US embassy cable - 05PARIS196

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000196 
 
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 - MIDDLE EAST - PALESTINIAN 
ELECTION SUDAN PEACE ACCORD TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS 
PARIS - TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2005 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
1. MIDDLE EAST - PALESTINIAN ELECTION 
2. SUDAN PEACE ACCORD 
3. TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
A VARIETY OF SUBJECTS ARE FEATURED BOTH IN LEAD STORIES AND IN 
EDITORIALS, INCLUDING DOMESTIC POLITICAL STORIES AND REPORTS 
ON THE DIFFICULTIES FOR THE TSUNAMI RELIEF EFFORT TO REACH 
AFFECTED AREAS. ONE MAJOR FRONT-PAGE STORY REMAINS THE 
ELECTION OF MAHMUD ABBAS AND THE TASK AT HAND, FOR HIM, SHARON 
AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. IN HIS RADIO COMMENTARY 
BERNARD GUETTA CONTENDS THAT "AMERICANS AND EUROPEANS NEED TO 
SPEAK AS ONE." IN HIS EDITORIAL IN CATHOLIC LA CROIX BRUNO 
FRAPPAT IS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT 2005, THANKS IN PART TO THE 
PALESTINIAN ELECTION, BUT ALSO "DEMOCRACY IN UKRAINE AND A 
PEACE ACCORD IN SUDAN." (SEE PART C) 
 
THE PEACE ACCORD REACHED IN SUDAN IS HERALDED BY LEFT-OF- 
CENTER LIBERATION AS "SECRETARY POWELL'S LEGACY" AND AN "ANTI- 
IRAQ." (SEE PART C) 
 
IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER ECONOMIC LES ECHOS ESSAYIST LAURENT COHEN- 
TANUGI WRITES A COLUMN TITLED "TWO VISIONS OF THE WORLD" WHICH 
MAKE UP "THE BACKDROP LANDSCAPE OF THE RECENT TRANSATLANTIC 
AND INTRA-EUROPEAN TENSION." HE IS OPTIMISTIC THAT PRESIDENTS 
BUSH AND CHIRAC CAN FIND GROUNDS FOR AGREEMENT. (SEE PART C) 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
MIDDLE EAST - PALESTINIAN ELECTION 
 
"THE FRAILTY OF A GREAT HOPE" 
BERNARD GUETTA ON GOVERNMENT-RUN FRANCE INTER RADIO (01/11): 
"IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HOPE FOR THE SETTLEMENT 
OF THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT HAS NEVER BEEN SO GREAT. 
ONE MUST ALSO DEFINE UNDER WHICH CONDITIONS THIS MEASURE OF 
HOPE WILL BECOME REALITY. AFTER THE INITIAL EUPHORIA, THE 
DIFFICULTIES WILL BEGIN TO EMERGE. UNLESS THE WORLD TAKES OVER 
THE PEACE EFFORT, THIS OPPORTUNITY COULD BECOME A MISSED 
OPPORTUNITY. THE U.S. AND THE EU MUST BOTH ACT, BUT IN WHAT 
WAY? THE URGENCY DOES NOT LIE IN TRYING TO ACCELERATE CHANGES 
THROUGH AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE; MENTALITIES NEED TIME IN 
ORDER TO ADAPT TO CHANGES. BUT MEANWHILE THE U.S. AND THE EU 
MUST SPEAK AS ONE AND REAFFIRM TOGETHER DURING THEIR FEBRUARY 
SUMMIT THE OBJECTIVES OF THE ROADMAP, INCLUDING THE CREATION 
OF A PALESTINIAN STATE AND THE RECOGNITION OF ISRAEL BY THE 
ARAB WORLD." 
 
