From Reuters:
France will give local government officials the authority to impose curfews in areas hit by rioting to try to halt almost two weeks of unrest, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced on Monday.
Villepin ruled out army intervention in an interview with France’s TF1 television but said the cabinet would meet on Tuesday to clear the way for government officials known as prefects to impose curfews.
“Wherever it is necessary, prefects will be able to impose a curfew,” Villepin said, adding that procedures for such action were set out in a 1955 law.
He said 1,500 police and gendarmes would be brought in to back up the 8,000 officers already deployed in areas hit by unrest that began in a poor Paris suburb on October 27.
Dismissing growing calls for army intervention, he said: “We have not reached that point.”
Uh, okay—though from where I’m standing, I’d say you’ve not only reached that point, but you shoulda been able to fully furnish it, add a swimming pool, and throw some new vinyl siding on the thing by now.
I haven’t written anything as of yet on the riots in France—for what it’s worth, I think this has more to do with grievance politics, French nationalism (which has at its core a streak of nativist snobbery) and France’s moribund, soft-socialist economy, than it does anything much to do with an actual Islamic intifada (the idea that the rioters are emulating the intifada, however, is an interesting one)– but then I haven’t given it too much thought, either.
For those interested, Tom Elia sends along a map that traces the spread of the riot. Meanwhile, neo-neocon is taking the position that “the evidence is quite strong that if we aren’t in a clash of civilizations at the moment, we are at least teetering on the brink.” That may be true—but that was true long before the Paris riots. And as I say, I think the rioting in Paris has less to do with radical Islam than it does with the spread of entitlement cultures—though clearly radical Islam will exascerbate the problem.
Build a socialist society, and you can bet your fromage those living there are going to start upping their demands.
More, from Belgravia Dispatch and Clive Davis (1 and 2); see also, Karol , No Psaran, and Michael Totten.
Glenn has a nice roundup.
****
update: More from Ace.
A brilliant plan! Obviously people prone to arson, violence and other assorted mayhem wouldn’t dare go out after dark.
From http://no-pasaran.blogspot.com/
Ok, the <a href=”http://info.france2.fr/violences-banlieues/15475641-fr.php “ target=”_blank”>French media </a> is no longer reporting the number of cars burnt ‘cause statistics might just inflame those wacky “youths†into more violence…..lucky for us the US media would never mindlessly report numbers that might incite violence!
And the first political leader to blame the US is Vladimir Jirinovski
‘cause the mean ol’ USA wants to weaken all of Europe!
Dammit, why didn’t WE think of that???
I propose a new law: from now on, all terrorists must be indoors from 7A to 7P.
If the police shoot the first dozen they see,
word will spread.
TW: house. Don’t leave it.
What if the rioters themselves consider Islam to be the basis for their behavior?
In other words, what if the entitlement culture you describe is actually part of the Islamo-Parisian culture?
My sources say that the French are also considering making it a crime to roam the streets setting cars on fire, with strict penalties which may include jail time. Although they also report that the parliament won’t take this “emergency measure” up until early next year at the earliest.
The French police will either shoot rioters, thus (perhaps) damping down this particular rolling riot but creating “martyrs” to justify further “direct action” in the future, or they won’t shoot (always possible, since French society seems paralyzed), in which case the French government will have declared a curfew they won’t enforce—rather worse than not declaring one at all. My bet is that the French police will shoot, and then be hauled up on huma rights charges by the derriere-covering political establishment, just like British soldiers, who are afraid that if they shoot an insurgent they will end up in court.
(See tp://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1859664,00.html).
It’s a quagmire!! The French should stop their illegal occupation of these areas!!
moonbat mode off….
What’s the French word for “schadenfreude”?
Because after the way Europe lined up to jeer at the U.S. after Katrina, I’m feeling some good ol’ schadenfreude here.
NO BLOOD FOR CROISSANTS!
