PARIS RIOTS (AN E-MAIL FROM A FRIEND)

This is an E-mail I recieved today from a friend who has lived in europe quite some time now. He is probably the last of what I would call a true Independent, although most of the time he leans Conservative. He is very credible to me, and has even appeared on various European political shows as a pro U.S. pundit.

This is what he replied when I asked permission to put his article here. (Incidentally he know's me as Tex)

It’s a good idea to keep my name out of it. They do have international phone directories with addresses these days. It should be passed on as something I sent you personally, as a friend (i.e. it was not written with public consumption in mind – just in case your conservative chat lines do have a wide audience).

I’d be interested in how you preface it, i.e. your own view (I suspect we are not that far off on the immigration problem at least – something conservatives seem to find more common ground on these days since the neo-con schism.)

I lived in Aulnay sous Bois north of Paris in 1971, with a group of young people from the US, Europe and (one) Japan. Stayed there for a few months after returning from Germany to start work at CBS News, while looking for an apartment in Paris itself. There were lots of Africans (mostly north, but some sub-Saharans) already in the area then, a few of whom once mugged the American girl from our “commune” as she was walking home from the metro after work, about this time of year coincidentally. Others from our house had occasionally been harassed. This was only a few years after my old neighborhood in Brooklyn went belly up, and rioting in US cities had become commonplace. My warning to the French then (and subsequently to German friends years later when I went to work at RFE in Munich – where the so-called Gastarbeiter program was in full bloom) was that they were setting themselves up for the same kind of problems we were having if they didn’t get their immigration under control.

When I returned to live in Europe (specifically, Austria) in 1991, I saw just how much major sections of cities I once lived in like Paris and Frankfurt had been turned into ghettos by 3rd world immigrants – just like at home. Vienna wasn’t so bad, but a right-wing populist politician named Joerg Haider was making tremendous inroads by warning against Austria’s complacent immigration policy. In order to combat Haider’s growing popularity, the 2 main political parties started tightening up a bit on immigration, while at the same time bemoaning his crude, direct speech. Not long after I returned from Africa, Haider’s party became the 2nd most popular in Austria, and formed a coalition government with the main center-right Christian democrats. Upon which demonstrations broke out here and all over Europe, and Chirac and his Belgian counterpart led a movement to isolate Austria diplomatically, a movement which the US government gladly jumped on board. Hungarian immigrant Congressman Tom Lantos – Israel’s self-proclaimed voice in the US congress and the man who would (will) be chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee should the Dems again become the majority, called for a boycott against Austria.

One of Haider’s more colorful remarks was that Austria didn’t turn back two Turkish invasions of Christian Europe in order to later turn the country over to the Turks through incompetent immigration policies. Ariel Muzicant, the new head of Austria’s main Jewish lobbying organization, unlike his mature, discreet, effective and well-liked predecessor, had already embarked on a very public, media savvy campaign to warn that Haider’s anti-immigration rhetoric augured a return to Nazi-like conditions here (Haider had previously been bending over backwards to convince Jews he was their friend, despite his softball treatment of some right-wing veteran organizations). The US embassy duly broke off contact with that part of the coalition government. Muzicant on several occasions followed the new US ambassador on her periodic trips to the States, making sure Jewish groups would keep up the pressure against the new Austrian government, a pressure Muzicant felt the Ambassador might be trying to loosen through her direct talks in Washington. Because Haider – who with his potential coalition partners realized how untenable his position was internationally – allowed his charming, moderate female deputy (Susanne Riess-Passer) to take the vice-chancellor position that he would normally get as party leader, and because the center right coalition government quickly showed itself to be extraordinarily moderate, reasonable, and more market-oriented, Haider’s deputy Riess-Passer eventually got something of the red carpet treatment in Washington (it helped that she was also in favor of buying a bunch of US made fighter jets). Haider remained ostracized, started getting more radical instead of less, and eventually became outspokenly anti-US government, helping turn more of the right as well as the left against us. Haider’s party itself then broke up into radical (extreme anti-immigration) and moderate elements, with Riess-Passer and others resigning. The more moderates nevertheless held out, but the right-wing party itself was very weakened, and now the center-right, moderate, main stream party pretty much controls the government.

