Ethnic vandals burn French autos for the New Year

New Year's eve across France was very much like its predecessor in 2009, with the exception that there was ten less vehicles turned into charcoal briquettes in the orchestrated mayhem that has become an annual ritual.

The French interior ministry, in anticipation of civil hooliganism from mostly ethnic gangs (made up of Arab and North African youth), mobilised 8,000 police in and around Paris and 45,000 nationally for the night.  To date a total of 1,137 cars were set on fire.   Police in the capital region of Paris said that 171 arrests were made, mainly for burning cars and throwing objects at officers; however, no major clashes with police were reported.

Earlier this year French President Sarkozy proposed tough anti-crime legislation aimed at the more than 200 organized gangs, which operate primarily out of Paris.  "If the thugs want to take on the Republic, then the response of the Republic will be force and justice," he said.  The gang violence reached its apex in 2005 when France endured three weeks of violence that left thousands of cars torched and hundreds of people injured.

It has been argued that the objective of individual gang members, beyond criminality, is the opposite of what Muslim extremists want.  While they share the common traits of  being socially marginalized and poorly educated, with little or no prospects for self-improvement or social mobility, they differ with respect to their desire to integrate with larger French society. 

Overall,  these criminal entities, which are similar to inner-city American gangs composed of  blacks and/or Latinos, represent a hostile and recalcitrant underclass that unless dealt with effectively, will become a permanent fixture of French society.