Posted on 11/06/2005 5:07:47 AM PST by Dane
Thousand cars torched in latest French riots Sun Nov 6, 2005 12:17 PM GMT
By Elisabeth Pineau
PARIS (Reuters) - Gangs of youths torched 1,300 vehicles overnight in the 10th consecutive night of violence in Paris's poor suburbs and major French towns, despite the deployment of thousands of extra police.
Cars were burnt out in the historic centre of Paris for the first time on Saturday night. In the normally quiet Normandy town of Evreux, a shopping mall, 50 vehicles, a post office and two schools went up in flames.
Authorities have so far found no way beyond appeals and more police to address a problem with complex social, economic and racial causes.
Evreux mayor Jean-Louis Debre, a confidant of President Jacques Chirac and speaker of the lower house of parliament, told France Info radio:
"To those responsible for the violence, I want to say: Be serious ... If you want to live in a fairer, more fraternal society, this is not how to go about it."
The deaths 10 days ago of two youths apparently fleeing police ignited pent up frustrations among young men, many of them Muslims of North and black African origin, at racism, unemployment, their marginal place in French society and their treatment by the police.
"Many youths have never seen their parents work and couldn't hold down a job if they got one," said Claude Chevallier, manager of a burned-out carpet depot in the rundown Paris suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois.
But authorities now say the rolling nightly riots are being organised via the Internet and mobile phones, and have pointed the finger at drug traffickers and Islamist militants.
Overnight, 1,295 vehicles were torched across France, the highest total so far, police said. An extra 2,300 officers have been drafted in.
Seven police helicopters buzzed over the Paris region through the night, filming disturbances and directing mobile squads to incidents. Overnight, police made 349 arrests.
The number of incidents in the Paris region was similar to the night before, but in the provinces it was up sharply.
TARNISHED IMAGE
The violence has tarnished France's image abroad, forcing Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to cancel a trip to Canada, while Russia and the United States have warned their citizens to avoid Paris's troubled suburbs.
Villepin has combined a call for an end to the riots with dialogue with community leaders, youngsters and local officials, and has promised an action plan for 750 tough neighbourhoods.
"I'll make proposals as early as this week," the weekly Journal du Dimanche quoted him as saying.
But it remained unclear what could stop the violence, though some opposition parties have suggested a symbolic measure -- the resignation of Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.
Accused of stoking passions by calling troublemakers "scum", Sarkozy has ignored calls to quit. A survey published on Sunday indicated his public image was holding up, even if many disapproved of his strong language.
Villepin also has ambitions to be the right wing's presidential candidate in 2007 and has tried to position himself as a much more consensual figure than Sarkozy; the effect on the crisis on his ratings is still unclear.
With no end in sight to the nights of wailing sirens, acrid smoke, stone-throwing and destruction, residents from all ethnic backgrounds are tiring of the unrest.
"My kids can't sleep at night," said a mother named Samia in Aulnay-sous-Bois. "They hear explosions, they see fires and they think they're in a war. When the slightest thing happens, they get anxious and say 'Mama, what's going on?'"
ok, you gotta know my stomach is sore from laughing at this whole situation. and yet, this is very sobering to see that large elements of the planet really do live in alice in wonderland societies. btw, dont worry about the cars, they are renaults, they dont run anyways. i visit another website where the riots were brought up and lots of french nationals responses were like, this is no big deal, the govt has to help these people. i know they are french nationals because you have to put a little flag by your name showing country of origin, they really have no clue at all. i have to congratulate islam on sensing the weakest member of the heard and going for the kill, excellent hunting.
Don't bet on it.
Sarkozy , the guy who called them scum, seems to be the only frog out of the bunch with any brains. Meantime Devillepin is trying to find someone who will take the payoffs and stop the riots. He has a plan APPEASEMENT .
Ah, the blessings of gun control. I guarantee that youths torching things in my neighborhood would quickly find themselves laying on the pavement bleeding from a good "in-and-out".
"Don't bet on it."