SUDAN PEACE ACCORD 
 
"PEACE UNDER U.S. PATRONAGE" 
CHRISTOPHE AYAD IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (01/11): "IT IS 
COLIN POWELL'S LEGACY. THE PEACE AGREEMENT REACHED IN SUDAN IS 
PROOF THAT ONE CAN BRING A ROGUE STATE TO REPENT WITHOUT 
HAVING TO RESORT TO EITHER ADVENTURE OR WAR. THIS IS A SORT OF 
ANTI-IRAQ, EVEN IF THERE WAS NO COMMON MEASURE BETWEEN SUDAN'S 
ISLAMIC-PRAGMATIC REGIME AND SADDAM HUSSEIN'S REGIME. SUDAN'S 
LEADERS, LIKE COLONEL KADAFFI, SOON LEARNED THAT THEY COULD BE 
ON THE RECEIVING END OF PRESIDENT BUSH'S ANTI-TERRORIST 
CRUSADE AND ACCEPTED TO GO TO THE NEGOTIATIONS TABLE SET BY 
SPECIAL ENVOY JOHN DANFORTH. THE SUDANESE PEACE AGREEMENT WILL 
MOST PROBABLY BE PRESENTED BY PRESIDENT BUSH AS A NEW VICTORY 
IN HIS CRUSADE OF GOOD AGAINST EVIL." 
 
TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS 
 
"TWO VISIONS OF THE WORLD" 
LAURENT COHEN-TANUGI IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS (01/11): 
"THERE ARE TWO VISIONS OF THE WORLD CONFRONTING EACH OTHER. 
THE FIRST, CLEARLY EXPOSED BY FRENCH DIPLOMACY, CLAIMS THAT 
TODAY'S IMBALANCE STEMS FROM THE U.S. POSITION AS SOLE WORLD 
POWER, WHICH GENERATES NEFARIOUS UNILATERALISM AND UNDERMINES 
THE MULTIPOLAR ORDER EMBODIED BY THE UN. THE REMEDY TO THIS 
STRUCTURAL IMBALANCE IS TO FAVOR THE EMERGENCE OF NEW POLES OF 
POWER THAT CAN SERVE AS COUNTERWEIGHTS FOR AMERICA'S 
SUPREMACY, SUCH AS THE EU. THE OTHER OPPOSING VISION RESULTS 
FROM A DIFFERENT ANALYSIS OF EVENTS POST THE COLD WAR AND 
9/11. THE WORLD, ACCORDING TO THIS ANALYSIS, IS THREATENED BY 
GROWING DISORDER, AS ILLUSTRATED BY TERRORISM, ISLAMIC 
FUNDAMENTALISM, NUCLEAR ARMS PROLIFERATION AND THE BIRTH OF 
NEW ECONOMIC, POLITICAL AND MILITARY POWERS WHICH ARE STRONGLY 
NATIONALISTIC, LACK DEMOCRATIC TRADITIONS, AND ARE THEREFORE 
IN OPPOSITION TO WESTERN VALUES. THIS VISION PROMOTES THE IDEA 
OF CONCENTRATING THE WEIGHT OF WESTERN DEMOCRACIES, AND FAVORS 
IN PRIORITY SOLIDARITY BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE U.S. . THESE TWO 
VISIONS ARE RADICALLY OPPOSED. AND DEEPLY INGRAINED IN 
NATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL SENSIBILITIES. NEVERTHELESS THERE ARE 
PRAGMATIC CONSIDERATIONS OVER WHICH BOTH SIDES CAN AGREE: 
EUROPE WILL HAVE ALL THE MORE INFLUENCE ON THE U.S. IF IT IS 
UNITED AND STRONG; RE-ENFORCING THE TRANSATLANTIC PARTNERSHIP 
IS NOT A HOSTILE MOVE AGAINST THE REST OF THE INTERNATIONAL 
COMMUNITY, INCLUDING THE ARAB-MUSLIM WORLD; THE MORE THE EU 
EXPANDS AND DEVOTES ITSELF TO STABILIZING ITS DISTANT SHORES, 
THE MORE IT WILL BE DEPENDENT ON AMERICAN MILITARY 
CAPABILITIES TO INSURE ITS SECURITY AND DEFEND ITS VALUES 
ACROSS THE WORLD. PRESIDENTS BUSH AND CHIRAC SHOULD FIND SOME 
COMMON GROUND FOR AGREEMENT OVER THESE FEW ISSUES." LEACH