The IHT, which has had excellent coverage of the French rampaging, breaks the water on an unfavorable comparison between France and the United States. A major faux pas in elite circles:

The images of wild gangs of young men silhouetted against the flames of burning cars came as an unwelcome reminder for France of its growing underclass just weeks after the French watched, in horrified fascination, the anarchy of New Orleans as Americans looted stores and defied the police after hurricane Katrina. [...] Ghettoization is known to all French as a destructive force that afflicts the United States.

The US version of the story in the NYT makes amends for the faux pas with plenty of "America is worse" additions.