Posted on 11/07/2005 5:32:11 PM PST by NZerFromHK
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin seemed to strike the right note in his response to the riots.
But his proposals also showed up the scale of the changes called for in society, to heal the deep wounds that have been exposed.
Mr de Villepin has made a start. No more evasion, and not too much rhetoric about the "values of the Republic."
He has called the situation by its real name - "a crisis in France's cities."
Others have called it a rebellion by an angry underclass.
Mistakes admitted
The French prime minister struck a balance between denouncing the violence and focusing on the future.
The government's response would be "firm and fair". All acts of law-breaking were to be severely condemned.
But France, he acknowledged, had made mistakes in its treatment of its immigrants, especially those from Africa.
Giving a response was a tricky task for a prime minister known for his dashing style but also his record of never having been elected.
He is also known for his romantic notions of French history, but his main goal now is to rescue the sagging reputation of his mentor, President Jacques Chirac.
If Mr de Villepin can fight his way out of this black period he may succeed Mr Chirac as president. If he fails, that prize could go to his arch-rival, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, or another.
After 12 days and nights of riots and car-burning, the prime minister's much-awaited response was in two parts - restoring law and order, and tackling the problems of unemployment of up to 40%, and deep alienation on the part of many among France's more than five million people of Arab and African descent.
Mr de Villepin stressed the government's first priority was to restore calm and stop the nightly violence in the cities and suburbs. He announced:
* Continuing large-scale police deployments, including 1,500 extra reserve officers, in troubled areas
* Swift and effective justice for all law-breakers
* A judicial inquiry into the deaths of two teenagers in Clichy-sous-Bois, Paris, which sparked the riots
* New powers for the mayors of French cities and municipalities, to impose curfews and maintain order
* A restoration of spending programmes (recently cut back) on community associations of all kinds, to promote social solidarity
'Harassment'
Community leaders from France's main ethnic minorities have demanded new laws to end discrimination in jobs and housing, and an end to what they say is police harassment.
They resent police searches for "sans-papiers" - illegal immigrants - and the constant threat of deportation hanging over them. They also want the right to vote, even for those without French citizenship.
In response, Mr de Villepin proposed:
* A tripling of state scholarships in poor areas, and increased spending on training schemes for under-achieving young people. Some 150,000 children, mainly from immigrant families, are leaving school without any qualifications
* A lowering to 14 of the age when children wanting to quit school can begin an apprenticeship; this idea was at once criticised by some teachers' leaders
* More company job training schemes in problem areas. Immigrants with a college degree complain they rarely even get job interviews because of blatant discrimination
* An urban renewal programme, re-building districts damaged by the riots and building more humane living environments
* More, unspecified, sanctions to counter social discrimination of all kinds
The prime minister skirted round the highly sensitive issue of Islam, the religion of the great majority of the immigrants and their offspring.
Many French Muslims demand more public recognition by the state, and resent the law which bans the wearing of Muslim headscarves.
Mr de Villepin said only that in France all faiths were respected. He acknowledged public concerns about the growth of radical Islamic thinking, but played down the urgency of the issue.
The recent riots are called the worst since 1968. The government has taken its stand on how to repair the damage.
It is an assimilation problem and giving them welfare and shacks does nothing to assimilate them.
I've mowed the lawn and washed the truck all that and I emptied the Icechest before the ice melted so I have to say that dang it all and all that was pretty good especially the part...
"the first missile into the aspirin factory screamed from the sky just as it reached apex .treeeeeent!!!!"
"as it crested and came hurtling back to Earth . LOTTTTTT!!!!!"
"as it neared the vacant building a small puff of "oh thank you..." (but that came from the Oval Office, from Bill Clinton... as he turned from the sink)"
(from the "small puff" part forward, it came from a Muse that I have never used before, after I posted it, I read it and I cracked my self up, so that is possible, I'm gonna keep that Muse)
Gnight
TT
Just don't quit your day job! ;o)
Hey! Give them credit. They actually took 12 days to surrender. That's a record isn't it? What was it in WW2? 3 days? Less?
I was being sarcastic. I agree with you.
>>>Just don't quit your day job! ;o)<<<
(I know, Can't drink on the Day Job, and one day the Wife may lay down the law when it comes to HoneyDos as well, but until she does there is at least one Muse I can keep alive)
Gnight... for real this time
Hasta Luigi, as Bugs would say.
They left out the part about building large new high security prisons to house the permanent thug class and hiring more police to make the arrests.
That's exactly it.
This is the equivalent of a parent telling their naughty child that if they won't misbehave again he'll buy the child an ice cream cone.... Heaven help France if they elect Villipan President of France.... the guy is as bad -- or worse -- than Chirac.
My second thought was how listening to his speech all the working French just saw their taxes go up, up, up! Heck, it may be cheaper to stay home and collect the dole.
I would have responded earlier, but after reading the article- I had regain control of my uncontrollable giggling.
Strikes the right note? What the French leaders need to be doing in striking these rioters upside the head!
Uh-Oh, here I go again with the uncontrollable giggling again!
Wanna bet? The French will be crying on our shoulder, asking for men, materiel, and U$Dollars.
Just as they did in WWI and WWII, and we complied.
And W will send in 50,000 GIs and write a check to Monsieur Jock-Strap-Chirac for $200 billion.
suprised that they didn't call for reinforcements (America)
No we didn't do the same thing after the LA riots. How do you suppose that?
If you can't tune a piano, can you tuna "jihadist"?
Short of an Islamic blitzkrieg, no.
This President will not help the French like you predict. They have turned their backs on us too many times during the past four years.
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