French Intifada

Remember the French "youth" riots? Think it's all over and done with? Not according to Michel Thoomis, the secretary general of France's Action Police trade union.

We are in a state of civil war, orchestrated by radical Islamists. This is not a question of urban violence any more, it is an intifada, with stones and Molotov cocktails. You no longer see two or three youths confronting police, you see whole tower blocks emptying into the streets to set their 'comrades' free when they are arrested.

The French are learning that a coat of whitewash makes for very poor armour.