FRENCH UNABLE TO PUT DOWN INSURRECTION (Incapable?)

Sierra Times ^ | 11/7/2005 | Jim Kouri, CPP

[FerdieMurphy]

While American soldiers successfully combat terrorists and insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, a widespread insurgency continues in France's emanating from Islamic migrant areas.

The violence and destruction spread across the country yesterday with more than 900 cars torched in one night. Observers, experts in security and police operations, wonder if the French are capable of putting down this insurrection.

French police initiated a helicopter response and claim they arrested close to 200 Muslim rioters. Police commanders and their superiors say they intend to step up action against rioters responsible for 10 nights of violence.

The destruction has spread to the outskirts of other cities around the country – including Toulouse, Rennes, Nantes and Lille – were hit by a wave of arson attacks.

Cases of arson were also observed in parts of central Paris. For instance, a Molotov cocktail consumed four vehicles near a major square, Place de la Republique, while six vehicles went up in smoke in another district..

Despite calls for calm, 918 cars were torched yesterday and 897 the previous day. One American national security expert cynically told this writer that he wouldn't be surprised if the Chirac government surrendered to these homegrown insurgents.

"They [the French] just may hold to their reputation for appeasement and surrender," he said.

Seven police surveillance helicopters armed with high-tech cameras hovered above Paris and other locations in the hopes of pursuing and identifying the the mostly young North African and Arab arsonists, who have taken to setting fires then fleeing the scene, frequently on motor bikes.

Special squads of police trained in special operations smashed through doors in a public housing project in the Paris suburb of Les Mureaux where they arrested youths who had tossed heavy objects, such as supermarket trolleys, on police and on a heavily traveled road.

Over 2,200 more police officers in riot gear and weaponry were deployed to patrol the streets while over 100 additional firefighters were sent to the Paris region under attack.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who's been the target of a great deal of criticism for calling the rioters "scum" and wishing to take a hardline on the rioters, visited a police command headquarters in southern Paris overnight. During an impromptu press conference he said that the gangs responsible for the violence have become increasingly organized. They have been seen using mobile telephones to relay police movements and internet blogs to urge unrest elsewhere.

Overall, over 550 insurgents have been arrested since the riots began, some of them minors found carrying gasoline bombs.

The violence erupted on October 27 when two teenagers, one an African immigrant and the other an Arab, were electrocuted while hiding in an electrical sub-station after fleeing a routine police identity check. The checks are part of France's homeland security strategy. Some left-wing politicians and groups have accused the French police of "Gestapo" tactics when dealing with Muslims, and they've leveled the old standby accusation so familiar to Americans -- racial profiling.

So far no one has been killed during the civil unrest, according to the French government, but at two civilians have been badly burned by Molotov cocktails. They were a firefighter and a handicapped woman who was deserted on board and unable to get off an ambushed bus. An elderly man is reported to be in a coma after being struck by an attacker in a housing project.

[Thombo2]

"Perhaps the population will elect more rightwing pols and cut immigration like the Netherlands."That's a very possible scenario,but they could also end up going to an extreme and electing a facist government who'll talk tough and promise to take care of their immigrant "problem".

[rob777]

I would like to see those people march into a town in Alabama or Virginia and start destroying people's property. They would be happily met with 12gauge shotguns.

Why don't these French people defend themselves against these sociopaths?






You don't suppose it could have anything to do with France's gun control laws?

[rob777]

French citizens offered to form militias to defend their streets against the hit and run Muzzie arsonists if the Army is not possible. The French authorities were horrified by the offer and told their citizens that civilian militias were unthinkable.



How disgusting.

[untrained skeptic]

"Usually, people get the government they deserve."

There is some truth to that in a general sense, but politicians tend to prey on the fears of the uninformed.

Gun control advocates have made considerable progress in the US in the last few decades and have done absolutely nothing to make our society safer, yet they still have people who believe that more gun control will make New York, DC, Chicago, and similar places safer.

Maybe the people that believe such lies get the government they deserve, but not all of the people in those areas deserve to be left defenseless in the face of violent criminals.

"France cannot long survive in the face of ever-increasing, ever-spreading unrest. It couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch of sissy socialists."

While I share that sentament to a great extent, I'm also afraid that the US is going down the same path, just traveling it a bit slower. We need to abandon the entitlement society before we end up in the same situation a couple decades from now.

We need to learn from the mistakes of France, but the left is dragging us down that same path as quickly as they can.

"I just hope that the USA doesn't get sucked into bailing them out AGAIN."

I'm not sure we can bail them out. Thier economic and social policies are going to destroy their society unless they change them. This isn't a situation like when they were invaded by Germany. They are destroying themselves this time.

I don't think the arrogance of the French will allow them to invite the American military to help them quell internal problems, which is a good thing for us. However, I'm sure there are idiots in our state department that will find some way to lend aid at taxpayer expense.

However, the reason these riots are happening is economic, and the majority of the EU has the same problem. They may put down this unrest, but overall the problem is likely to grow and spread in the EU unless they find a way to fix their economy.

Muslim extremists have a long history of success at using bad economic policy in countries to their advantage. They are very good at using the desparation of the poor to their advantage.

Europe has to step up and fix these things now, or we could be looking at a rather bleak future for a good chunk of the world in the not so distant future, and that's just from muslims stirring up problems in Europe. If the Chineese decide to not just sit on the sidelines, things could get even more ugly.

[rob777]

If all we have to go on about Le Pen's ideology is the lying Treason Media then we really know less than nothing.
As far as I know he has been telling the truth about the dangers posed by the followers of Mad Mo.





