France Surrenders ... to a Mob

When France collapsed before the Hitler’s army in 1940, it was a great blow to Gallic pride, but Hitler at least had a fearsome army, one that had cast aside the other great armies of Europe like so many toy soldiers. Even the British fled across the Channel, cowering behind their navy and trying to figure out ways to entice the US into the conflict. Collapsing before the Blitzkrieg is no great thing, but the French did fight, and since on one else was effectively resisting Germany at the time, it’s less than utter humiliation some make it out to be. Today the French are surrendering again, but this time not to a serious enemy, but to a mere mob of irate thugs in Paris.

French President Jacques Chirac warned of a "dangerous situation" and called for calm after six nights of riots in suburbs in the north-east of Paris.

At least 15 cars were torched overnight in Aulnay-sous-Bois, as youths hurled stones and firebombs. Police fired rubber bullets and arrested 34 people.

Unrest flared when two north African boys died. Locals say they were being pursued by police. Police deny that.

"The law must be applied in a spirit of dialogue and respect," Mr Chirac said.

"A lack of dialogue and an escalation of disrespectful behaviour will lead to a dangerous situation," he told a cabinet meeting, according to a spokesman.

The two "north African boys" were the children of Muslim immigrants living in one of the many crowded ghettos around Paris which are the breeding ground for the Islamist extremism that the French security services are only barely keeping at bay. The rioting is just another sign of the rising ethnic pressures in an increasingly unstable France, whose government cannot bring itself to face the true depths of its immigration crisis. That failure to acknowledge reality and to deal with it will be the biggest single factor in the almost inevitable explosion of terrorism and ethnic violence certain to shake France in the near future.

Notice Mr. Chirac’s language. Paris suburbs have been burning for six nights. Yet instead of firmly demanding a restoration of order, and calling out the troops to put down the lawlessness, Chirac feels the need to couch his plea for peace with diplomatic language. These same suburbs have been hotbeds of Islamist extremism and violence for more than a decade, though most of the violence has been kept between Muslims and hasn’t yet significantly spilled beyond the ghetto boundaries. The rioting is a worrisome sign that this is about to change. The rioters hearing Chirac’s comments will know that they have won. There will be no imminent crackdown; they have shown their power and intimidated the geriatric French government. Time and demographic trends are on their side.

Of course, Chirac’s passive rhetoric is no surprise. He’s been a craven poseur for years, genuflecting before the murderous mandarins of Bejjing, among other thugs. But the Paris riots expose a deeper problem for France. The Muslims who are burning cars and hurling rocks at police are no small element in French society. Muslims may comprise as many as five million of France’s residents – we don’t know the exact number because France doesn’t dare ask. Questions about race or ethnicity are taboo in government figures. Though French officials explain this curious oversight with appeals to multiculturalism and political correctness, the real explanation is fear. The French are afraid to ask certain questions, because the answers would only show how bad the situation really is.

Police said as many as 69 cars were set on fire on Tuesday night in nine towns in the Seine-Saint-Denis region, home to many impoverished communities.

The original flashpoint of Clichy-sous-Bois, where police were out in force, was calmer, but trouble flared in nearby areas.

Correspondents say anger grew after a tear gas canister was hurled into a mosque in Clichy-sous-Bois on Sunday night. Emotions have also been fuelled by mass arrests.

Isn’t it interesting how Muslims don’t seem to be offended when other Muslims blow up Christians (or Jews, or Hindus, Buddhists, Sihks, etc.) of destroy churches, synagogues or temples, or hijack airplanes and fly them into buildings packed with innocent civilians? No protests. No marches. No fists in the air denouncing terrorism and violence. But let someone look cross-eyed at a mosque and they’ll set the city on fire. Westerners have permitted this double-standard for too long, which has let the Muslims conclude that it’s a good strategy.

Chirac’s submissive language appears to undercut the harsher comments of Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who has shown no inclination to appease the rioters.

Mr Sarkozy, criticised for his description of the rioters as a "rabble", has repeated his condemnation.

"I speak with real words," Mr Sarkozy, who has cancelled a visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan next week, told Le Parisien newspaper.

"When you fire real bullets at police, you're not a 'youth,' you're a thug."

Mr de Villepin has delayed a trip to Canada to try to ease tensions.

He and Mr Sarkozy have been accused of playing politics with the situation in an effort to win favour ahead of a presidential campaign in 2007.

Mr. Sarkozy has it exactly right, of course. In some ways, he may be France’s last hope. But the PC-blinded cowards in the Elysee Palace won’t stand behind him, or defend France. The riots consuming the ghettos of Paris are just a taste of the conflagration looming in France’s near-future, the direct result of the multiculturalist ideology and open-border immigration policies practiced by France and most of Europe over the last three decades.

But before Americans derive even a small measure of satisfaction from the French debacle, it should be noted that American leaders have acquiesed before mobs in exactly the same manner. In 1992, George H. Bush stood by while neighborhoods in Los Angeles burned. Why? Because the rioters were poor and black and thus beyond condemnation, or discipline. Of course the LA rioters had the poor sense to burn their own community to the ground, which made it easier for Washington to stand by and watch the columns of smoke rising on CNN. If they burn the ghetto down, who cares? Ghetto residents don’t contribute money to politicians and they rarely vote. The hapless white Los Angelinos and the Korean storeowners who found themselves caught in the rioting were on their own. Neither Washington nor Sacramento wanted images of soldiers shooting black people running primetime on CNN. So they sat by and let the riot burn itself out. Of course, that didn’t help neighborhoods, which never recovered, or America itself.

It’s fitting then that the second George Bush to sit in the White House stands idly by while millions (literally) of Mexicans and other aliens swarm across America’s southern border, unwilling to lift a finger to stop them. The administration slyly imputes crass racism to anyone to wants to protect the border, and argues that America needs more workers. What they mean is that American companies want to increase the size of the work force to drive down wages, but they don’t dare say that since that would give away the whole game. But the shortsightedness of this lunacy is apparent when one considers that Europe opened its borders to the Middle East decades ago with exactly the same thinking in mind – we need more (cheaper) workers! It seemed like a good idea at the time. Today, Europeans rue the day they ever made that deal with the devil. In thirty years, the US will likely feel the same way about leaving its borders open today.