Excerpt:
The French rightly cop their share of criticism for everything from their hostile hospitality to their wartime surrender habit; as a member of the George Bush administration once noted: "Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an accordion."
But credit where it's due; France must be applauded, and I would argue even emulated, in the way it has banned dehumanising Muslim garb, such as burqas and niqabs, that covers a woman's face. Recently, the European Court of Human Rights upheld the burqa ban after a French woman, who is a devout Muslim, challenged the law for being discriminatory and violating her freedom of religion and expression.
The court backed the country's law and found that they were justified on the grounds of social cohesion with the judges noting that "the face played a significant role in social interaction".