Good for President Sarkozy! This is a great stand against something such as this.

Burqas are fit for a culture that lives in the dark ages, and wants to keep their women right there. Groups that do not respect a human being in life or in death. They have no respect for any peoples, especially not the women.

It is truly sad that in the USA we have a man who 51% of the people put in the office, and he sits behind a desk signing insignficant bills such cigarette advertising and/or his agenda on health care.

We need to take a lession from the French president on this.
Make a stand where it counts. Have some courage about you.

Thank you President Sarkozy --

Sarkkozy for President of the western world!

I am glad President Sarkozy stated clearly that when in France do as the French do.

The following statement (from above) is pure nonsense -
"These residents, after all, are simply trying to adhere to the beliefs they held long before becoming subjects of the French assimilation machinery."

They are now in Rome and they should do as the Romans do ... they should abandon the beliefs they had before if they wish to be treated as full French citizens with deference to the separation of mosque and state.

Democracies are free but this does not mean that they
should allow themselves to self-destruct.

TJ, last time I checked, 51% constituted a majority. Would you rather have minority rule? What does Obama have to do with Sarkozy's remarks anyway?

I agree that no woman (or human) with real freedom of choice would choose to live in a burqa. When I say freedom, I mean freedom from religious indoctrination, freedom from poverty etc.

Thank you President Sarkozy. Islamic fundamentalism is a menace to ALL societies. It is such humiliation for me as a Muslim man to see such display of feudalism all in the name of religion. Burqas are so demeaning to human dignity. More over its primary role is to subjugate women in the most complete and inhumane way. It is a practice from the dark age of inhumanity to fellow humans. Burqas basically communicate to the rest of the world, that any woman wearing such despicable attire has been completely subjugated and enslaved by a male-dominant culture. So thank you Mr. President. I hope the rest of Europe and the United States would outlaw such primitive of female subjugation. Fundamentalist Muslim men are so weak, so brain washed and so fearful of allowing women any type of freedom, they would go to any length to enforce such barbarity. There's no place for barbarism and slavery in the Western world. Those that insist in such form of slavery should go back where they came from.

I support the French presidents remarks about the Burqas. It is time to grow up. The world of Islam is in the past, we need to open our eyes to Science and reason. The burqas are not within reason. The world of Islam needs to look to the french and see how modern they are and how the use reason when it comes to religion.

Kudos to President Sarkozy for taking such an enlightened stance. How dare the Muslim immigrants move to Western countries that respect women, and then try to foist their barbaric misogyny onto them, in the name of "religious freedom"! I'd vote for Sarkozy as my president any day.

TJ, that was truly an idiotic remark. Its one thing to praise Sarkozky, but to call Obama's actions 'insignificant' is the epitome of ignorance. Millions in the U.S are uninsured, thousands die on a daily basis due to tobacco related diseases - doing what Obama is doing is not only a cost saving approach, it is also a moral and ethical mandate.

Although I personally agree with aspects pf Sarkozky's approach, I can just as well argue that Sarkozky's approach to forced assimilation (also termed as a degree of ethnocide) is denying people the freedom of choice. Do you know of other examples of forced assimilation? What China does to Tibet is one example, what Japan did to the Ainu is another, what Israel did to Palestine is yet another - is this what you want in the western world?

Ah yes -- it's time to start bashing Israel again, even though it has NOTHING to do with the subject of this article. "What Israel did to Palestine" is to defend itself from a daily onslaughter of terror bombings. I would hardly call this "forced assimilation"! And back to the subject at hand --
Vive Sarkozy! A modern leader for a modern world!

Next thing Mr. Sarkozy is going to say is "Mosques are not good for Muslims, they should stop going to Mosques! " ... Why cant he just mind his own business and let women practice their own faith?.. And hello what about Nuns?? Arent they oppressed ??

What China does to Tibet is one example, what Japan did to the Ainu is another, what Israel did to Palestine is yet another - is this what you want in the western world?

Denmak, you have it precisely wrong. It is those of non-Gallic descent that are streaming into France, it is the who play the role of the Chinese in Tibet. It is they who seek to impose themselves where they are really neither needed nor wanted. Indeed, the actual French folk have a term for themselves now, Francais de Souche -- the French of root and branch to distinguish themselves from the mass of recent arrivals. They are the people under demographic pressure from mass immigration -- ironically from the descendent of the very people who sought to rid themselves of French rule and French colonists.

I wonder how does this "Burqa" have a bad affect on anyone and esp Sarkozy....In Islam Burqa is jus an option never a mandate! which means FREEDOM to cover urself !

Looks like he just cant take gals in burqas all covered and not showing their "stuffs".

I wudn be surprised in order to boost the women's image in France he will make bikini compulsory to the office which is of full freedom and modesty...

