November 12, 2005
"They're not going after tourists."
Riots continue in Paris for a 17th straight night:
Dozens of youths threw trash cans at police and attacked sidewalk shops in a main square of Lyon on Saturday night in the first clash between rioters and police in a city center after more than two weeks of violence in France, according to news reports.Youths stormed through the historic Place Bellecour in Lyon, France's third-largest city, located in the southeastern Rhone Valley region, even though the city had imposed a nighttime curfew on minors not accompanied by parents. Police fired tear gas to disperse the youths, and 10 people were arrested, officials said.
It is surprising to most of us, I think, that these riots have continued unabated for more than two weeks. While the overall violence has tapered off it's highest point (according to the burning car metric), their seems to be some indication that the rioting may again intensify.
Interestingly enough, at least some tourists aren't worried.
Arjang Ahmadpour, 20, a student from Los Angeles waiting in line in a cold drizzle to take the elevator up the Eiffel Tower, shrugged off concerns about the unrest. "People asked me, 'Oh, you're going to Paris? Aren't you scared?' " he said.His response, he said, has been, "They're not going after tourists."
It seems these days that the most dangerous thing to be in France, is French.
Update: The riots seem to have ignited the pen of Russ Vaughn, as well as French automobiles.
Paristine
Jacques and his frères are surely weeping
Les pauvres immigrès have caught them sleeping,
Paysans revolt, their emotions churning,
What's that odeur? Is Paris burning?
Within the banlieues there's no joy
Among les jeunes who are sans emplois
What, take a job? Not the way to go;
We'd rather riot, torch your Peugeot.
Ah, Mother France you took us in,
Then left us with no way to win.
We're not ègal, not garçons blanc,
We've no real chance to earn a franc.
No, what we are, we're useful fools,
For leftist dreams, just brown-skinned tools.
So the Rèpublique's butt is in a crack,
Give your merci to Jacques Chirac.
We'll breed you into minority,
Till only mullahs hear your plea,
And Shari'a rules throughout your land,
A Frenchman steals, he'll lose his hand.
Your licentious lifestyle, long extolled,
Will leave your women stoned, dead cold.
But everything will turn out fine,
In the Muslim Republic of Paristine.
Gee, France... what do you think when the war on terror lands in your own yard? Should we go after the Islamic militants? Because you're still in denial if you think al-Qaeda's hand is nowhere near the writers of these coordinated blogs. France has treated this like it was nothing for too long and only enboldened them with their weak response.
3000 troops in Paris? Not enough to secure things by a long shot by the sounds of it, and good lord, it may be too late. Put away the rubber bullets for one night and bring out the real artillery - you'll see how quickly the riots stop. I tell you, this won't stop until we get to Tehran.
Close, but not quite:
The most dangerous thing to be in France today is--
--a car.
Which is not to say the situation ain't plenty bad.
Cheers,
PGE
They damned well know better than to go after tourists and I wouldn't be in the least surprised if they hadn't already communicated a statement to the effect to the government, to Villepin. A display of 'honor amongst thieves‘ - if you will. An acknowledgement to display their good 'intentions' by not destroying the French tourist economy - probably the only industry which hasn't been government strangulated or gone completely sour. As goofy as it sounds, they seem to be orchestrating a show and display of power while leading the French down a path to ever widening concessions, their path to appeasement - subjugation through successive submission.
If they went after the tourist‘s, even if it didn’t bother or phase the French(and it likely would), it’d certainly panic the surrounding states; possibly into position of admission that the French posed as great a danger as their ‘youths’ because of their incompetence in leadership. A position, if left unchallenged, which would be viewed as too great a danger for the rest of the continent to go unchanged. I’m not suggesting any type of ‘conspiracy.’ What I am suggesting is ‘that other means of war’ - the extension of policy, politics and the use of diplomacy(if it can be cast as such).
Just my 2 cents.
