Do be sure to read through Andrew’s important “Racaille” post from yesterday. Along these lines, it’s hard to read Theodore Dalrymple’s brilliant 2002 article, “The Barbarians at the Gates of Paris,” and agree with the chorus of voices blaming France’s riots on Nicolas Sarkozy’s tough talk. Among other things, Dalrymple shows that the very same pattern of violence we’re seeing now writ large was endemic back in 2002. Did Sarkozy’s sharp words start that violence too? No, the problem was that, for years no-one dared issue stern warnings–much less follow through. Blaming Sarkozy for the riots is like blaming president Bush for Islamist terror. The real problem is that we’d done nothing to fight either problem for years. When belated but necessary action brings a furious response, it’s time to hang tough, not run away scared. This is a case of France–and especially Dominique de Villepin, the great opponent of the U.S. invasion of Iraq–reaping the fruits of their own appeasement, external and internal. The liberal French press blames Sarkozy. I suspect quite a few Frenchmen see it differently. Ah, I see this confirms it.

As Andrew says, Paul Belian seems to be the fellow with the most helpful angle so far on the French disaster. The two most recent entries are stunning. The violence may be spreading to Berlin and Brussels, even as authorities try to hide that fact. And this link provided by Belian suggests that the army may not have been called out so far because fifteen percent of the soldiers are Muslim and may not be reliable in this context. If true, this would explain a great deal about how this has been handled to date. But there be no choice but to put the army to the test, as this report from The Washington Times indicates.

At this point you have to wonder whether Sarkozy is safe. Recall that Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician who opposes further Muslim immigration has been under constant threat of assassination since the murder of Theo van Gogh, and lives in hiding under government protection. The same fate may await Sarkozy.

I remember hearing some years ago about a prophetic and deeply controversial book on Third World immigration to Europe. Now I see that Phyllis Chesler has posted an article about it. Apparently, the December 1994 cover story of The Atlantic Monthly was about this book, The Camp of the Saints, by Jean Raspail. I’ve just managed to print it out from nexis. It’s available online from The Atlantic, but only by subscription.

This article from the German magazine Spiegel, “What’s Wrong with Europe?” shows that “mainstream” Europe may finally be waking up to its own problem. The article even notes the tendency of some Americans to use the word “Eurabia.” We’re a long way from the denial of even a few days ago.