Then and now

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Billmon, in a very eloquent post, says nothing. All he does is put up a series of quotations. Yet his message couldn’t be clearer; or more correct.

Lest visiting American wingnuts misunderstand me: I do not assert that Billmon is correct in inviting us to infer that Donald Rumsfeld is guilty of war crimes. That question would be decided by a court, in the extraordinarily unlikely event that Rumsfeld ends up before one.

No, what Billmon gets undeniably right is the far bigger and broader and more fundamental idea that (to use the words of Telford Taylor with which Billmon’s post comes to a close) ‘law is not a one-way street’. Whether a government is good or bad is decided by what it does and refrains from doing; not by who its members are or by the justifications they offer for their acts and omissions. That goes for the current government of the USA, and it goes equally for every other government entrusted with the running of a state.
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Rational Markets?

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The general impact of the French riots is, I feel, being ably covered by others here, what I am curious about is how financial markets reach their opinions. According to headlines in many newspapers, the euro is falling aginst the dollar as a result of what is happening in France (or see here). This may or may not be a good reading of why the euro is dropping, but if it was the explanation, I would say it was a far from rational response.
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Islamism in France?

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Daniel Pipes, a Middle East scholar prone to lambasting Edward Said, says that the French media is ignoring the obvious: that radical Islamism is behind the riots in France.

I don’t read French so I can’t check all his links. The theory fits in nicely with many people’s worldview (including, I suppose, Pipes’s), but is there any hard evidence this it’s actually true?

Bloggers *in* Paris riots!

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Below, David asked about Bloggers who contributed to our common attempts to understand what is happening in France, and possibly elsewhere in Europe, and why it is happening. But it seems, some Bloggers have been contributing a little too much: No pasaran! and Loic LeMeur link to a Reuters report (in French) stating that three bloggers have been arrested for using their blogs to incite people to participate in riots

I guess that’s a first.

Scott into the breach

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Well, I don’t read or speak French, have probably spent less than 30 days in France in my entire life, and I don’t tend to follow French politics much. But what the heck, here I go.

Of leading French politicians, it seems Nicolas Sarkozy has actually made one of the stronger efforts to reach out to the Muslim community…
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Bloggers on the Paris riots?

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We would like to be the go-to blog for all things European and political, but we’re obviously not quite there yet (to my great annoyance). There’s little point in commenting if you can’t add anything to what the mainstream media is already offering, and we don’t necessarily have any special expertise or insight here. We also have work to do. I for example maybe have something to say, but hardly something so valuable that I can ignore tomorrow’s deadline.

Anyway, I’m wondering if anyone know any francophone or especially anglophone blogs or websites that does provide quality coverage of the riots, and does compliment the MSM?

I will say ( through gritted teeth) that our leftwing counterpart European Tribune does add value here, though I find some wrongheadedness in their takes on the riots (wish I had time to elaborate).

And the Wikipedia article is better as a primer and summation of the facts than any newpaper article.

Sarkozy into the breach

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From a July profile on Nicolas Sarkozy in Foreign Policy:

Stéphane Rozès of the polling institute CSA compares Sarkozy to Napoleon during the famous Arcole bridge battle, in which Napoleon charged ahead urging his soldiers to trust him despite not knowing what was on the other side. “Sarkozy charges ahead, begs his supporters to follow him and defy adversity but he does not tell them what lies ahead,” says Rozès. “In his mind, the movement creates the destination.”

Discuss…

More bad news for French people

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The Head Heeb: A murder in Cote d’Ivoire

“While unsuccessful attempts continue to break Cote d’Ivoire’s political deadlock, the latest scandal to arise concerns the murder of a local gang leader by French peacekeepers”

Jonathan’s conclusion:
“Absent a political solution in Cote d’Ivoire, however, it is unlikely that this will be the last or only such case. The French are being dragged, unwillingly but inexorably, toward the point where peacekeeping becomes occupation.”