Crisis Point

France is in real serious trouble. Police are getting assaulted in such high numbers that their casualty rates are higher than the rate of coalition forces in Iraq. We're talking number of those injured mind you, but it is quite troubling that so many French police are coming under attack by roving gangs that the situation is getting out of hand.

Are we setting up for another round of French riots like last year, where nearly 10,000 cars were torched, hundreds of businesses damaged, and hundreds of people were injured, and hundreds of rioters were arrested as well? It certainly seems that way.

The French government yesterday held crisis talks with community leaders in an effort to halt mounting violence in suburbs around Paris, amid news that gangs of youths, mainly of North African descent, were intensifying attacks on police.

Dominique de Villepin, the prime minister, ordered his interior and justice ministers to "toughen up" sentences for those found guilty of assaulting officers, following a meeting with community leaders.

His announcement followed a series of violent incidents over the past weeks, culminating in the ambush of three police officers on Friday by youths in Epinay-sur-Seine, north of Paris.

"These guys came to kill. They wore balaclavas, and had baseball bats and iron bars," said Joaquin Masanet, the general secretary of the powerful UNSA police union.

The three officers from the anti-crime brigade, BAC, entered the Orgemont housing estate after an anonymous caller reported a violent car theft.

Once inside, their exit was barred and they were set upon by around 50 youths, who pelted the men with stones. Iron bars smashed their windscreen. They tried to reverse, but a second vehicle boxed them in.

The criminals fled only after the officers fired live ammunition into the air and police reinforcements arrived.

Had this kind of incident occurred in the US, there would be nonstop 24/7 coverage. That it occurred in France it has received little comment from US media outlets. And note that this wasn't simply an isolated incident, but the latest in a series of incidents that have been growing more intense and violent.

Politics Central notes that more than 2,500 French police have been assaulted so far. And the French media is not doing a good job in covering the situation.

Technorati: riot, paris riots, paris, france, muslim immigrant.