But: the government seems to have learned a lesson or two from events elsewhere in Europe and adamantly opposed Turkey’s membership in the EU. This has outraged the Bush Administration, which openly lobbies for Turkish membership that Austrians fear will lead to an even greater flood of Islamic immigrants here, immigrants from the most backward areas of Asian Anatolia. Austria is again on the US shit-list (how dare they not welcome the chance to enhance the country’s wonderful multi-cultural mosaic!). As if we don’t have enough enemies, little Austria is tow telling the US to shove it – to mind its own g.d. business. I forgot to mention that the US Embassy established a new position here a few years ago (after earlier having decided that - with the cold war over - we could easily merge and reduce the size of the political-economic section). The new US embassy position: a “diversity officer.” Yes, that old missionary wing of our foreign policy establishment deemed we need an American official here to enlighten Austrians on the joys of ethnic and religious diversity. Well, what the hell, there is so little else to do with all that tax money we have.

So Tex, your “Uncle Busy Body” school of foreign policy has still been very much in the ascendancy under your guru president. If he has his way, Vienna will go the way of Paris, London, Amsterdam etc. in this regard (the way major areas of US cites went long ago – but that’s OK for you I suppose; you’re a country boy at heart and don’t like cities per se). You’re all worked up about Islam – but have been crusading for our dim-wit President who has become addicted to meddling abroad, just like those ex-imperial powers of Europe who paved the way for massive immigration from their old colonies and the creation of ghettos such as in my old Aulnay sous Bois. Yes, those north Africans are doing the work that the European natives won’t do (the 50% who are not unemployed at least), so the economic argument goes, or went (familiar?), an argument that ignores the fact that countries that don’t rely on cheap 3rd World labor, like Japan, are much more apt to develop robots and other technology to do the routine work. That plus a decent wage for shit jobs can have an amazing impact on solving the labor shortage problem that ostensibly has provided an additional justification for 3rd world immigration on top of the perceived “obligations” stemming from an imperial past. It will be interesting to see how many more Iraqis the US will eventually have to provide refuge for as a result of our continued “obligation” to them stemming from intrusive attempts to save their country.

The barbarians, my friend, are inside the gates, not at the gates, something I noticed a long time ago at home as well. I don’t mean to equate immigrants with barbarians – but they have a fairly high percentage among them who don’t bring out the best among our own home-grown barbarians. Neither our Republicans nor Democrats are likely to do anything effective about the problem. Nor will Chirac or a French socialist if one eventually replaces him. The local moderate, anti-socialist government in Vienna has pretty much learned to ignore (quite a change) the intrusive platitudes from Washington policymakers. The latest Paris mess has helped shore up its resistance to the airy-fairy politically correct immigration grandstanding of the American and European political class. Margit and I still go to sleep summer nights with our door wide open to the terrace and roof (easily reachable by a potential intruder). And without a gun in the house! The already low crime rate has been declining even further. But the immigration door is far from secure, and the pressure to deal with immigration issues the way the Bushes and Chiracs of our political classes have dealt with them continues. And guys like you still think the answer is for American soldiers to prance around the world armed with incantations and bullets that will turn these medieval societies into thriving democratic economic miracles where the emigration urge will subside. Good luck!

I think so. It gives us an unfiltered look at what somewhere is being thought. I may not like all of my friends points of view. But he doesn't say these things to yank my chain.

He grew up in a certain atmosphere, and felt he could no longer find that ambiance here. so he went where he thinks it exists. One may not be able to go home again, but they can go where it might seem similar.

For me it is easier, South Central Texas is actually in a time warp. Same ideas, same people, as I grew up with, just more of them.

I certainly don't blame anyone from an American city tired of the skin games and crime for leaving. Liberals will wiggle the arguments around in circles trying to blame Americans who never owned slaves in a crass attempt to transfer guilt. There's no reason to stay stuck in liberal guilt games. Or in crime-ridden cities. Some will leave France for the similar reasons. And, of course, some already have.