– Wait. I didn’t say we were ready to give up our “Great Satan” status yet. Who do these Euroblock types thing they are anyway. They don’t know the first thing about being a good infidel. I object in the strongest terms possible……
– Interesting piece by a French Muslim moderate on FOX today. “…Well you have to understand…its not like here in America, where the Muslim community is integrated and given the same opportunities afforded all citizens…[sic]”…
Damn…. the left must be reeling. First they come up empty with 5 years of all out ChimpyMcBush derangement…. Now they’re going to have to listen to all these commentators talking about the “lethargic failed socialisms” of the Eastern bloc countries…. Will this blasphamy never end?…. Lenin must be literally sommersaulting in his tank of formaldahyde…
”…Or WHAT, Hans Brix?”
Couldn’t resist. Curfews. Feh. Morons.
Oh, and BTW – I’d like to take this opportunity to say that I really really don’t understand the whole “Naked Testicle Spiderman” thing over at Ace’s.
I must be stupid. It’s pretty common amongst us engineers, y’know…
SB: talk
New low price!
Is that your vinly siding?
Yes, that vinly siding belongs to me.
LIES!
Say they bring the troops to clean up this mess. Said troops than shoot and kill an illegal alien. Could the troops then be brought up on charges at the Hague? Serious question, anyone know the answer?
NO BLOOD FOR FROMAGE!
World Press News: …Responding to reporters today, the Director of the French Homeland defense group explained the need to raise the posted alert to pink, from “appease” to “beg”, in light of the civil unrest sweeping the Euroblock countries. Asked if the Government Francias’ was prepared to go too the highest possible condition of white for “surrender”, he stated flatly that “[all] options are on the table, including the use of all out armed bribery”…..
…. Developing
For some reason–I hardly know why–I am reminded of this article from around the time of the Katrina disaster. I wonder what the three-week postmortems from France will read like.
I just heard a French guy from Parti something something (I can’t be bothered to provide all the facts here) say they really need to find the Martin Luther King or the Ghandi in the French government.
Yes! The government needs to find a way to peacefully protest the rioters!!
As for me, I’ve been sipping my Chateauneuf de Pape with a slice of schadenfreude.
– Hey…. We can’t have truly secular, optimally socialistic countrys using the military to suppress their citizenry because of a backlash against conditions of rampant apartheid and economic/religious segregation…. Well we just can’t now, can we?…..
– The reasons for the inaction to date is painfully obvious…. So much for the humanitarian “values” of the left…..
Okay, how do you get Merot stains off the wall? That one sent some about 3’ over the monitor.^^
The Ministry announced today that the Curfew has been enacted.
All policemen must be indoors by sundown…
BREAKING: HOOK-ARMED BILL O’REILLY AT CENTER OF ANTI-FRENCH INTIFADA
“The streets will flow with the blood of the unbelievers …and that’s the memo,” states Fox News Anchor
Developing…
(stolen shamelessly from Ace)
seems to me to be similar to the gun control measures in this country. these people are already breaking the law… i don’t think they’ll really care if you tell them they can’t be out at night.
The reason that the French cannot end these riots is rather obvious if you think about it. Its the spontaneous nature of the violence.
They can’t find anyone to surrender to.
That’s it? “Everybodeee go tew your rewms” seems fairly ineffective to moi.
Everybodeee go tew your rewms IS the problem, actually.
All this discontent is on account of the dreary concrete hi-rise projects and Euro-socialist obsession with jamming and packing proles into little cells that, in the banlieues, reek of hummus and are dark from the extinguished lights of their female residents.
Apologies, but architectural determinism overlaps feminism just a wee bit.
Why such hard slovos for the banlieus, O my brothers? Just the place for a malenky malchick and his droogs to go out of an evening, dressed in the heighth of like Islamist fashion, for a bit of the old ultra-violence.
I am soooo happy to be able to say this. It looks like the French have screwed the poodle, and are now having to deal with their own bastard offspring. Bummer, man…
TW: hot – like a poodle
The Unholy Neocon Islamic Alliance against Europe
Ironic how pro-Israeli as well as Saudi-controlled Islamic fundamentalist media are actually (for once) BOTH 100% aligned with the official Neocon talking points coming from Washington: I happen to know France fairly well and the truth is that the so-called “North-African riots all around the French capital†are just minor incidents involving a handful of disaffected Muslim teenagers…
This factual reality seems to have evaded the Jerusalem Post and Al-Arabbya’s highly imaginative journalists: why bother with boring facts when you can serve the colorful anti-Gallic clichés cooked by Dick Cheney and his Wahhabi friend/business partner-in-crime Prince Bandar Ibn-Saud?
