US embassy cable - 05PARIS114

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000114 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR INR/R/MR; IIP/RW; IIP/RNY (FRANK); BBG/VOA; IIP/WEU; 
AF/PA; EUR/WE (DEBORAH MENNUTI)/P/SP; D/C (MCCOO); EUR/PA 
(BERBENA); INR/P; INR/EUC; PM; OSC ISA FOR ILN; NEA; WHITE 
HOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE; DOC FOR ITA/EUR/FR AND PASS USTR/PA 
(ANN LUZZATO); USINCEUR FOR PAO; NATO/PA; MOSCOW/PA; ROME/PA; 
BRUSSELS/PA; USVIENNA FOR USDEL OSCE. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, KMDR, FR 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - JAKARTA INTERNATIONAL RELIEF 
SUMMIT MIDDLE EAST - PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS TRANSATLANTIC 
RELATIONS 
PARIS - FRIDAY, JANUARY 07, 2005 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
1. JAKARTA INTERNATIONAL RELIEF SUMMIT 
2. MIDDLE EAST - PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS 
3. TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
LEFT-OF-CENTER LE MONDE CARRIES AN OP-ED BY SECRETARY POWELL 
TITLED "DEVELOPMENT AID TO POOR COUNTRIES: A MORAL 
OBLIGATION." 
 
THE ELECTIONS IN PALESTINE, THE JAKARTA CONFERENCE AND 
MISCELLANEOUS OTHER STORIES ARE FEATURED ON TODAY'S FRONT 
PAGES. FOR LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION JAKARTA IS "THE AID 
SUMMIT" WHILE RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS HEADLINES "THE UN WILL 
OVERSEE RELIEF PLAN." RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO HEADLINES 
"DONOR NATIONS WILL HAVE TO HONOR THEIR PLEDGES." WHILE 
PATRICK SABATIER IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION WRITES, ABOUT 
THE COMPETITION BETWEEN NATIONS, THAT "THE RACE FOR PLEDGES IS 
BETTER THAN THE ARMS RACE," IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO 
MICHEL SCHIFRES EMPHASIZES THE "GROWING POLITICAL ROLE OF BOTH 
CHINA AND INDIA" IN THE REGIONAL RELIEF EFFORT. (SEE PART C) 
 
CATHOLIC LA CROIX AND COMMUNIST L'HUMANITE DEVOTE THEIR LEAD 
TO THE ELECTIONS IN PALESTINE. FOR BRUNO FRAPPAT OF LA CROIX, 
"THE ELECTIONS, ALONG WITH THE NEW SHARON-PERES GOVERNMENT AND 
ARAFAT'S DEATH, PRESENT A NEW WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR THE 
REGION." (SEE PART C) 
 
PRESIDENT CHIRAC PRESENTED HIS WISHES TO THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS 
ON THURSDAY. HIS REMARKS ON IMPROVING TRANSATLANTIC TIES ARE 
ANALYZED IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION. VERONIQUE SOULE 
EXPLAINS THAT "WASHINGTON'S MULTILATERALISM, AS SHOWN IN ITS 
TURNING TO THE UN IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE IRAQI WAR, DOES NOT 
NECESSARILY MEAN A STEP TOWARDS MULTILATERALISM IN GENERAL, 
AND ESPECIALLY NOT IN THE MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT." SHE QUOTES 
DOMINIQUE MOISI OF IFRI (THE FRENCH INSTITUTE FOR 
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS): "FORCED BY REALITIES, WASHINGTON HAS 
HAD TO INITIATE A RAPPROCHEMENT WITH EUROPE OVER IRAQ, THE 
MIDDLE EAST AND IRAN. BUT RAPPROCHEMENT WITH FRANCE IS LESS 
CERTAIN." MOISI PENS HIS OWN COLUMN IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES 
ECHOS. (SEE PART C) 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
JAKARTA INTERNATIONAL RELIEF SUMMIT 
 
"APOCALYPSES" 
PATRICK SABATIER IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (01/07): "PUBLIC 
OPINION IS WELL AWARE OF THE POLITICAL PUBLICITY APPROACH THAT 
LIES BEHIND THE BIG SHOW IN JAKARTA. BUT THE RACE FOR PLEDGES 
IS BETTER THAN THE ARMS RACE. THE MOST POSITIVE ELEMENT OF THE 
SUMMIT WAS THE FACT THAT THE U.S. GAVE UP ON ITS IDEA TO ROB 
THE UN OF ITS NATURAL ROLE. BUT THE QUANTITY OF MONEY PLEDGED 
DOES NOT GUARANTEE EFFECTIVENESS. AID MUST BE USED 
INTELLIGENTLY, AVOIDING WASTE AND CORRUPTION, TWO FREQUENT 
ILLS FOUND WHEN DEALING WITH DISASTER AND IN THESE REGIONS. 
OTHERWISE THE APOCALYPSE OF THE TSUNAMI COULD BE FOLLOWED BY 
OTHER APOCALYPSES." 
 
