On the eleventh night of spreading and intensifying violence, French rioters shifted tactics as the French finally began to respond. Last night, the mainly Muslim rioters fired on French police, wounding 30 and transforming the unrest into something more overt:

Last night about 30 police were reported injured by buckshot in Grigny, south of Paris. Youths seized a bus in Saint-Etienne and set it alight. In Rouen a burning car was pushed against a police station while cars were burned in Nantes, Rennes and Orleans.

Mr Chirac, speaking after an emergency security meeting at the Elysée Palace, said: "The last word must go to the law." He warned the rioters that they would be brought to justice, but also sought to show understanding for the plight of youth in poor suburban areas.

The law, however, appears incapable of answering. With riots breaking out all over the country and seemingly led by Islamists and drug dealers within Paris, the police could do nothing last night to stop the violence. More than 800 cars went under the torch overnight and firebombs were thrown at churches and schools as well. French security forces appear stunned and incapable of handling the situation, leading to calls for curfews and the mobilization of the Army to take over law enforcement in France:

"They really shot at officers," said one officer after about 200 youths attacked his colleagues in Grigny. "This is real, serious violence. It's not like the previous nights. I am very concerned because this is mounting." ...

The police union Action Police CFTC urged the government on Monday to impose a curfew on the riot-hit areas and call in the army to control the youths, many of whom are French-born citizens of Arab or African origin complaining of racial discrimination.

"Nothing seems to be able to stop the civil war that spreads a bit more every day across the whole country," it said in a statement. "The events we're living through now are without precedent since the end of the Second World War." ...

Reacting to official suggestions that Islamist militants might be orchestrating some of the protests, one of France's largest Muslim organizations issued a fatwa against the unrest.

That certainly makes this sound much worse than the French government or the American media has so far admitted. The police union has thrown in the towel and demanded that the Army supercede its own officers in enforcing the law. That voluntary surrender of privilege speaks volumes about the morale of French police and their willingness to participate in Nicolas Sarkozy's efforts to re-establish a rule of law in the so-called no-go areas in France -- areas which have expanded exponentially over the past twelve days.

And what of this fatwa and the "official suggestions" that Islamists have led this unrest from its inception? The American media have studiously ignored any such suggestions. Only the Washington Post has reported significantly on the Muslim component of the uprising, and even then only intermittently. The New York Times laughably reports this morning that:

Though a majority of the youths committing the acts are Muslim, and of African or North African origin, the mayhem has yet to take on any ideological or religious overtones. Youths in the neighborhoods say second-generation Portuguese immigrants and even some children of native French have taken part.

In an effort to stop the attacks and distance them from Islam, France's most influential Islamic group issued a religious edict, or fatwa, condemning the violence. "It is formally forbidden for any Muslim seeking divine grace and satisfaction to participate in any action that blindly hits private or public property or could constitute an attack on someone's life," the fatwa said, citing the Koran and the teachings of Muhammad.

Craig Smith never explains why an "influential Islamic group" finds it necessary to issue a fatwa against the violence if it has not taken a "religious overtone", or even what kind of Islamic group this is, an omission the AP makes as well. In fact, this is the first time the NYT has even associated the riots with Muslims at all, a remarkable run considering the official suggestions coming from France that alleges a connection between the two, as the AP reports -- and as anyone with half a brain and knowledge of the Parisian slums knew from the first night of the riots.

This kind of multi-culti blindness will cause France and the West to lose the war on terror. The Islamists are playing for keeps, and the media organs of the West want to pretend that all religions are equal and that only "youths" cause unrest. Until the Islamists have the French government under the knife, we can expect the global media to continue its apologism for terrorists who use legitimate social concerns to start armed insurrections in the heart of the West. Even with guns and bombs aimed against the French, the media will not recognize a war when they see it.

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» Paris Burning from Below The Beltway
The riots in the suburbs of Paris and other parts of France have now continued for eleven straight days, and are spreading to other cities. In the midst of all this, President Chirac has spoken out about the riots for the first time. [Read More]

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Tracked on November 7, 2005 8:50 AM

» The Metastasizing Anger in France from All Things Beautiful
As Ed Morrissey @ Captain's Quarters quite rightly points out, dream on: "Craig Smith never explains why an "influential Islamic group" finds it necessary to issue a fatwa against the violence if it has not taken a "religious overtone", [Read More]

Tracked on November 8, 2005 8:16 AM

» GHOST OF ALGIERS from The Heretik
ALMOST TEN THOUSAND MORE police are in the street. A Muslim group has issued a fatwa against the rioters in the unrest. A curfew is called. Paris is cooling down some, but France now sees measures not imposed since [Read More]

Tracked on November 8, 2005 9:07 AM

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