How Responsible Is Sarkozy?

Vox Galliae reports the following reactions to the Marseilles bus burning:

Jean-Claude Delage, a leader in the Alliance police union, designated the savage attack on a bus in Marseilles last night as an attempted murder. "He did not even tell the passengers to get off," he said Sunday night on LCI (a news channel). The bus drivers in Marseilles decided not to work on Sunday.

In a related move, the police union Action Police CFTC, has demanded the resignation of the Interior Minister. "Nicolas Sarkozy is no longer able to adequately insure the safety of persons and property," wrote Michel Thooris, the general secretary, in a communiqué. "Now that this incident has occurred, we demand his resignation."

However, the Google group, Via-Resistancia, comes to Sarko's defense:

Who dared say this about Sarkozy? : "His responsibility is, by necessity, implicated, in his decision to disband the neighborhood police, and in the way he himself verbally provoked a certain number of young persons. Yes, he created an atmosphere of tension."

Are these the words of a Communist from Seine-Saint-Denis? A Socialist deputy? Not at all! It is Jean-Marie Le Pen! So obsessed is he with Nicolas Sarkozy that he goes so far as to place the responsibility for the latest Muslim riots on the Minister of the Interior whom he accuses of "verbally provoking young persons."

Le Pen is pathetic...

There is truth in both points of view. Sarkozy has waffled so many times on crime and illegals that it is impossible not to hold him responsible for his LAXNESS. But of course, that's not what Le Pen is saying. He's saying that Sarko was rude to the "young persons" and thus provoked them. Via-Resistancia is right to denounce this twisted interpretation.

However I would call Le Pen "foxy", not "pathetic". He wants the Muslim vote.

Regarding the "neighborhood police" (police de proximité), this was a relatively recent experiment initiated by Jean-Pierre Chevènement, Sarkozy's predecessor. Its purpose was to personalize the police in the eyes of the residents. These policemen were expected to form close ties with the local administration, to know the territory well and to understand the needs of the population.

I don't know how well (or badly) it worked, nor do I know exactly why Sarkozy ended it.