Who are we kidding?

In almost every article I've read about the riots is France, the one thing that seems to be missing is the "M" word. Muslim. Sugar coated coverage of who these "disenfranchised youths" are is not only foolish, but dangerous.

The media's obsession with political correctness has further muddied the waters of truth. Just as Airport screeners were told not to discriminate against men of Middle Eastern appearance, it seems that we are now refusing to acknowlege the reasons for the rioting.

French President Jaques Chirac tried to take a stand by not allowing head scarves to be worn by Muslim schoolgirls, but that action was about as effective as trying to drain New Orleans with a paper cup.

The AP reports that "France's biggest Muslim fundamentalist organization, the Union for Islamic Organizations of France, issued a fatwa, or religious decree. It forbade all those 'who seek divine grace from taking part in any action that blindly strikes private or public property or can harm others.'"

Blogger Lost Budgie asks:

"Blindly" ?

That doesn't sound like a wholesale prohibition against violence to me. The use of the word "blindly" offers an exception; a condition under which a Muslim in France could strike against private or public property or harm others and not be in violation of this fatwa. If a Muslim is striking with thoughtful consideration of the verses in the Koran, would he be striking "blindly"?

It's an interesting question, similar to Yasir Arafat's claim that it was only okay to kill Israelis in the disputed territories, knowing full well that he considers the entire country (not just the West Bank and the Golan) disputed.

Mark Steyn comments that he predicted this as far back as 2001.

The Eurabian civil war appears to have started some years ahead of my optimistic schedule. The notion that Texas neocon arrogance was responsible for frosting up trans-Atlantic relations was always preposterous, even for someone as complacent and blinkered as John Kerry. If you had millions of seething unassimilated Muslim youths in lawless suburbs ringing every major city, would you be so eager to send your troops into an Arab country fighting alongside the Americans?

For half a decade, French Arabs have been carrying on a low-level intifada against synagogues, kosher butchers, Jewish schools, etc. The concern of the political class has been to prevent the spread of these attacks to targets of more, ah, general interest. They seem to have lost that battle. Unlike America's Europhiles, France's Arab street correctly identified Chirac's opposition to the Iraq war for what it was: a sign of weakness.

Perhaps these "youths" (calling them that of the reminds me of the Iranian "students" who took over Iran in 1979 - they were also Muslims and the press fell for that lie also) are disenfranchised.

But what caused these feelings? (geez, I sound like a Democrat)

Could it be that France, like many socialist countries, no longer impress nationalism - and instead encourage seperatism? Just like in the liberal elite circles in America, patriotism is a nasty word. An American flag should be burned, not flown. ABC News reporters are forbidden from wearing USA flag pins while on the air. John Kerry ran on a platform of sharing power with the UN.

America used to be called the "great melting pot." If you wanted to be a part of the "American dream", you had to adapt to society - not the other way around. Today, we bend over backwards to accomodate anyone who wishes to be seperate. Some towns ban Halloween because it might upset Wiccans. Many schools do not allow the Pledge of Allegiance because it may upset athiests. We even ban sports teams from using Native American names and symbols even though many of these groups approve and understand the honor of these names.

Even the former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, has encouraged the idea of globalization over nationalism.

We have gone so far as to frisking little ladies in the airports so as not to give the impression that anyone could be a terrorist. While I suppose that anyone could, the fact that the great majority are Muslim males, wasting time on little old ladies seems to me to be a waste of time.

In theory, the goal is an almost utopian society. However, as learned from as early as Cain and Abel, the Human race is incapable of living in Utopia. There are too many people in this world who wish only to exploit and conquer other people. No matter what we say or do, these people will always twist these words and deeds to destroy the very society that enabled them.

We see it in Israel. We saw it in Germany. We're now seeing it in France.

We will see it in America too, if we don't stop kidding ourselves and recognize who - and what - the real enemy is.

credit to Michelle Malkin