"CHINA'S OTHER AWAKENING" 
MICHEL SCHIFRES IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO (01/07): "THE 
RACE TO GIVE TO THE TSUNAMI SURVIVORS HAS ALSO LED MANY 
NATIONS TO CLARIFY THEIR POLITICAL CHOICES AND ORIENTATION. 
ONE EXAMPLE IS CHINA. FOR THE FIRST TIME, IN THE WAKE OF A 
WORLDWIDE TRAGEDY, CHINA HAS REACTED LIKE ANY OTHER WESTERN 
NATION AND ACTED LIKE ANY OTHER DEVELOPED NATION, THUS 
REVEALING ITS ASPIRATION TO BECOME PART OF THE CONCERT OF 
NATIONS. CHINA, LIKE INDIA, IS PROVING ITS REGIONAL 
RESPONSIBILITY IN THE FACE OF THE DISASTER, AND ITS DESIRE NOT 
TO LET THE WEST AND JAPAN HAVE A FREE HAND. BEYOND ITS SINCERE 
HUMANITARIAN CONCERN, CHINA'S POLITICAL AMBITION IS OBVIOUS." 
MIDDLE EAST - PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS 
"A TIME FOR HOPE" 
BRUNO FRAPPAT IN CATHOLIC LA CROIX (01/07): "IF MAHMUD ABBAS 
WINS THE ELECTION. HIS CHALLENGES WILL BE ENORMOUS, BECAUSE IN 
THE MIDDLE EAST NOTHING IS EVER SIMPLE. HE WILL NEED TO 
EXERCISE VERY STRONG AUTHORITY OVER THE PALESTINIANS TO STOP 
THOSE WHO MIGHT STILL BE TEMPTED BY THE USE OF TERROR. THE 
OTHER CHALLENGE IS A POLITICAL ONE AND HAS ITS ROOTS IN 
ISRAEL. ABBAS MUST PROVE TO THE SHARON-PERES GOVERNMENT THAT 
HE IS THE CREDIBLE PARTNER AND VIABLE INTERLOCUTOR THAT ISRAEL 
HAS BEEN CALLING FOR. WE ARE ON THE EVE OF SEEING ONE OF THOSE 
`WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY' THAT HISTORY SO SELDOM OFFERS." 
 
TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS 
 
"CHIRAC'S SHEEP'S EYES TOWARDS THE U.S." 
VERONIQUE SOULE IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (01/07): "THE 
DAYS ARE LONG GONE WHEN CHIRAC SPOKE OF THE `ILLEGALITY' OF 
THE WAR IN IRAQ. HE IS NOW SPEAKING IN FAVOR OF `THE VITALITY 
OF THE TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONSHIP.' TO UNDERSCORE THIS DESIRE 
FOR A RAPPROCHEMENT, CHIRAC WILL GO TO WASHINGTON TOWARDS THE 
END OF FEBRUARY. AFTER PRESIDENT BUSH TRAVELS TO EUROPE. THIS 
IS A GESTURE WHICH PARIS READS AS A SIGN OF WASHINGTON'S MORE 
CONCILIATORY ATTITUDE TOWARDS EUROPE AND ITS DESIRE TO 
COLLABORATE FURTHER IN ORDER TO RESOLVE INTERNATIONAL CRISES. 
SINCE THE IRAQI DISASTER, THE AMERICANS HAVE TURNED TO THE UN 
FOR SUPPORT, SOMETHING THAT FRANCE HAS INTERPRETED AS THE 
BEGINNING OF A CONVERSION TO MULTILATERALISM. AND FRANCE HAS 
TONED DOWN ITS CRITICISM OF WASHINGTON. BUT DOMINIQUE MOISI OF 
IFRI BELIEVES THAT WHEN `PARIS TAKES A FEW STEPS FORWARD, 
WASHINGTON TAKES A FEW BACK.' NOTHING PROVES THAT WASHINGTON, 
WHICH HAS HAD TO GIVE IN TO THE UN IN JAKARTA, IS REALLY READY 
TO CONVERT TO MULTILATERALISM, IN PARTICULAR WHEN IT COMES TO 
THE MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT." 
 
"BUSH'S INTEREST IN BISMARCK" 
DOMINIQUE MOISI OF IFRI IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS (01/07): 
"RELIABLE SOURCES IN WASHINGTON INDICATE THAT PRESIDENT BUSH 
HAS RECENTLY READ, AND WITH MUCH INTEREST, JOHN GADDIS'S BOOK 
`SURPRISE, SECURITY AND THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.' SHOULD 
AMERICA'S ALLIES BE CONCERNED OR REASSURED ABOUT THIS 
SURPRISING INTEREST FOR BISMARCK'S DIPLOMACY? BISMARCK'S 
CHANGE FROM REVOLUTIONARY DIPLOMAT TO CONSERVATIVE MAY SUGGEST 
AN EVOLUTION IN THE U.S. DURING BUSH'S SECOND TERM IN OFFICE. 
THE U.S. COULD BECOME A `HYBRID:' MORE RADICAL ON THE DOMESTIC 
FRONT. AND MORE MODERATE WHEN IT COMES TO FOREIGN POLICY. IN 
SPITE OF HIS LACK OF CONSIDERATION FOR THE UN OR HIS NOTED 
LACK OF INTEREST FOR HIS ALLIES, PRESIDENT BUSH WILL NEED TO 
ACCOUNT FOR THE ALLIES MORE THAN HE DID DURING HIS FIRST TERM. 
IF CONDOLEEZZA RICE HAD TO REPEAT HER FAMOUS REMARKS, TODAY 
SHE WOULD PROBABLY SAY `LET'S KEEP RUSSIA IN MIND, ACCEPT 
GERMANY AND IGNORE FRANCE.' IN SPITE OF FRANCE'S DIPLOMATIC 
EFFORTS, THE U.S. IS NOT YET READY TO COMPLETELY FORGET THE 
PAST AND LOOK ON PARIS AS A PARTNER WORTHY OF TRUST." LEACH