http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/sto...608024,00.html

Gah, why haven't they sent the army in? I love the supposed reason as well:
"he unrest was triggered by last Thursday's accidental death in Clichy-sous-Bois, five miles from Aulnay, of two African teenagers who were electrocuted while hiding in a power substation from what they believed, apparently wrongly, was police pursuit "

I see. So they ran from the police, then somehow got themselves killed in a substation. If ever there was a cause for a massive riot, this is it! :rolleyes:

Yeah, but big riots like this always get kicked off by random trivial incidents that escalate.

I don't think the army is the solution, but I do think that the Interior Minister is right to draw the line between disaffected youths and thugs - I think the flack he's getting for being hard-line is undeserved.

I'm not sure if using the army against your own citizens would do anything to dampen the situation, but they've just deployed a thousand police officers to the area (link)

We'll have to just wait and see I guess. It certainly is a stark reminder of the (oft-denied) conditions within slums areas around Paris, but given that the dispersal method practiced in Britain isn't so great at avoiding riots, poverty and dissolusionment either, it appears that the key to integration of Islamic communities within Western society has still to be discovered.

I'd also like to echo Morgureat's sentiments in another thread in hoping that all IWers living in that area are safe from harm.

Well, didn't it work for the race riots in the 60's? Also AFAIK, the Kent State shootings curbed the violence.That being said though, shooting the youths would probably be throwing gasoline onto the fire.

In America? Not to my knowledge...I got the impression that most crackdowns were followed by a legal leap forward towards black rights, almost in reaction.

But I could be wrong, my American history isn't the greatest.

Yes, but riots tend to stop when men with assualt rifles open fire. The fastest way to stop it is likely just that, just let the Army thin the herd.

I said the same thing at first, but i'm afraid will only get worse that way. Nobody really knows how many firearms the people there have, but take my word for it that it's a considerable amount. Right now it's just a bunch of teenagers doing the rioting, but sending in the army might be the start of a massive uprising. I think it's best to surround the neighbourhoods in question, and let noone in or out. Once there's nothing left to burn, they will probably give up, or they start killing eachother, which would not even be such a bad scenario.

Well then draw out the vipers nest. Idiot gangbangers with mac10's aren't a match for FN wielding Legionaires.

[ 11-03-2005, 09:54 PM: Message edited by: Sir Degrader ]

Looks more and more like this planet is headed for a full scale holywar. :(

History repeats itself... Humans never learn.

Actually, I wish some of what was happening in France was happening here, too. Most first world governments are in collusion and serve to preserve existing class and power structure. The whole system, worldwide, needs a giant enema.

I have many mixed thoughts, though. Europe is having to address something we've grappled with for years -- a large, insular, disenfranchised minority population.

Update: Disabled woman set on fire.
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0...457760,00.html

[ 11-04-2005, 05:57 PM: Message edited by: Sir Degrader ]