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."

[Vicomte13]

"And, unfortunately, it may take steps that would make Rwanda look like a Chucky Cheese birthday party"

The rioters will get tired before that happens.

Also, there are many arrests being made each night. There is only a certain quotient of young angry men willing to torch cars. As they are arrested, the remaining willing groups will be reduced.

[Mazeman]

"Can you get 00 in 3.5"

Here ya go.

[Vicomte13]

"It's something very different when the rioting is being done by the "other", and the French can have no confidence that the rioting will stay within "civilized" boundaries"

The French already see that, thus far, things are kept within the boundaries of property destruction but without killing.

[IonImplantGuru]

Here, let me fix that for you:

if just half the 15% turned on their comrades and took one out, they would lose 15% of their forces outright, half of that to casualties and half to desertion+joining enemy theoretically speaking. an army that loses 20% is no longer combat effective, in theory (the Marines proved that wrong in iwo jima but this is the french, no offense intended)

There. Better?

[Dane]

"Outside the capital in Sevran, a junior high school was set ablaze, while in another Paris suburb, Vitry-sur-Seine, youths threw gasoline bombs at a hospital, police said."

Hospitals now. This does not sound good.

[Michael Goldsberry]

thus far, things are kept within the boundaries of property destruction but without killing.

Wrong.

[Vicomte13]

"So just how socialist is France? You can't just start a business when and where you want? Are there no private companies?"

Define what you mean by "socialist", and I will answer.
One can always start businesses, assuming one has the means, and almost all companies are private. But as anywhere, to run a business you need space, which you have to buy or rent. You have to have the funds to pay the employees. You have to have some product or service that somebody wants to buy.

[Vicomte13]

One death, and he was beaten several days ago and died from the injuries. This is a tragedy.

Likewise, one person apparently intentionally burnt.

Ten thousand automobiles destroyed and much property damage in 12 nights of rampaging riots, and only one person dead and a handful seriously injured.

That is not due to luck.
It tells you that the rioters' general purpose is not to kill.

[Ray66]

Ah, lol. Sides hurt.

[The Red Zone]

These punks like gasoline so much, why don't we give them prodigious amounts of it from the air.

[Dane]

That is not due to luck. It tells you that the rioters' general purpose is not to kill

Oh so probably billions of dollars worth of property damgage is ok then?

And what about the handicapped lady who was doused with gasoline and set on fire.

[Mazeman]

Maybe things have finally quieted down tonight since it's the work week.

[varon]

"If we start shooting them, outside groups will start smuggling them weapons and then we're all screwed."

Well, if the "Frenchmen on the street" do not rise up and engage in one massive ethnic cleansing verging on genocide, the France and it's culture as we know it today will cease to exist. The government will not save the nation.

[Chanticleer]

So why would a business have to be a black-market business to employ the troubled youths?

I'm not trying to be argumentative. There's just something here I'm having trouble understanding. If they have such horrendous unemployment, why not educate and/or train the people to meet the employment needs of their area? Why not start businesses which can take advantage of the available labor?

[Mazeman]

Freeper fact check:

One night=1,300 cars X $10,000/car=$13million.

[Michael Goldsberry]

It tells you that the rioters' general purpose is not to kill.

Ah.

• Murder
  BAD

• Vandalism
  No problem

• Arson
  No problem

• Treason
  No problem

[LikeLight]

Yet another suspiciously old looking youth...

French police apprehend a man in Vigneux, south of Paris, late November 7, 2005. France announced plans on Monday to impose curfews on rundown suburbs hit by violence to try to halt almost two weeks of unrest in which one man has been killed and thousands of cars have been torched. REUTERS/Franck Prevel

[Gator113]

Very entertaining!!!!!

[LikeLight]

Here is the poor man beaten to death by Muslim thugs, and the disabled woman they set on fire. And we're supposed to believe this is just the "normal" French way of solving domestic political problems?

[brazzaville]

Good evening.
"Freepers, what might be the best militia rifle compliant with California's Assault Weapons Ban?"

Any rifle caliber long gun, backed up by a 12 ga. pumpgun and a manstopper pistol in the hands of a practiced and motivated citizen.

The best gun is the one you have when you need one.

That said, we Californians must do our best to recapture the legislature so we can have ARs, FALs, and AKs like the rest of the country.

Michael Frazier