Law and Order: French Style

A gang of 20 Muslim immigrants terrorized a trainload of passengers and gang raped one woman. This comes on the heels of the New Years Eve car torchings that were 30% higher than last year's celebratory torchings despite there being a greater police presence after three weeks of rioting in November resulted in nearly 10,000 cars torched, hundreds of businesses damaged, and hundreds in jail.

The five-hour-long criminal frenzy was "totally unacceptable," French President Jacques Chirac told reporters. "Those guilty will be found and punished, as they deserve."

The gang of between 20 and 30 youths boarded the train, heading from Nice on the French Riviera to Lyon, in eastern France, early on Jan. 1, as it carried 600 passengers home from New Year's Eve partying overnight.

Once inside, they went wild, forcing passengers to hand over mobile phones and wallets, and slashing seats and breaking windows.

A 20-year-old woman cornered by several of the marauders was sexually molested.

The police? Only 3 showed initially and awaited backup before taking any decisive action. No pasaran has been all over this story from the start, including reports from eyewitnesses, and has been picked up by LGF and Michelle Malkin. Malkin wonders where are the feminists to come to the defense of the women molested and sexually assaulted on the train. Good question.

The truly sad fact is that the French violence continues unabated and the same groups involved in the original rioting are still up to no good. And the French authorities aren't willing or able to crack down on these thugs. Out of the 20-30 thugs in this group, only three were arrested, and three others were released despite carrying a knife, a screwdriver, and hashish.

The NYT finally realizes that there's a story here and carries a report that Chirac vows to find the 'youths' involved in the rioting on the train. This all comes at a time when the anti-riot measures established during the riots are set to expire.

Before this weekend, the conservative government feared the unrest might flare up again during New Year's Eve celebrations. Revelers burned 425 vehicles - up from 333 the previous year - but there were no major clashes, and the national police chief said Sunday that France had been spared a revival of the unrest.

Chirac plans to lift the state of emergency this week, more than six weeks earlier than originally planned, his office said without giving a reason. But the announcement came after the relatively violence-free New Year's celebrations.

I'm somewhat fuzzy on the details here. Apparently the French don't consider torching hundreds of cars violence, despite the fact that each incident is a criminal act - arson. The rate of torchings was 30% higher despite the increased police presences. And it doesn't take into account the rioting on that French train.

There is but one conclusion to be reached: the French government is oblivious to the threat and would much rather bury its head in the sand.