Paris smolders, Muslims run wild, Merci Chirac!

Mssrs. Chirac and de Villepin have finally had enough of the rioting Muslims. The two French leaders have escalated their response to the violence:

"Tempers must calm down," a spokesman quoted him as telling his cabinet.

Chirac warned that "an escalation of disrespectful behaviour would lead to a dangerous situation" and asserted that "there can be no area existing outside the law" in France.

Further rioting will be met with harsher words. Mssr. de Villepin, the "Iron Fist", was equally tough:

He told ministers that "the government will ensure public order and will do so with the necessary firmness."

And the masses trembled.

Despite the fiery rhetoric, the Muslim hordes continued their rampage througout the tolerant and multicultural environs of Paris:

AULNAY-SOUS-BOIS, France - A week of riots in poor neighborhoods outside Paris gained dangerous new momentum Thursday, with youths shooting at police and firefighters and attacking trains and symbols of the French state.

Sadly, it appears the riots have inconvenienced the local citizenry:

The unrest cast a cloud over the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. In Clichy-sous-Bois — heart of the rioting — men filled the Bilal mosque for evening prayers, but streets were subdued with shops shutting early.

"Look around you. How do you think we can celebrate?" said Abdallah Hammo as he closed the tea house where he works.

It certainly has cast a cloud. Not quite like the cloud formed by dual falling World Trade Centers, but a cloud nonetheless.

What you may not know is that the riots are really the fault of the French government:

Observers saw the riots as a sign of the growing divisions in French society -- Muslim immigration, poverty, declining education standards in downtrodden areas and joblessness.

The left-leaning newspaper Liberation said successive governments had "broken their noses on the reality of the ghettos, often minimized and often forgotten in their priorities."

Often it takes a professional to point out what we didn't know:

A French sociologist, Michel Wieviorka, told AFP that such rampages were "the expression of desperation, of anger and a feeling of injustice."

That's funny, we just thought they were evil criminals.

There is one ray of hope, however. We've discovered a real man amongst the French sissys:

Police have made 143 arrests during the unrest, Interior Ministry Nicolas Sarkozy said.

Residents and opposition politicians have accused Sarkozy of fanning tensions with his tough police tactics and talk — including calling troublemakers "scum."

"Sarkozy's language has added oil to the fire. He should really weigh his words," said Kaci, whose daughter lost her gym. "I'm proud to live in France, but this France disappoints me."

Sarkozy for president!