Chirac Speaks At Last But Says Nothing.

After 10 nights of mayhem and as the violence is spreading, Chirac has finally made his first public comments about the urban unrest at the end of a security meeting of his top ministers. His statement was very short. Here's an extract:

We have made a number of decisions as to reinforce the action of the police and justice, as today, the priority is the reestablishment of security and public order.

The law must have the last word," Chirac said in his first public address on the violence. Those sowing "violence or fear" will be "arrested, judged and punished, (.../...)

We understand quite well that the evolvement of the situation requires the respect of all, justice and equality of chances and we are absolutely determined to go in this direction and pursue the efforts made in this area.

All that for that? So are we supposed to feel better? Reassured? There is nothing there. I think Chirac is clueless. I have noticed that when Chirac or Bush - or most politicians for that matter - say they "understand", it pretty much means that they don't. In fact, I think we can draw a parallel with Bush's cluelessness after Katrina.

Besides, even if the “we" probably stands for the entire government, doesn’t it sound a bit too royalish?

As for the Prime Minister, Dominique De Villepin, he said he will make an announcement tomorrow night on the 8 o'clock news.