All this began when two youths--ages 15 and 17--under the (so say police) mistaken impression that the police were chasing them, hid in a power station and got electrocuted. Certainly a tragedy, but worth a weeklong orgy of destruction and mayhem? Justification for setting fire to a school? Burning down a supermarket? One wouldn't think so. Not in a civilized place, at any rate.

Yet all this has unfolded this past week in the super-sophisticated, we-know-better-than-you-how-to-handle-conflict, superciliousness capital of the world--Paris, France.

Did I mention the boys and the rioters were Muslims?

You see, France has this huge population of Muslims growing like a viper in its bosom, and not enough intestinal fortitude to do anything about it. The French government has long ignored (even fostered) the growth of this population, and its international face has, especially since the onset of the war on Terror and the War for Iraqi Liberation, appeared for all the world to smile on the Muslim world (except for that nasty business about wearing headscarves, but that's all smoothed over now.)

Unlike in America, where suburbs are upscale places where people move to get away from dirty, dangerous, crime-ridden cities, in many parts of the world (France included), it is the cities that contain the smart set, while the poor, the drug-addicted, the unemployed--and especially the immigrants--struggle through life. (Of course, what the two nations have in common is that the troubles are in the government housing projects; we've just built them in different places.)

Now, I can't comment on why there hasn't been more press coverage of this. I'm sure that, if any American suburb was subject to incineration every night for a week (and had no major sports victory or witchy holiday connected with it), you couldn't keep the mainstream media off the story. In fact, you'd probably have to build extra government housing just to contain the members of the media covering the story at night. As we all know from Katrina, even when there is no violence, the media loves to cover it anyway.

Yet, for some reason, French rioting has had almost no legs here in the US. Too bad, because there's quite a bit of delicious irony here for those who go in for that sort of thing. Consider for a moment the identity of the French Prime Minister. Most Americans may not realize it, but the French Prime Minister is now Dominique de Villipin. You may remember that name; he used to be their Minister of Foreign Affairs while we were trying to get some Frenchmen into the Coalition of the Willing.

He said no.

You see, Villepin doesn't believe in peace through strength. Apparently, he believes in peace at any price--as we see now, even in his own country. For today, as he presides over burning suburbs, the response of his government has been--well, mixed.

On the one hand, there's the sane person, described by journalists as "his political rival," Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy (who doesn't really sound all that French to me, anyway, as you'll see). He calls the rioters "scum," and vows to "clean out" the suburbs. (However, it is unclear from reports why he hasn't done so sometime in the past week; maybe France has a waiting period for law enforcement or something). About 100 people have been arrested, though. Bet that helped a lot.

The other hand (in fact, the whole body of French policy) is operated by nitwits like Villepin and his buddy Jean-Louis Berloo, the (I did not make up this title) Minister of Social Cohesion. This faction of the government is taking a less "strident" approach. In fact, you might even call it the same approach Villepin had to the rogue Hussein regime--none at all. While the Paris police chief wants to (close your eyes, ACLU) establish a curfew and bring in the military, the Socialists advise that the police withdraw to "quell the unrest." (Apparently "quell" doesn't translate well from English.)

French President Jacques Chirac seems limited to dispensing wisdom:

"The law must be applied firmly and in a spirit of dialogue and respect," Chirac told a Cabinet meeting Wednesday. "The absence of dialogue and an escalation of a lack of respect will lead to a dangerous situation."

Unfortunately, government by portentous fortune cookie quotes does not appear adequate to this situation.

Villepin appealed for calm Wednesday before Parliament, advising:

Let's avoid stigmatizing areas….let's treat petty crime differently to major crime, let's fight all discrimination with firmness, and avoid confusing a disruptive minority with the vast majority of youngsters who want to integrate into society and succeed.

Apparently, the French police have some problem distinguishing between the "disruptive" and non-disruptive populations. Perhaps we in America could help with that. Here we identify the "disruptive" by the fact that they are running about the street setting fire to things, while the "non-disruptive" are the people of the town who are--how can I put this--NOT setting fire to things.

Sarkozy seems to get it, though. Without a trace of concern for his politically incorrect tone, the Interior Minister said, "I speak with real words. When you fire real bullets at police, you're not a 'youth,' you're a 'thug.'" He actually had the audacity to describe the government's policies in providing decades of aid to the suburbs as "a failure." The Socialists have denounced him. Big surprise. And good for him.

Most disgusting of all is the response by Berloo (remember him? Minister of "social cohesion?" And doing a bang-up job of it, too, it appears.) According to FoxNews:

Minister of Social Cohesion Jean-Louis Berloo said that "the government had to react 'firmly,' but added that France must acknowledge its failure to have dealt with anger simmering in poor suburbs for decades. 'We cannot hide the truth; that for 30 years we have not done enough,' he told France 2 television."

Enough of what? Somehow I doubt the French answer is "border enforcement."