A LITTLE BACKGROUND: On October 27th rioters set France to flame. Conscientiously the rioters first torched their own tightly perimetered neighborhoods, and the greater French public took little notice. Within a few days though the French were surprised to see the international press reporting their country in flames. Several days later the government caught on that something was amiss in the forgotten banlieues, and, after a careful assessment and spirited discussion, waited a few more days to be really sure something was required of it.

On the twelfth day of rioting Jack declared a state of emergency to take effect at midnight, sportingly giving the rioters a head start on their night's mayhem.

Hopes are raised.

Day 12. Tuesday, November 8: 1,173 cars torched.

Day 13. Wednesday November 9: 617 cars torched.

FRANCE SEES THE FIRST SIGNS OF SLOWDOWN IN VIOLENCE*

PARIS November 9, 2005 (AFP) - Attacks by rioters in France dropped sharply for the first time in nearly two weeks of rampages as a state of emergency took effect Wednesday, raising hopes the worst unrest since May 1968 might be receding.

Day 14. Thursday, November 10: 482 cars torched.

Day 15. Friday, November 11: 463 cars torched.

Day 16. Saturday, November 12: 502 cars torched.

Day 17. Sunday, November 13: 374 cars torched.

Hopes are dashed. Then raised.

AFTER 18 DAYS, UNEASY CALM RETURNS TO FRENCH CITIES*

PARIS November 14, 2005 (AFP) - By 4am Monday 271 vehicles had gone up in flames and 112 people had been detained for questioning across France, according to figures released by the police, compared to 315 torched vehicles and 161 arrests the previous night.

Five police officers were wounded during the 18th night of unrest, against two overnight Saturday.

National police chief Michel Gaudin said there was "a major easing-off."

That very night a bespectacled Jack found 15 minutes in his busy calendar to address an anxious French public in a televised speech.** Jack explained that the riots testifed to "un malaise profond". France faced not one crisis, but three, direction, models, identity: "C'est une crise de sens, une crise de repères, c'est une crise d'identité." In remarking the curfew law in force, he explicitly referenced its origin, perhaps to draw attention to France's handling of her earlier Algerian crisis.

Sure, plenty of French have problems, he went on, but they don't burn down the state. He blamed slack parenting and threatened sanctions. He blamed illegal immigration and people-trafficking [Who knew?].

Jack gave some background on Republican principles and what a super great place France was, making allowances for racism, indifferent governments, and exploiting then discarding her underclass. Perhaps intended for comic relief as France burned, Jack worked in the throw-away line: "Une Nation [scil., France] qui rayonne dans le monde."

He announced a make-work program designed to produce results in time for the next general election. The speech was peppered throughout with vague government gestures, nudges, and wand-waves. It wasn't going to be easy to tidy up the mess ("Oh, j'ai conscience des difficultés."). Unremarked in the press we read was his criticism of the French press: "Les médias doivent mieux refléter la réalité française d'aujourd'hui." Lastly he blamed the political class. Then he rallied all to the Republic! To France!

Sadly this inspiriting rhetoric didn't much inspire:

Asking why it took the president so long to speak publicly on the unrest, the France-Soir newspaper said that "the delay reveals the extent of the presidential incomprehension towards profound shifts in society. "Jacques Chirac wants to come across as a (President Charles) de Gaulle. But the effort lacks the essential -- a direction, a course and above all a leader."

The left-wing Libération noted that Chirac was originally elected in 1995 after promising to deal with France's "social fracture," but said there was nothing in his address to suggest he had grasped the severity of the situation. "It was a speech that barely masks the president's complete confusion when faced with his miserable record in office."

Day 18. Monday, November 14: 285 cars torched.

Day 19. Tuesday, November 15: 215 cars torched.

Twenty days later, ending a cycle of raised-to-dashed hopes, the government redefines criminal normalcy† upwards. Voilà! Everything is magically normal and the "youth" riots are officially declared over.

FRENCH VIOLENCE 'BACK TO NORMAL'*

November 17, 2005 (BBC) - Police said 98‡ vehicles were torched on Wednesday night, marking a "return to a normal situation everywhere in France". A state of emergency remains in force after parliament voted on Wednesday to extend it for three months. ... The violence has cost $230m, insurers say.

Now, all the fuss repackaged as a little arithmetic.

NUMBER OF RIOTERS ARRESTED CLIMBS TO 4,700*

PARIS November 24, 2005 (AFP) - The total number of people arrested for being involved in three weeks of rioting that seared France has climbed to more than 4,700, following the arrest of 1,540 people in the wake of the unrest, interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday. "Arrests didn't stop with the end of the riots," he told a gathering of mayors.

SARKOZY COUNTS COST

PARIS November 28, 2005 (FT) - Nicolas Sarkozy, French interior minister, on Monday delivered a grim reckoning of the damage inflicted by three weeks of rioting... Speaking in Paris to prefects, the government’s representatives in the regions, Mr Sarkozy said more than 200 public buildings had been set alight, 10,000 cars damaged and 4,500 people placed in custody since the riots broke out on October 27.

* Absolutely no Muslims sighted during the writing of this report.

† 11.01.05 (AP/AFP/IHT): "[E]ach night, 20 to 40 cars are torched," Sarkozy said in an interview last week with the newspaper Le Monde. 11.16.05 (Le Monde): Dom, in remarks to l'Assemblée nationale, seems to suggest an upper limit somewhere around 200: "La situation reste difficile dans un grand nombre de quartiers, nous ne pouvons pas accepter que plus de 200 voitures brûlent chaque nuit."

‡ Beeb gets it wrong. The correct number: 163.

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