Here is a little information on the political party he belongs to:

The political platform of the Front National is mainly focused on the control of immigration, the repatriation of illegal immigrants and the priority of French citizens over foreigners for access to jobs and social services: in a standardized pamphlet delivered to all French electors in the 1995 presidential election, Jean-Marie Le Pen proposed the "sending back" of "three million non-Europeans" out of France, by "humane and dignified means". [3] However, in the campaign for the 2002 French presidential election, the stress was more on issues of law and order – one of the recurrent themes of the National Front is tougher law enforcement and higher sentences for crimes, and the reinstatement of the death penalty.

The National Front regularly campaigns against the "establishment", which encompasses the other political parties as well as most journalists. Le Pen lumped all major parties (PC, PS, UDF, RPR) into the "Gang of Four" (an allusion to Communist China's "Cultural Revolution"). According to Front rhetoric, the French right-wing parties are not true right-wing parties, and are almost indistinguishable from the "Socialo-Communist" left; the corrupt "establishment" is betraying France, and it opposes by all means the coming of the Front.

Other main positions include:

greater independence from the European Union and other international organizations; in 2002, withdrawal from the Euro was suggested, but the suggestion was then largely withdrawn;
the establishment of tariffs or other protectionist measures against cheap imports threatening the local agriculture or industry;
a return to more traditional values
in the family area: making abortion more difficult or even illegal; paying parents (mainly mothers) who raise children; refusing gay culture;
in the cultural area: refusing "aberrant" modern art and promoting local traditional culture.

[Churchillspirit]

Of course those people marching into a town in Alabama or Virginia and starting to destroy people's property could also be carrying 12 gauge shotguns.

[HOTTIEBOY]

Well I guess we've got ourselves a hoedown!

[citizensgratitude]

** We need to abandon the entitlement society before we end up in the same situation a couple decades from now. **

Yes, BIG time...

[justshutupandtakeit]

Your post confirms what I suspected- a hatchet job on Le Pen by the media. Those proposals sound like common sense i.e. anathema for the Left.

[George W. Bush]

The French authorities were horrified by the offer and told their citizens that civilian militias were unthinkable. The problem is not the French people, it is their government.

France's real problem is within a circle around Paris of about 20 miles. The problem is the ruling class, the Paris intellectuals and media, the academics, the bureaucracy.

The ordinary French are their victims.

Well, time to shake off reasonable dialog. Back to France-bashing...

[George W. Bush]

Depends where you are in America. I would not hold out much hope for Boston, SF or Seattle.

Makes it so much sweeter...

[George W. Bush]

France pulled out of NATO in the 80's. Far too American dominated.

Actually, under De Gaulle in the Sixties. But they won't just quit and leave. They stick around and demand special treatment as a 'special member'.

You may recall they made some mischief a few years back. The rest of NATO patted their little hands publicly and then made it clear that they were not going to interfere with NATO operations.

It was a precursor to the French dustup at the U.N. before the Iraqi invasion. Another bid for French hegemony. No doubt, they thought they won that conflict too.

[Mark Felton]

" PS. Sure its fun to make jokes of the French but I wonder how we would deal with a similar situation in America?"

In Texas, "1 riot, 1 Ranger."

[APFel]

I have been reading the French riot posts with great interest. Either this has the potential to become REALLY HUGE or it just might sputter out... Either way, I find a lot of the jokes about the affair (and the smug happiness) to be more than a little disturbing... It ain't just about the French, either. It's the Danes, the Germans, and the Scandinavians. I see alot of Freepers reveling in Western Europe's misery, and some openly applaud their downfall.

But let me explain where I am coming from here: Twenty five years before I was even born, the US was facing down the old Communist Bloc. We have spent a LOT of money, spilled a LOT of our own blood, and eventually faced down the threat that was the Soviet Union.

Brother, if Islam gets its hands on Western Europe, Soviet occupation would seem like a stroll in the park with Mary friggin' Poppins in comparison.

Despite our American culture and heritage, the Islamification of Europe would obliterate a large part of our American identity.

Occupation by Islamists is forever, folks. You won't see Turkey offering to return Constantinople anytime soon. El Cid isn't coming back when the Moors push north once again. If France falls, don't plan on buying tickets to Paris anytime soon after.

While we lamented the destruction of Buddhist statues in Afghanistan, imagine the legendary cathedrals of Europe getting the same treatment. Boom, bam... history, heritage and tradition wiped out with the drop of a plunger. Will you shrug and think, "Too bad for you, you cheese eating surrender monkeys"? I know I won't.

While I find French actions despicable for the most part, watching them implode is NOT in America's best interests. Like the French, hate the French... wish them the best anyhow.

APf

[Major_Risktaker]

Sure its fun to make jokes of the French but I wonder how we would deal with a similar situation in America?

French men are weak!

I find French women very hot...

French women need our help.
They are all welcome to America and into
my strong bulky weaponized American arms.

[Natty Bumppo@frontier.net]

I want to see it go 15 rounds with neither side winning.

[jabotinsky]

Fun and how!

I gotta a cold one in the frig ready for you pal.

[Alouette]

Time to send in the puppets.

[XEHRpa]

I heard someone say that they give France a few more days, then they will surrender, because the frogs have never held out longer than two weeks in any conflict.

They might last a few days longer than that, because I've heard it said that the French "have not yet begun to fight!" So I'm not sure if these 11 days of default count against their 2 weeks or not.

Maybe that's their plan... if they don't actually fight, does it still qualify as a surrender?

[XEHRpa]

Of course those people marching into a town in Alabama or Virginia and starting to destroy people's property could also be carrying 12 gauge shotguns.

Yes, they could. And I can hear the reply of the locals already... "let's roll!" God Bless America.