan 20mm machine-cannon, it's mini:
A little too close to home for me. Although, to get to my area they'd have to go thru Detroit. Good luck with that.
A high-velocity .300 win-mag round would have a very dramatic effect in a head shot
I pray that it doesn't escalate beyond that....
True enough, ohio. You have to wonder how soon before just torching vehicles really becomes the same old same old for the rioters and they have to escalate it.
What I find hard to understand is why many of these partisan stayed and now attack conservatives on a conservative forum.
I'd think that Republican loyalists would be more comfortable on a Republican forum where their views would be welcomed and encouraged.
The French even paid off the Vikings because they didn't want to fight them.....
Why they even have a military is a good question. What will they do, bomb their enemies with white flags?
The nice people in France are very nice indeed...
It's a large problem. I'm not confident the French will know what should be done or have the guts to do it.
These riots will likely (seem to) pass. But I believe there will be a great jihadi earthquake brewing under the apparent quiet.
If the OBLs of the world do move in, and do effectively make a large segment of the French Muslim population at their disposal for terror operations:
(1) The French can't solve that militarily without either declaring a police state or broaching a civil war.
(2) Socialism IS despair and slavery, so they can't solve the problem economically by offering opportunity.
(3) Their idea of country does not include ethnic diversity, so they can't solve it by appealing to an ideal similar to the American ideal of the "melting pot."
As I said, the outlook would be bleak.
Of course, eventually Europe would get around to asking us to help out and we would, because, ultimately, it's in our own best interest not to have a militant Eurabia or an European conflagation of civil war.
"Of course, eventually Europe would get around to asking us to help out and we would, because, ultimately, it's in our own best interest not to have a militant Eurabia or an European conflagation of civil war."
We'd be willing to help, but I'm not sure we could much. It's not like the French army could not defeat these people in a pitched battle.
I agree that Chiraq had a personal affinity for and relationship with Saddam. However, what brought them together was the power and greed.
To the extent that the French are armed, great. But somehow I don't see them viewing it as their patriotic duty to defend their homeland. Hope I'm wrong. (As Patton said, "let the other bastard die for his country!")
To the fact that France is at least 80% non-Muslim, I would only state that 20% is a large number. Even if only 10% of the Muslim population became radicalized, and only a fraction of those actually joined with "foreign fighters" to become jihadists, it won't be pretty.
Also, I think it's important to remember that France is in Europe and several European countries have significant Muslim populations. IOW, the "spark" problem is always present, too.
But Chiraq is still waaaaaay more popular with the American LSM than Bush!
My watch stopped ticking...
Practical suggestion.
When I was living in Germany years ago, it was illegal to have an ice cream stand in the winter, because you "shouldn't."
I used to go to a pool that closed at 7:30. One time I arrived shortly before 7:00 and tried to pay my money and go in. No, it wasn't allowed. The pool was closing in 30 minutes.
I explained that I knew that, I was going to pay full price, go in, do my laps and be out at 7:30.
No. It was illegal to enter the pool less than one hour before it closed.
Seems like the real problem is if the rioters cease, they would become French and therefore surrender, while those who are French, will eventually surrender, but in either case, those who refuse to surrender, would not become French and therefore, not be required to surrender.
You obviously live in a parallel universe if you look at this great country we live in, blessed by God, leading the world with strength, standing apart, and see it as the same as the spineless, weak, quivering, amoral, racist French.
I can't even get my mind around that kind of distortion of the land I love, mag. Not even close.
" just torching vehicles really becomes the same old same old for the rioters and they have to escalate it."
Good point. Kind of a drug analogy.
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