US embassy cable - 05PARIS683

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000683 
 
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 IRAQ  STATE OF 
THE UNION 
PARIS - THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 03, 2005 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
1. MIDDLE EAST 
2. IRAQ 
3. STATE OF THE UNION 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
FRONT PAGES ARE FOR THE MOST PART DEVOTED TO THE POPE'S HEALTH 
AND TO DOMESTIC STORIES, EXCEPT FOR LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION 
WHICH DEVOTES ITS LEAD TO THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT AND 
THE FEBRUARY 8 SUMMIT: "TRUCE AT THE SUMMIT." THE EDITORIAL IS 
TITLED "BROKEN TABOOS." (SEE PART C) 
 
BECAUSE OF THE TIME DIFFERENCE, REPORTS ON THE STATE OF THE 
UNION ARE MOSTLY PROJECTIONS ABOUT WHAT THE PRESIDENT WILL BE 
TALKING ABOUT, EXCEPT FOR RADIO FRANCE INTER WHICH CARRIED A 
COMMENTARY BY BERNARD GUETTA TITLED "THE NEW BUSH." (SEE PART 
C) THE REPORT IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO IS TITLED 
"PRESIDENT BUSH'S MAJOR ORALS" WHILE LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION 
TITLES ITS REPORT "BUSH EXPLAINS HIS STRATEGY FOR A BETTER 
WORLD." BOTH ARTICLES STRESS THAT "TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS ARE 
ON THE MEND" AND NOTE SECRETARY RICE'S TRIP AND MAJOR POLICY 
SPEECH IN PARIS NEXT WEEK. IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION PASCAL 
RICHE COMMENTS: "THE PRESIDENT KNOWS HE NEEDS TO IMPROVE HIS 
IMAGE AND WILL TRY TO PRESENT AMERICAN VALUES AND MESSAGES IN 
A BETTER LIGHT." 
 
THE IRAQI ELECTIONS AND THE FUTURE OF IRAQ CONTINUE TO ELICIT 
COMMENTARIES, PARTICULARLY FROM THE WEEKLY MAGAZINES. IN RIGHT- 
OF-CENTER LE POINT NICOLAS BAVAREZ CONTENDS THAT THE ELECTIONS 
"HAVE IN NO WAY LIFTED THE CONTRADICTIONS RAISED BY THE U.S. 
INTERVENTION." (SEE PART C) IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LE NOUVEL 
OBSERVATEUR JEAN DANIEL THINKS THAT "WHILE THE ELECTIONS WERE 
AN UNDENIABLE POLITICAL VICTORY FOR PRESIDENT BUSH, THEY MAY 
IN THE NEAR FUTURE LEAD TO PASSING THE IRAQI PROBLEM OVER TO 
THE EUROPEANS." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
MIDDLE EAST 
 
"BROKEN TABOOS" 
PATRICK SABATIER IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (02/03): "IT MAY 
NOT BE PEACE OR A TRUCE YET, JUST A MOMENT OF DECREASED 
TENSION. BUT IN THE MIDDLE EAST WORDS CARRY THEIR OWN WEIGHT. 
THIS DECREASE OF TENSION IS A HUGE PROGRESS, AND THE ANNOUNCED 
SUMMIT A NEW REASON NOT TO LOSE HOPE, HELPED ALONG BY TWO 
NEWLY BROKEN TABOOS. THE FIRST BROKEN BY SHARON WITH HIS 
WITHDRAWAL PLAN FROM GAZA. THE SECOND BY ABBAS WHEN HE SAID 
THAT THE ARMED INTIFADA WAS A FAILURE AND THAT A RETURN TO A 
POLITICAL SOLUTION WAS NEEDED. THE CHANCE FOR A TRUCE LIES NOW 
WITH THESE TWO MEN. THE PIECES OF THE PUZZLE ARE SLOWLY 
FALLING INTO PLACE FOR PEACE, AS THE NEW U.S. SECRETARY OF 
STATE SAID. BUT EVERYONE MUST PLAY ITS PART. THE U.S., THE EU 
AND ISRAEL'S ARAB NEIGHBORS MUST GRASP WHAT EVERYONE IS 
CALLING A HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY AND ACT WITHOUT HESITATION TO 
CONCRETIZE THIS OPPORTUNITY." 
 
