What a riot

There is a new "British Invasion," and the threat is relevant to all of Europe.

Britain has avoided military invasion since 1066, and it has seldom had to worry about such an attack since. Today, however, Britain has been successfully invaded by a new enemy--one silent, legal, and perhaps the most dangerous yet. Yes, the current threat to Britain (and the rest of Europe) is its Muslim population. Approximately 2 million Muslims currently reside in Britain, making up about 3 percent of the overall population. Authorities estimate that up to 3,000 of those are terrorists, many of whom actually have received combat training from terrorist camps in places such as Afghanistan, or real-life experience from Iraq.

The Muslim population in Europe is growing (France has 5 million), due to immigration and to a higher birth rate among European Muslims than the rest of the population. Also, support among European Muslims for radical action (i.e. terrorism) is growing.

Most folks who emigrate do so for positive reasons--to escape tyranny, religious freedom, or job opportunities. America was built on immigration; it is part of what makes us great. So what's the deal with the Muslims in Europe? They are separatist, despise western culture's decadence (despite participating in it, many of them), and many even actively "seek to destroy it."

The riots in France are simply an explosion of social unrest boiling beneath the surface. Who or what is to blame for this? Unemployment is high among French Muslims, low income is widespread, and there is little integration; in fact, many--if not most--Muslims in France don't even consider themselves French, despite being natural born citizens. The world's beacon of journalistic integrity attributes the riots to "Muslims...who have never been integrated into French society." Which begs the question: Who is responsible for integration and assimilation--the immigrants, the host country, or both?

One Canadian blogger thinks the school system is the best tool of integration. Lack of education is definitely a root cause of poverty and unemployment; the trickier matter is deciding whether to blame the people themselves or the education system. According to this, both are to blame: the Muslims themselves because of their hijacking of the state-funded school system, and the schools for catering to the hijackers. (H/T WMD)

Another blogger jokingly blames the riots on France's universal healthcare system, which consists of "a kit containing a band-aid and a shot of whiskey" (H/T Temujin).

Of course, at some point one must stop playing sociologist trying to understand the riots and simply condemn the acts for what they are--evil and irresponsible, no matter what the driving force behind them. Dousing a handicapped woman with gasoline and lighting her on fire is unacceptable, I don't care how poor, undeducated, discriminated against or oppressed by the white Frenchies you are. Acts like these deserve swift and sound retribution.

Fortunately, some in the Arab world have the right perspective (H/T The Tar Pit):

Local leaders and the young people themselves must bear some responsibility for their hopeless lives. Certainly nothing can justify their going on destructive rampages.

The first mistake by the French was the very existence of a "no-go" area for the Parisian police. (By the way, Mr. Chirac, it would have been better to condemn "no-go" areas before the riots actually began, since doing so afterwards is stating the painfully obvious.) The origins of the culturally homogeneous "no-go" areas go all the way back to WWII. Writes Ed Morissey:

The riots typify French reaction to Islamism, and spring from a European approach to the Islamic wave of migration into Europe. After WWII, the French built so-called "sink estates" for the workers they encouraged to emigrate to help rebuild the nation, as did Germany. Most of these workers came from Turkey and colonies in North Africa. Instead of planning for their integration into society, however, the French allowed these communities to grow and fester in economic and social isolation. After two generations, the sink estates have proven to be nothing more than preplanned ghettos, and the workers have no future except as second-class citizens of the nations they helped rebuild from devastation...Even absent radical Islamism, the French should have foreseen the disaster that has presently come upon them, and had a plan to handle it.

So what to do about this insurrection? There's a fight in the upper echelons of French government. Chirac, pressured by other politicians, finally condemned the riots publicly. 2,300 police were sent in to reinforce those already there.

Police? How about the military? The situation is only escalating. It's expanding to other cities across France. Apparently the "youths" are feeding off each others' excitement. The French have got a big problem on their hands. I'm extremely curious to see how they resolve it.

riot, Paris, Paris riots, muslim, immigrants, Chirac, police, France