France's Streets of Fire

Our report on how years of hopelessness and alienation erupted in rage and fiery protests, rocking France's neighborhoods, moved some readers to deplore the violence of the young rioters. But others were sharply critical of the government's blindness and the insensitivity of French society

Re your reporting on violent protests in France [Nov. 14]: The rioters, who are mostly Arab or black, may also be French, although they say they don't feel as if they are treated like "real" French citizens. But what is a French citizen? France is in the middle of a deep national identity crisis. The population doesn't know what it wants, and the politicians don't know what to offer voters. The cause of the riots goes beyond economic and social problems. France is a radically changing society, and it needs something to give it direction. French citizens need a reason to respect our laws and authorities. We need a reason to come together.
John-Edouard Silva
Paris

Before Americans shake our heads in wonder or look down our noses at the French for allowing extreme inequality to fester for so long, we should pay attention to what Time said about the French having to confront the widening disparities between those who live in soulless apartment blocks and the rest of the country. As you noted, if those problems aren't addressed, "the rage and resentment ... will continue smoldering." That is also true of certain parts of Detroit, Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles and any number of other U.S. cities. We will be forced to confront the same inequalities. It's a question of when, not if.
Neel Blair
Chicago

Social exclusion in France may rely on racial or religious grounds, but it can also result from a person's lack of educational attainment. Those at the top business and political levels in France are trained in the best schools, which are out of the reach of the underprivileged class, regardless of race or religion. But intelligence is unrelated to class. France, a nation that prides itself on its respect for human rights, should embrace the ideals of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité and give up sermonizing.
Didier Braun
Antony, France

Can you imagine any Canadian cabinet minister going to a riot-torn area and calling the residents "scum," as France's Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy did? That should be political suicide, but Sarkozy got away with it. As a French citizen of South Asian origin, I would say that callousness represents the state of affairs in mainstream French society. Unlike the Anglo-Saxons, who have a penchant for politeness and political correctness, the French have no inhibitions about crudely stating their reaction to events. The country needs to get rid of its outmoded approach to race, immigration and integration.
Gautham Venkata-Chalam
Ottawa

It is an illusion to believe the generous social-welfare benefits France offers its citizens — including millions of immigrants mostly from Arab countries — will bring social peace. How can the government, the left-wing media and élite French society turn a blind eye to the hatred brewing in immigrant housing projects? The greatest damage inflicted by the riots has been to the hopes of young Arab men and women who really want to become integrated into their adopted country.
Jayant Gala
Brossard, Canada

The rage expressed night after night by alienated youth dealt a crushing blow to France's self-image as a model of tolerance and social equality. Could such riots occur in Canada, a nation of immigrants, many of whom face severe economic challenges and are excluded from Canadian society? We must make sure that Canada's educational system imparts a sense of shared values and that there are real equal opportunities for all.
Syed Waris Shere
Winnipeg

Failure in Fallujah?
"Looking out on hostile territory," your story on why the Iraqi city of Fallujah is still a threat despite last year's efforts to wipe out the insurgent forces there [Nov. 14], quoted a Marine officer as saying, "You've almost had insurgency Darwinism. All the stupid ones are dead." The surviving terrorists in Fallujah may be the smart ones in the short term, but their willingness to destroy their innocent countrymen will ensure their ultimate extinction. And that will be the fate of fanatical terrorists everywhere.
Ray Gregory
Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.

I am impressed by Time's reporting on the war in Iraq. But I am disturbed by the Bush Administration's claim that the fighting there is part of the "war on terror." This isn't a war on terror. It may be a campaign, a struggle or even a fight, but using the word war gives it a legitimacy it does not deserve. The Bush Administration has used the war on terror to justify pre-emptive strikes, arrests without trial and a morality in which the ends justify the means. The conditions for a just war, worked out over centuries to prevent premature and self-justifying wars, have been subverted by the U.S. It is time to withdraw the illegal army of occupation and devise a timetable for a multinational U.N. force of peacekeepers.
Stephen Liddle
Napier, New Zealand

Perhaps we are looking in the wrong direction for the antidote to violence in the Sunni-dominated areas of Iraq. When Saddam Hussein was in power, he suppressed most resistance through sheer force and an aggressive, overwhelming response to any uprising. I'm sure that the Kurds and the Shi'ite majority, with the support of the U.S., could deal with the Fallujah insurgents. Sometimes the antidote is a bitter pill to swallow.
David Hicks
Duluth, Georgia, U.S.

God and Science
While I applaud Nobel-prizewinning physicist Eric Cornell's evenhanded call for moderation in the intelligent-design debate [Nov. 14], I long to see an article that examines the causality for the controversy and suggests how it might be resolved. Among my friends who are adherents of the doctrine of God-inspired intelligent design, the issue isn't one of competing or conflicting scientific theories but of a desire to make science work for them in the effort to live a purposeful and successful life. We need to focus on finding a solution rather than repeating the same arguments for 100 years.
Rick Dossey
Carmel, Indiana, U.S.

Cornell says there should be no theology (or intelligent design) in science classes and no science in religion classes. Not many high schools, however, have religion classes. In my high school years, I remember struggling to reconcile religious teachings with the theory of evolution. I think religious students would be more comfortable if they were told that science looks at things differently than religion does, and that although they will learn about evolution in science class, it does not mean they must give up their religious faith. There are truths to be found in both.
Susan Zimmer
Bonita, California, U.S.