France, the home of Liberté, Equalité, Fraternité has decided to dispense somewhat with the latter two in favor of safeguarding the former. Home to an estimated five million Muslims, a legacy of its long and relatively recently ended brutal imperialist past in Africa, especially north Africa and its relative openness to illegal immigrants, they now constitute about 8% of France's population. Not well integrated into French society, there are many "no go" dangerous Muslim neighborhoods where French police refuse to enter. A few years ago, these neighborhoods erupted in nightly rioting that lasted for several weeks. More worrisome for France are fears of terrorist attacks within the country perpetrated by Muslim residents. As a result French intelligence agencies have effectively employed some methods that are decidedly unfriendly to civil liberties, stopping at least 15 planned terrorist attacks according to Edward Cody of the Washington Post. The...(Read Full Post)