First, one has to put things into perspective: in 12 days of so-called “massive Islamic rioting across France†we’ve had less material damage not to mention what US experts call “body counts†than say the 2001 Cincinnati riots (20 African Americans quickly terminated Schwarzenegger style) or the 1992 South Central LA uprising with more than 60 “niggers†executed on the spot- remember when President George H.W. Bush spoke to the nation, “denouncing random terror and lawlessness” as US Marines massacred their way into the remnants of the Black ghetto?
See Wikipedia article below for more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots
So why the double standard for France where we’ve had to deplore a single casualty in 12 days of so-called “North African revolt�
At a time when the Washington Post, the Jerusalem Post and Al-’Arabbyia are all jumping on the anti-Gallic bandwagon, we have to keep in mind that the French government is currently confronted with a primarily social and economic malaise, NOT some kind of Apocalyptic Mohammedan “grand soir†as the likes of Dick Cheney, Usama Bin Laden and the unholy Neo-conservative cum old Islamic fundamentalist alliance would like us to believe.
In French, poor suburbs with Soviet-style housing for Moorish immigrants and their children are generically called “La Banlieue†a medieval Gallic word which literally means “the place where the banned and the untouchables dwellâ€Â. . .
Dr Victorino de la Vega
Chair of the Thomas More Center for Middle East Studies
http://www.mideastmemo.blogspot.com/
You might want to check that link there, Poindexter, if you read the Wikipedia piece you will find it contradicts your assertions. Also most debate coaches would advise against a closing statement that undermines your entire argument. Not very good strategery, if you know what I mean.
So if the rioters are emulating the intefada, does this mean that the intefada was just a bunch of law-breaking rioters?
Darn those law-breaking rioters.
From what I’ve read, the Islamist mindset IS an entitlement culture. Look at the whole dhimmitude thing; because they’re Muslim, they’re entitled to take a hefty portion of the dhimmi’s income. They’re entitled to commit whatever act they want, so long as it’s not against a dhimmi or kaffir.
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BZZZZTTT!!!
Sorry, de la Vega, but you’re not going to get away with that one. First, the cries of the perpetually agrieved was “15 black menâ€Â, not 20. Second, in 12 of those cases, the police were acting in self defense or in defense of othersâ€â€and in the exceptional cases, the police faced investigations, prosecution, and in at least one case, were convicted.
For example, one of the cases routinely included in the list is of a guy who jumped into a car with a female officer and shot her. Despite her severe injuries, she was able to get her gun clear and shoot the creep, killing him. Here’s some more information:
Finally, there were no deaths during the Cincinnati riots. But not because the rioters didn’t try; they shot at police and beat (white and Hispanic) civilians with abandon. At the height of the riot, a policeman escaped injury only because his belt buckle deflected the bullet.
Given your woefully distorted understanding of the 2001 Cincinnati riots, I suspect your comprehension of the 1992 riots is similarly distorted. So why should we trust your judgement in regards the 2005 Paris riots?
Dammit. Quoting Poindexter didn’t work.
– Leftists are so cute when they talk dirty….
(Ok…. which one of you chuckleheads forgot to renew Poindexter’s Lithium prescription?)
Isn’t it a relief that Paris is so much in the headlines these days without any mention of Hilton?
I’ve tried avoided it for almost 4 months now, but alas, today I was forced by proximity and professionalism to salute a French officer.
I immediately went to the men’s room and washed my right hand.
Bastard.
Since when did anyone give a FUCK about France?
Any lengthy,winded denuncuations of Algerian terror attacks in France?
*crickets*
/whisper: anybody figure out wtf denuncuations means yet?
Ummm, be right with you
/whisper: well? anybody?
There is a more comprehensive map out now
France in Flames