Bush should offer the help of the American troops stationed in England and Germany... Wouldn't that be fun?
Please stop the violence. Really, we mean it. I wish you would stop. Oh, never mind.
"Authorities have so far found no way beyond appeals and more police to address a problem with complex social, economic and racial causes."
Have you considered calling in the US Army to save your ***'s once again?
"The violence has tarnished France's image abroad, forcing Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to cancel a trip to Canada, while Russia and the United States have warned their citizens to avoid Paris's troubled suburbs."
Yes, I for one am shocked, shocked!
"But it remained unclear what could stop the violence, though some opposition parties have suggested a symbolic measure -- the resignation of Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy."
This reminds me of the joke, "If you are from England, raise your hand, if you are from France, raise both hands."
i say let us send our best over to help the french. clinton is in the area, israel, its only a couple of hour flight. and as reinforcement for the jazz player, get jimmy carter on the plane as soon as possible. see, im american and i like to help.
The situation in France should also serve as a warning to us regarding immigration and the politicians love of illegal aliens.
There is something I don't understand:
The title of the article says "Thousand cars burned...", yet reading the article reveals that a shopping mall, a post office, two schools and a carpet depot (whatever that is) have also been burned.
How does Reuters, in good conscience, minimize the violence and destruction? Do they think we don't notice?
Sarkozy is an appeaser also, wanting to push affirmative action and give the vote to non-citizens who have been in France for a certain time period.
He wanted to do those things before the rioting started.
Sarkozy looks good because the others are so far to the left of him. - Tom
Cute- the "Littlest Terrorist" dropping out of the "horse" is a nice touch.
President Bush May Send Up To 5 Marines For French Assistance
President Bush has authorized the Joint Chiefs to begin drawing up a battle plan to pull France's ass out of the fire again. Facing an apparent overwhelming force of up to 400 pissed off teenagers Mr. Bush doubts France's ability to hold off the little pissants. "Hell, if the last two world wars are any indication, I would expect France to surrender any day now", said Bush.
Joint Chiefs head, Gen. Peter Pace, warned the President that it might be necessary to send up to 5 marines to get things under control. The general admitted that 5 marines may be overkill but he wanted to get this thing under control within 24 hours of arriving on scene. He stated he was having a hard time finding even one marine to help those ungrateful bastards out for a third time but thought that he could persuade a few women marines to do the job before they went on pregnancy leave.
President Bush asked Gen. Pace to get our marines out of there as soon as possible after order was restored. He also reminded Gen. Pace to make sure the marines did not take soap, razors, or deodorant with them. The least they stand out the better.
In an unrelated matter, President Bush told reporters that he was considering a "Flu for Oil" Program to ease our country's energy problem and prevent the upcoming pandemic. Nobody had a clue as to what the hell he was talking about.
http://www.brokennewz.com/displaystory.asp_Q_storyid_E_1334fluforoil
It can't. Every single time in the past 1400 years that Islam has been allowed to become a substantial minority of around 10% in a country; they start a jihad to make the land Islamic. The only way to stop them is to forcefully push back and restrict their expansion (like what Europe did in the past and what Israel and India are currently doing with their Muslim citizens).
Needs repeating. Needs shouted from the hills and valleys.
There is no mutual co existence.
It is us or them.
reuters like all leftist organizations have no conscience.
remember these are socialist groups, they dont subscribe to
the higher power thing, which is where most consciences are
formed. and no, most arent watching at all. ask some
of your acquaintances about this rioting and you will see.
Problems are only complex when you refuse to implement the simple solution.
Pweeze, stop ze wioting...Oui zurrendaire!
LOL
Should be the headline in Le Monde
The press burned car hulk count now considerably exceeds the multiyear Iraq war American Troop body count by a considerable margin .
France is doomed.
Excellent idea! Where is Jimmah the Appeaser when the French really need him? He should be over there in the middle of the riots suggesting to the rioters that they should stop, pretty, pretty please.
Oh wait. Jimmah says he's very busy right now, promoting his latest anti-American book.
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