Based on how important this war is; we better not even think of exiting before we win the peace. A loss in Iraq would be worse than Vietnam for the U.S., and everyone, including the antiwar left, knows that this is the case. (That's why the leftists support the "freedom fighters"). Therefore, someone stating that we're going to lose and therefore need to accept Iraqi war refugees ala the Vietnamese boat people is really rooting for the humiliation of America.

Actually, having lived in some of the places from which Catholics had been displaced, I can tell you that they didn't get the support that the yuppies got. They were considered Neanderthal grunts by the press and some even ended up in jail for protecting their property and their families. The others eventually left.

The yuppies came in later, when many of the old-timers (both black and white) had left the neighborhood or died and there were many vacant properties. Actually, the first group that came in to these neighborhoods were artists and others looking for cheap space in which they could do whatever they wanted to do. When the place was then gentrified, the yuppies began to move in,with the full support of the press and the city government, which is something the Catholic ethnics never had.

My brother lived in Alphabetland with his artist friends for years, carrying a gun in a brown paper bag everywhere he went. Now one bedroom walkups in his neighborhood are renting for thousands of dollars a month.

The facts are, at least as I see it, that the international communist movement, sponsored mainly by Russia & China, have teamed up with the Islamo-fascists in their Statlinist era plan to destroy Western Democracies from within.

Bingo! You sir, have figured it out.

"Don't we have enough lefties in the State Department already? We need to create new positions so we can hire more?"

Hard to say who has more leftists.......the State Department or the CIA, but both are chock full of 'em.

The words to the THE MERRY MINUET are as follows:

They're rioting in Africa
They're starving in Spain
There's hurricanes in Florida
And Texas needs rain

The whole world is festering with unhappy souls
The French hate the Germans
The Germans hate the Poles
Italians hate Jugoslavs
South Africans hate the Dutch
And I don't like anybody very much!

But, we can be tranquil,
Thankful and proud
For man is endowed with
A mushroom shaped cloud
And we know for certain
That some lucky day
Someone will set the spark off
And we will all be blown away.

They're starving in Africa
There's strife in Iran
Whatever nature doesn't do to us
Will be done by our fellow man.

This should be sung as a happy ditty, and about the only thing that has changed in the fifty odd years since it was written is, there's less starvation in spain.

They were considered Neanderthal grunts by the press and some even ended up in jail for protecting their property and their families.

Very true. Its a good thing, btw, that their kids eventually became educated and successful (see my parents). I think that the political and social changes that swept postwar urban America happened so fast that many blue collar Catholics couldn't understand what was going on. Having supported Tammany Hall (which collapsed after the O'Dwyer administration) and not being sophisticated politically, they were unable to organize and express their frustrations in the new sociopolitical climate. The fact that the press would go to places like Canarsie or East New York and specifically look for Archie Bunker clones to interview didn't help either.

Ironically, as you pointed out, the same situation has happenned to "people of color" in more recent times. I've seen black communities in South Florida bulldozed over the past few years in favor of condos. The black folks in liberal Palm Beach County, or Miami-Dade for that matter, lack the political organization to oppose such changes, meaning they will be the first to be displaced.

Which makes me so happy to see their cities and "ancient culture" go up in flames.

Pastor Martin Niemoller had something relevant to say about that...

Your glee is dangerously short-sighted.

Having supported Tammany Hall (which collapsed after the O'Dwyer administration) and not being sophisticated politically, they were unable to organize and express their frustrations in the new sociopolitical climate

Excellent point. It was an entirely different political world for them.

As I said it's too important for us to lose and every smart person knows it. Therefore, anyone who dares to equate Iraq with Vietnam is sectrely rooting for us to lose. Or perhaps is too "intellectually challenged" to see Iraq's importance to the U.S. (Which considering this Euroweenie's self-proclaimed love for Eurofacists isn't too much a stretch).

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