On riots in France

I may have been unfair on the media.
Times Online

This has in turn fed the rise of Muslim radicalism, which has now become the dominant creed of the young in the French ghettos.

There is definitely a risk that the discrimination against against minorities could fuel radicalism. The fact remains, that these riots are not 'race riots' nor are they 'islamic fundamentalism' on the march.

France has always deemed its model superior to the Anglo-Saxon approach of diversity, which has enabled ethnic minorities to retain strong bonds in cultural and religious communities. France calls this “comunitarism” and says that it promotes ghettos, exclusion, poverty, race riots and religious extremism that can ultimately lead to actions such as the London bombings.

The London bombings were linked to Britain's involvement in the war in Iraq. France has witnessed more Islamist terrorism than the UK. Using the ostrich approach to cultural and ethnic differences is the preferred French 'republican' method.

Some, such as Nicolas Sarkozy, the iconoclastic Interior Minister who is at the centre of the present crisis, have provoked outrage by saying that France should copy aspects of the Anglo-American model, starting with policies to favour the entry of ethnic minorities into education and jobs

And at the same time, he ignores the root of the anger, dismissing the rioting youth as 'scum'. This man is an opportunistist.

Both Left and Right see them as a breach of France’s republican tradition and believe that affirmative action would play into the hands of the anti-immigrant Far Right, led by Jean-Marie Le Pen.

The reality is discriminatory treatment from both socialist and conservative governments. Le Pen is but a scarecrow mainstream politicians love to use in order to rally the masses.