If this spreads further, beyond the Paris suburbs, then it'll probably be the first chapter, rather than the introduction. Either way, this won't be the last riot France, or Europe, sees... How long before an aspiring European politican urges a State of Emergency, or a Reichstag Fire Decree?

I hope they'll manage to protect the Louvre and other priceless works. Frenchmen can be replaced, the Mona Lisa cannot.

What?

No Pasaran has a pic of a burned-out vehicle.

I am in Paris often. People here in the states really have no idea how much the average Frenchman hates Arabs. They are regarded the same way as inner city black drug gangs are here. French cities are ringed with those awful concrete highrises that are the public housing of France. Even the cops fear to go there, as do the firemen. If the Arabs go nuts and really start a mess, the French will bitch-slap them down. Sarkozy is not playing games here.

Once again Bush is showing his insensitivity to Moslems; and through these draconian new laws, his contempt for our basic civil liberties.
What's that, it's not Paris, Texas, but Paris, France? I thought they all got along just fine over there because Europe was more enlightened than us simple peasants here in America.

C'mon rbj, don'tcha remember how thousands of their enlightened asses died because of a heat wave? Apparently their social model can't handle adversity.

I get the impression that the French authorities are trying to play too nice with these rioters. We had National Guard on every street corner in L.A. by day 3 during the Rodney King riots. They are on day 4 and still thrying to appease them.

Notice how the media refuses to report the rioters as muslim and the murders of young women as Islamic-inspired....

Will the media ever get over themselves long enough to report the truth, instead of what they want us to think?

This time when France calls, let's not answer.

I could be wrong but I don't see this as much different than the LA riots after the Rodney King affair. Perhaps its more perhaps not, but one riot does not a civil war make. I think we may view whats happening over there as a spark to a possible mass Muslim insurgency but they were probably saying the same thing about us 15 years or so ago or anytime some inner city goes bananas for a few days because of a police shooting.

Just as a follow up to your archived post, I think when push comes to shove, the French will show thier true colors and take the gloves off. Other than Britain, France is really the only other Euro nation that maintains a formidible armed forces (relatively speaking of course) and if things do start getting out of hand, don't be surprised when you see Legionnaires taking to the streets.

As for the other nations, it'll be lights out because as Stephen correctly pointed out, they have neither the armed might or the will for that matter to step up. Germany I think would rather commit suicide than do anything remotely reminiscent of the 'old days'. Take into consideration that like in the Netherlands, they'll be in the minority anyway.

Nope, what you'll start seeing in the next 10 years is a massive white flight either to Canada or other dominion countries or even perhaps Eastern Europe. Have to wait and see.

This is silly.

Any of these events could just as easily have happened in New York, Detroit, or LA, and provide no evidence of an emerging civil war, merely that they are having troubles with their minorities, just like the US.

Furthermore, it is ridiculous to suppose the Europeans, much less the French, would be overcome by such events. This people brought out the army to deal with their hippies in the 60's, they won't be overcome by any Arabs.

Via LGF:

Sarkozy says that violence in French suburbs is a daily fact of life.

Since the start of the year, 9,000 police cars have been stoned and, each night, 20 to 40 cars are torched, Sarkozy said in an interview last week with the newspaper Le Monde.

William?

Not necessarily, blacks have kept themselves at around 13-15% of the population. And our minority has a different mindset than their minority.

----

As to the Netherlands - someone has a clear head, let's hope he's abole to keep it:

Via Fjordman:

European leaders should step forward and support Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's refusal to meet with eleven Muslim ambassadors to discuss press coverage of Islam, Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali said on Sunday. Somalian-born Hirsi Ali, who is considered one of northern Europe's staunchest Islam opponents, has lived under police protection for a year, ever since Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered for his critical film on women in Islam, which Hirsi Ali penned. Daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten reported that the 36-year-old politician and debater supported whole-heartedly the paper's decision to call for and print cartoons of the Muslim prophet Mohammed last month, an action considered blasphemous by devout Muslims and an unneeded provocation by many Danish politicians and journalists.

More riots will of course come, but this is not the beginning of an insurgency - at worse, perhaps an intifada, though unlikely.

The Western Civ (Europeans specificly) knows how to exercise organized violence. History is filled with European war and conquest. When push comes to shove, Europe would mow down any threat comings its way.

If there is anything to take away from the riots besides the obvious - minority problems in France - it is that there are a lot of angry muslim youths in Europe and each one may be easy prey to converts to Islamofacism.

This is what Europe should worry about.

It's not just in France...

http://viking-observer.blogspot.com/2005/10/war-in-france-war-in-denmark.html

'nother update- it appears to be spreading.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/11/02/france.riots/index.html

"Unrest spreads to 9 French towns"

Interesting. The CNN piece doesn't mention the word "mosque" until nearly the end. Apart from that, there is zero information about the residents of these blighted suburbs.

Their muselum uncivilized savages and the left-wing news media wont say this forget the koran flush NEWSWEEK

I wonder if the French decided that with the Americans winning in Iraq that they could afford to take military risks now that there is a plausible game plan for defeating terror (always was, we're just re-running our 1902 gameplan), that would also explain the tough talk vs. Syria.

Billy Fish wrote [i] "I could be wrong but I don't see this as much different than the LA riots after the Rodney King affair. Perhaps its more perhaps not, but one riot does not a civil war make." [i/]

You could be right, but I think that the trends are against you. A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to talk to a French Army Colonel - he fully admitted, after a few drinks, that his staff was planning for a fight in les banlieues - and that he saw suppressing civil unrest as his most likely future combat tasking. We're not there yet, but I don't see how it can be avoided in the long run.

There is a huge unassimilated, unemployed, angry population
of young Muslim men - and the assimilation situation is not improving. The French Police have abandoned the streets in these areas, and will not enter in less than platoon strength - and when they do, all the usual suspects decry it as a "provocation" or "insensitivity".

Billy Fish, very good point.

Interesting, though: I was living in Europe when the Rodney King story broke. You could practically see the triumphalism steaming out the top of the TV set. The story made them so happy. This was the real America! Honestly, it was the lead on every newscast for days. They even showed newscasts from other countries like Japan to demonstrate how widespread the story was. And, btw, not a word of sympathy for the innocent people caught in the subsequent riots. No, everything was just poor "motorist" Rodney getting beaten by the jackbooted cops.

So anyway, pardon me while I try to remember the innocents (and the cops, in this case) caught in the middle, and try not to take any satisfaction in the misfortunes of people who live to hear bad things about us.

holdfast-
"There is a huge unassimilated, unemployed, angry population
of young Muslim men"

Very true, and other info I've read about the rioters suggest that some self-identify as 'Palestinian'. They seem to have the same tendency for pointless destruction. Does this deep social divide undermine France's diplomatic position and influence in the arab world? Maybe they fear that localized anarchy is a smaller price to pay than the backlash they would face if they used the force needed to restore order. Which is why we only seem to hear about it when it breaks out into large scale rioting and lawlessness.

One thing to remember - the French will not care what world opinion says when they go to play a few rounds of "Belgian Congo". They will just sniff that it is an internal matter for La Belle France - and then proceed to a level of brutality not seen since, well, the last time they were in Africa.