"MIDDLE EAST: THE TEST" 
JOSEPH LIMAGNE IN REGIONAL OUEST FRANCE (02/03): "FOR THE PAST 
FEW WEEKS, WASHINGTON HAS TRIED TO RE-ENFORCE ITS TIES WITH 
ITS ALLIES, STARTING WITH THE LESS DOCILE AMONG THEM. DURING 
HER TOUR OF EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST, CONDOLEEZZA RICE WILL 
PUT PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON THREE OF HER STOPS: GERMANY, TURKEY 
AND FRANCE, THREE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE COUNTRIES WHICH HAD 
REFUSED THEIR HELP IN THE AMERICAN WAR IN IRAQ. IT IS NO 
COINCIDENCE THAT SHE WILL BE GIVING HER SOLE SPEECH ON 
RELATIONS BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE U.S. IN PARIS. EVERYTHING 
SEEMS TO INDICATE THAT ON THIS SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC THE SAME 
SPIRIT PREVAILS. IF HE KNOWS HOW TO GRASP THIS OPPORTUNITY, 
PRESIDENT BUSH WILL GIVE HIS SECOND TERM AN ASPECT WHICH IS 
VERY DIFFERENT FROM HIS FIRST. NOTHING WILL ENHANCE HIS 
INTERNATIONAL IMAGE AS MUCH AS A DECISIVE AND CONCERTED 
CONTRIBUTION TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST 
CONFLICT." 
 
IRAQ 
 
"EURO-AMERICAN RECONCILIATION" 
THOMAS DE ROCHECHOUART IN POPULAR RIGHT-OF-CENTER FRANCE SOIR 
(02/03): "RELATIONS BETWEEN THE U.S. AND A LARGE NUMBER OF ITS 
PARTNERS SEEM TO HAVE IMPROVED SINCE LAST WEEKEND. THE IRAQI 
ELECTIONS SEEM TO HAVE WORKED LIKE A DETONATOR, WITH THE 
GERMANS AND THE FRENCH APPARENTLY SET ON HELPING THE U.S. IN 
IRAQ, JUST AS SECRETARY RICE BEGINS HER TRIP ABROAD." 
 
"IRAQ AND DISENGAGEMENT" 
NICOLAS BAVAREZ IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER WEEKLY LE POINT (02/03): 
"THE IRAQI ELECTIONS ARE GIVING THE U.S. THE OPPORTUNITY TO 
PROCLAIM A POLITICAL VICTORY WHICH, BY THE SAME TOKEN, IS 
HELPING TO HIDE A FAILURE IN STRATEGY. THE IMPOSSIBLE EQUATION 
REMAINS BETWEEN AN IMPOSSIBLE VICTORY, AN UNACCEPTABLE 
WITHDRAWAL, AN INEVITABLE AND PROLONGED OCCUPATION AND AN 
IMPOSSIBLE QUAGMIRE. FAR FROM LEADING IRAQ TO FREEDOM, THE 
ELECTIONS ARE OPENING THE DOOR TO A CIVIL WAR. NONE OF THE 
CONTRADICTIONS INHERENT TO THE AMERICAN INTERVENTION HAVE BEEN 
LIFTED BY THE ELECTIONS, WHICH HAVE ESTABLISHED AN IMPROBABLE 
COALITION BETWEEN IRAQI NATIONALISM AND ISLAMIC FANATICISM. 
THE HERALDING OF THE ELECTIONS AS A MAJOR VICTORY IS PART OF 
THE U.S. PLAN TO PREPARE AND JUSTIFY A DISENGAGEMENT." 
 
STATE OF THE UNION 
 
"THE NEW BUSH" 
BERNARD GUETTA ON GOVERNMENT-RUN FRANCE INTER RADIO (02/03): 
"BUSH IS NO LONGER EXACTLY THE SAME MAN. HE WILL BE A LESS 
DIFFICULT ALLY FOR EUROPE, WHICH HE HAS NOW LEARNED TO CALL 
THE EUROPEAN UNION. IN MATTERS OF FOREIGN POLICY BUSH IS 
SOFTENING THE ANGLES. LIBERTY, WHICH IN HIS INAUGURAL SPEECH 
BECAME A RHETORICAL LEITMOTIF THAT ELICITED CONCERNS ABOUT NEW 
MILITARY ADVENTURES, TURNED OUT IN THE SOTU TO BE A `GUIDING 
IDEAL' AND A CENTRAL GOAL OF AMERICA'S DIPLOMACY, BUT NOT AN 
IMMEDIATE WAR OBJECTIVE." LEACH