France reacts to 'shockwave of riots'(Paris/France burns Live Thread Night #12)

Times of London ^ | 11/07/05 | Simon Freeman, Charles Bremner

[Dane]

French police made 395 arrests last night as riots intensified for the 11th consecutive night, with violence and fire engulfing towns from the North to the Mediterranean.

In the impoverished suburbs and satellite towns around Paris, where the unrest began on October 27, churches, schools and warehouses were set alight. At least 1,408 vehicles were destroyed, many more than on previous nights, and the random attacks have spread into the heart of the city.

In Grigny, south of the capital, a gang of around 200 youths are reported to have lured police into a housing estate before opening fire with hunting rifles. At least 30 officers were injured, two seriously with lead pellets in the legs and neck.

Riots broke out in beacons of disaffection across the country from Lille, on the border with Belgium, to Montpellier on the Mediterranean coast. In Toulouse, police used tear gas to disperse a mob. Cars were set alight on the streets of Nantes, Orleans, Rennes and Rouen, and youths in St Etienne forced passengers off a bus before burning it. Churches were set ablaze in northern Lens and southern Sete.

SNIP

In Strasbourg, youths stole a car and rammed it into a housing project, setting the vehicle and the building on fire. "We’ll stop when Sarkozy steps down," the defiant 17-year-old driver told an Associated Press reporter.

Police are calling for a night-time curfew in affected areas and some senior officers have demanded that troops are brought on to the streets.

Michel Gaudin, France's most senior police officer, said today: "We are witnessing a sort of shock wave that is spreading across the country."

[Dane]

lol, Rush said start a car fire count. I like it

Actually Dr. Raoul first suggested that earlier on these Paris/France Live threads earlier this weekend(so many replies, so I can't pinpoint the exact one, but it was Dr. Raoul who said that first).

Nothing against Rush, but he was winging it , when he said he was reading a BBC report and said 1400 cars burned since the riots started instead of the fact that 1400 cars were burned in France last night.

/Rush rant

[precedence]

Why is there no curfew, with police given shoot-to-kill orders? For comparison, the Nepal government had riots in 2001 and of course Chicago experienced riots when MLK Jr was killed. On both occaisions, use of deadly force was ordered, and order restored in short order.

[Chanticleer]

Scary stuff.

At the risk of sounding like Barbara Bush, I would imagine that the worst slums in Denmark or Paris would be better than some of the places from which they sought refuge, and the most meager opportunities an improvement. If not, why stay?

[Spktyr]

Same reason why there wasn't one in NO for the longest time.

Socialism kills.

[Eurotwit]

BBC confirming outbreak of violence in Toulose tonight, just as de Villepin is getting ready to hold his big speech...

[eureka!]

"I can assure you if 1400 hundred cars were torched in one night in the streets of America, katie couric in the morning would be screaming, but it is happening in France, liberal paradise, so they put their hands up to their ears and scream, "lalalalalala, I don't hear you" and go about their day like nothing is wrong."

Heck, 14 cars burning would get 24/7 coverage with pix, if it could be blamed on W or the GOP. The problem for the presstitutes is, however, this puppy cannot any longer be ignored and will become part of the WOT debate...

[teawithmisswilliams]

However, I'm now starting to get worried. I was sure the old power would come out and defend itself. But what if there's really nothing left? What if they're just broken cowards?

My thoughts, too. And, I've read that the French military is about 15% muslim, and the French therefore can't call out troops to protect itself.

[Dark Skies]

I've read that the French military is about 15% muslim, and the French therefore can't call out troops to protect itself.

Or, alternatively, this is a good time to test loyalties and weed out the bad apples.

[Dane]

Heck, 14 cars burning would get 24/7 coverage with pix, if it could be blamed on W or the GOP. The problem for the presstitutes is, however, this puppy cannot any longer be ignored and will become part of the WOT debate...

Especially with FR. Fox yesterday afternoon(EST in the US) actually devoted some time to what was happening in France.

[snarkytart]

Yahoo "buzz: already has the reason WHY this is happening. Same libereal clap trap!

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz_log/?fr=fp-buzz-more

Who: Paris Riots

What: +105% in daily Buzz, +165% for related term "france riots"

Why: High unemployment and racial discrimination have brought France's black and North African youth out into the streets. For nearly two weeks, the rioting has spread around France as the world watches the news.

Unbelievable.

[Dane]

Rush now has someone with a quintessential midwestern accent, who says he lives in France, saying it is an economic problem.

Seminar caller written all over it.

[porkchops 4 mahound]

True, appeasement is an established French specialty.

They wouldn't want to make the islamist scum mad at them, because then there might be violence and trouble.

"Merde!"

[eureka!]

Re#309 Yep. While the MSM are doing their d*mnest to make it purely an "oppression of the poor" issue (which is part of the problem), too much Islamist influence is leaking out. Rush is reading a Taheri article right now that sums it up...

[OrioleFan]

How long beforethe French allow muslims to wear burkas and headscarfs to school???

[Eurotwit]

Villepin speaking now..

[indcons]

More bad news: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1517489/posts

[Dane]

Well have to take it back, Rush has actually done his homework.

He put the seminar caller, Steve(who sounded like he was calling from some ville in Illnois, rather than France, that Steve was claiming he was calling from) to shame.

[Dane]

Villepin speaking now..

Might as well put a white falg over the TV screen, same message.

Thanks for the update, ET.

[JustaCowgirl]

I spent a few minutes this morning imagining what Perky's response would be if even a small portion of this French unrest were happening in the U.S. It was kind of funny.

Someone should be keeping tabs of the stories on the NYT and WaPo front pages, along with some of the other left-wing papers, for the past twelve days and through the next few weeks. When (if) this thing explodes into open warfare in Europe, it would be illuminating to see how much time in our major newspapers was devoted to it versus the space allocated to Scooter Libby and the 'corruption' of the Bush administration.

It'll be fun to listen to Juan Williams interpretation of all this on the Fox roundtable. He'll probably do the hands over the ears thing, because there's no remotely rational way he can whine and blame it on Bush. I wouldn't put it past Juan to try, though.

[Clock King]

What's a seminar caller? BTW, I remember the 60 minutes episode from about 3 months ago about the wonders of the French Worker's Paradise. They showed some American B**** who actually was proud of her slackness. She went on and on about how she didn't have to answer her phone at work, and she didn't show up when she felt like it and went shopping. All I could think was, who would pay this woman anything? There was an interview with one French entrepreneur who was actually disgusted with his country and its socialist system that discouraged productive work. It made it hard for him to find decent people.