Replies

You're absolutely right, Ivan, about not cheering this on. I happen to be living at the moment in the land of Theo van Gogh, and I'm relieved that the anniversary is past, with no significant disturbances.

While a general anti-French sentiment is certainly at the root of many comments on these Paris burning threads, there are deeper, more serious reasons for following this news. Wrechard, over at Belmont Club made this insightful comment:

"The events in France may turn out to have a greater strategic impact than September 11. French policies, however maddening, had the virtue of serving as the control case to the American experiment of attempting to reform the Islamic world. The latter acknowledged, however shyly, that it was facing an aggression which had to be met at the root; which had to be resolved by building viable societies in Islamic homelands. The former, and France in particular, maintained there was nothing that temporizing and appeasement, in one form or another, could not solve. What events in France have done is discredit the liberal recipe so badly that even those who are not prepared to admit that American policy may have been right must now root around for an alternative theory. Fukuyama's essay [quoted extensively by Wretchard] is a good step in that direction. Faster please."

http://www.fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/

Many of us are perhaps hoping that this will result in the abandonment of lousy policies and methods. Yes, faster please.

"The events in France may turn out to have a greater strategic impact than September 11. French policies, however maddening, had the virtue of serving as the control case to the American experiment of attempting to reform the Islamic world. The latter acknowledged, however shyly, that it was facing an aggression which had to be met at the root; which had to be resolved by building viable societies in Islamic homelands. The former, and France in particular, maintained there was nothing that temporizing and appeasement, in one form or another, could not solve. What events in France have done is discredit the liberal recipe so badly that even those who are not prepared to admit that American policy may have been right must now root around for an alternative theory. Fukuyama's essay [quoted extensively by Wretchard] is a good step in that direction. Faster please."

My thoughts exactly! Deserves repetition.

Nice post. The French really do have the capacity to stop this whole thing dead in its tracks, but they're horribly handicapped by their adherence to outdated policies and a press that would rather see the riots become socially successful. I'm really rooting for your average Frenchman in this battle, as I think most here are once they stop and think about the consequences of the further Islamization of France.

I'll be in Paris next week, and if I can find the time and a brave cab driver, I might try and get to the edges of one of these areas during the daytime. I doubt I'll get to do it though. The best I'll probably do will be a few pictures of the RER line from the airport.

"Many of us are perhaps hoping that this will result in the abandonment of lousy policies and methods. Yes, faster please."

Amen. I certainly am not gleeful about it, but it's been coming, and ALL the fault of it being possible belongs to the government. Maybe this will get the euros and the libs in America to pull their heads out of their butts and enter the REAL WORLD. Personally, I doubt it. They're too brainwashed by their own liberalistic cult. They'll just blame it on Iraq.