Sarkozy make ur point clear ... is it just Burqa makes u frustrated or something else ???

I, personally, am a moderate on this issue. Firstly, people should understand the difference between hijabs, niqabs and burqas. A niqab covers the face, except the eyes. This style was created during the Ummayad rule to discourage men from kidnapping potentially attractive women. Yes, I know that this is ridiculous. The burqa is the style that covers the entire body, including the eyes. The taliban enforced this style in their realm, and women were flogged if they did not adhere to it outside their homes. Both of these are oppressive to women and ought to be banned in public.
The hijab, however, should not be banned. This style covers the hair and neck, and it was used by Middle Easterners and South Asians of the Muslim, Jewish, Christian and even Hindu faiths for one reason only: to keep the sand out of a woman's hair. This style ought not to be restricted in any way, for individuals are able to be identified in public easily. The woman's indentity and individuality are not suppressed if she willingly wears it out of respect for a tradition. We, as westerners, should reject nativism and learn to embrace all human freedom, including the freedom to choose whether or not to cover one's hair. (hijab)

aftab, please read the article carefully. The president's criticism was not toward all religious covering, only that which obliterates the face, and rightly so. There is no explanation for the obliteration of women's features other than misogyny. For all we know Neda of blessed memory died because a hair peeked out from her scarf. Your indignation is misdirected.

I LOVE SARKOZY! And GEERT WILDERS! I wish he was POTUS, not bland Obama. Islam is bad for western society.

The countries where these traditions come from, they hang or stone to death women who are victims of sexual assault, they also maim children for petty crimes. When you see a woman with burqua hanging from a crane because she was raped, you never want to see them dressed in this fashion again. The burqua is not from the Koran, it’s from those who twist its message, who give women no value, want them uneducated and want to treat them like dogs. I believe the Koran gives women the right to education, so why do so many Muslims do nothing when girls are barred from schools. I applaud the French President's fearless comments, it's about time we all acted to protect the dignity of women.

sloppypig: The veil is not allowed in Turkish schools, inform yourself before citing examples that demolish your arguments. Turkey is indeed a muslim country but their government forbids women to wear even a veil in public schools. Burqas are a not a sign of religious freedom but a mean to deny freedom for women in the name of religion. Maybe you would like women to be trained to be kept in boxes and let out when you need them and even if you say it is in the name of some God and they love to be in their boxes; you would be as wrong as those defending the burqas and have views that fit the dark ages

"These residents, after all, are simply trying to adhere to the beliefs they held long before becoming subjects of the French assimilation machinery."

What an asinine statement - even women in France face the wrath of their community cleric if they don't adhere to the rules of covering themselves. When there is the possibility of great harm coming to a woman or her family if she doesn't obey, how on earth can you so inaccurately and tritely say they are simply trying to adhere to their beliefs?

When there is no threat of a punitive nature to either the woman or her family, and no stigma involved, then perhaps this statement might be accurate. As it is, it's insultingly offensive and flat out wrong.

As a white male Christian, I find the policy and majority of reactions here alarming. If you were told you couldn't have facial hair or wear a cross visible to others, would you comply? Burqas may be repressive in some cases, but there are women who desire to do so and have fought such bans. France isn't enforcing the Islamic extremism that bothers so many commenters here, who constantly seem unable to equate those few with "Christians" such as Fred Phelps and his "God hates f*gs" family. Every time the masses react with this kind of hate and fear, it's another victory for terrorists and extremists who are, after all, seeking to disrupt our lives.

Sarkozy has a lot of nerve, saying that other people objectify women. If he bans the burqa in France, it won't mean freedom for Muslim women - they will not be able to leave the house.

Many of the womens who wore Burqas are not immigrants. Some are white. And this habit is absolutly not a tradition in North-Africa. Muslim world is very diverse and Morocco and Algeria are so different from Afghanistan or Irak.
And nobody in France are from "gallic" descent.

here's an excellent article that outlines both sides of the debate. it's also very interesting that Mohammed Moussaoui, the President of France’s Representative Muslim Council, supported Sarkozy's call for a ban on the burqa. http://www.mindreign.com/en/mindshare/World-Politics-and-Current-Events/Sarkozy-3a-e2-80-9cMuslim-Burqas-are-Unwelcome-e2-80-9d/sl34045952bp295cpp5pn1.html

i think its hypocritical for the muslim people to say on one hand its because of our religion and the other its because men lust after women so they cover up. Its my opinion a bit extreme, a fine line to walk and parade your religious values by wearing a burka. Why not choose to dress moderately like so many christian faith ? Extremism is why they bombed innocent people in the states, and like this form of dress,only those who subscribe to such views would subscribe to this type of thought.