California Conservative

“Political correctness cannot stand in the way of the hard truth”

Chicago-Tribune reports: “The nightly ritual of arson and mayhem that has stunned cities across France appears to be waning, but the government was taking no chances Wednesday, decreeing that foreign troublemakers would be expelled and authorizing local officials to impose curfews.”

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who drew criticism for characterizing the youthful rioters as “scum,” won loud applause from lawmakers in the National Assembly when he said that foreigners among the 1,830 people arrested in the disturbances over the past two weeks, including those who were legal residents of France, would be kicked out.

Sarkozy said that 120 foreigners had been convicted to date and that he had ordered regional officials “to deport them from our national territory without delay, including those who have a residency visa.”

After peaking over the weekend, the violence seemed to be subsiding. The number of cars set ablaze overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday was 617, down from more than 1,100 the night before, according to Interior Ministry figures. The number of municipalities reporting incidents also declined, from 226 to 116.

Law-enforcement officials believe they are starting to make headway.

No surprise. Showing a strong hand and taking a firm stand usually brings, as Sarkozy would say, “the rabble” in line.

But if France continues to let the numbers grow, the next revolt might be bigger and more organized.

We’re sure they’re considering this.

UPDATE: (11/13)
GatewayPundit reports that “Violence Spreads in Europe”

RELATED:
Chirac: France Must Learn Hard Lessons

This entry was posted on Friday, November 11th, 2005 at 6:50 am and is filed under Culture, Europe, Foreign Policy, Homeland Security, Immigration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.