French urban rioting (catch all)

[tequila]

French hysteria in overdrive yet again.

I love how these urban 'rebellions' almost never result in any serious injuries or fatalities. Methinks the French have forgotten what a real riot looks like - it looks like this.

[goesh]

that's in the Bronx, ain't it? Probably taken after a Knicks loss and with that, I'll give an old fashioned Bronx cheer for the French - drop a few of them rioters with molotovs in their hands and the burning would stop pretty fast

[Stan]

The problems are directly related to social discipline. Take this photo from the April riots in Estonia, where the photographer asks "For those who still don't understand the difference between Chillin' and Hangin' out...well, those face down are chillin' and the others...

[tequila]

that's in the Bronx, ain't it? Probably taken after a Knicks loss and with that, I'll give an old fashioned Bronx cheer for the French - drop a few of them rioters with molotovs in their hands and the burning would stop pretty fast

1992, Los Angeles.

As for the "just breed" comment, one should realize that most of these rioters are the children of immigrants from the 1950s-1960s. The only reason they are called "immigrants" at all when they were mostly born in France is because they are nonwhite.

"Assimilation" would require combating things like this. The French appear to prefer crying wolf over vandalism.

[goesh]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21978411/

"Sarkozy labels Paris-area riots as ‘unacceptable’"

"Police speak of no-go zones where they and firefighters fear to patrol."

Now that's unacceptable, Sarkozy - weeping Jesus! what a neutered leader.

" Despite decades of problems and heavy state investments to improve housing and create jobs, the depressed projects that ring Paris are a world apart from the tourist attractions of the French capital."

I guess that makes the poor youth who shoot at cops and injure them and burn buildings and cars the real victims here.

In the dark ages, phlegm was considered a body humor, one of 4, that caused sluggishness and apathy. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the shooters can be identified and put in therapy and given more Welfare. What else can the French do?

[davidbfpo]

Returning to the serious side for a moment.

Rioting reported in Grenoble:

Rioters in France have torched cars and opened fire on police offers during an overnight confrontation in the southeastern French city of Grenoble.

Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-shooting.html

[40below]

If you had to live in some Parisian hellhole like the 112th arrondisement, you'd be burning cars too.

[Bob's World]

"These high-rise neighborhoods, built in the 1950s and 1960s to house a growing population of industrial workers and immigrants, have become near-ghettos where unemployment is high, public services are poor, and resentment boils.

During the 2005 riots, some 300 buildings and 10,000 cars were burned, while 130 police and rioters were hurt.

Since then, unrest has flared often after residents have run ins with the police.

Police and government officials have a lingering fear that the poor suburbs could explode again because the underlying causes – high unemployment, few opportunities, drug trafficking and a sense of exclusion from society – have changed little"

From the article, underlines are my own. It sounds to me like significant segments of the populace perceive their lot to be one where they have little hope to effect change though legitimate means; where they feel they are treated with disrespect as a matter of status; they cannot receive justice under the law; and likely feel that the government does not represent them or their interests (ie, lacks legitimacy as in regard to them). This is the witch's brew from which most insurgency comes.

No amount of increased policing (enforcing the rule of law) or increased governmental handouts will likely quell this, and can likely make it worse. The time for COIN is long before these things exceed the capacity of the civil authorities. The government of France must recognize the need to change, and then adjust how it engages and supports these elements of the populace; much as the US Government had to do with the African American populace in the 60s, if they want to avoid sliding deeper into the conditions from which full-blown insurgency can erupt.