Is France on the Brink Of A Violent Civil War?

The French Presidential elections are about one year away, but there is plenty of news that has the European political establishment quaking. President Sarkozy is running for reelection and he faces opposition from Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry. But leading in the polls is Marine Le Pen of the National Front, daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen. Her message is direct and simple: multiculturalism has failed France. And continued efforts down that path will lead to a replay of the Balkans and Lebanon, only this time with a French accent. She wants to halt immigration and end citizenship by birthplace which has made hundreds of thousands unassimilated immigrants French citizens. Curiously, she is reaching out to younger voters and women and the response has reportedly been positive.

Marine Le Pen

Surveys reveal that 40% of the French population regard Islam as the enemy within. And with good reason. As we’ve reported here regularly, there are acts of religious-based violence by Muslims directed at non-Muslims. There are Islamic extremists preaching violent revolution. And in large sections of many major cities, the police don’t dare to go for fear of attack by immigrant thugs. So certain metropolitan areas are literally ungovernable.

If Le Pen wins, it will set up a showdown that will possibly tear the country apart. I don’t think Islamic extremists will give up their power in France without a fight. But even if she doesn’t win, the issues she raises cannot be ignored by Sarkozy. The threat to France’s survival does not come from external enemies or a bad economy. It comes from the simple fact that large pockets of the country are now under foreign occupation. I say foreign because large segments of the French population refuse to assimilate. Indeed, they are hostile to French ideals.

Le Pen’s ideas about immigration and citizenship make sense. But France needs to act quickly. The window of opportunity is rapidly closing on doing something about it.