Say what you like about the French, the fact is that while the property damage was pretty huge, the loss of life was incredibly small--especially compared to the typical American week-long riot.
I'm adopting a "wait and see" policy on this. Maybe the French actually handled a bad situation well. On the other hand, the next few years may reveal that a harsh police crackdown and greater casualty numbers were the only way to prevent even worse and longer-lasting horrors in the future.
At this point, I'm just not sure. I do wish them the best of luck, though. And I hope we can learn valuable lessons from the outcome, whatever it turns out to be.
