US embassy cable - 05PARIS1754

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001754 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR INR/R/MR; IIP/RW; IIP/RNY; BBG/VOA; IIP/WEU; AF/PA; 
EUR/WE /P/SP; D/C (MCCOO); EUR/PA; INR/P; INR/EUC; PM; OSC ISA 
FOR ILN; NEA; WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE; DOC FOR ITA/EUR/FR 
AND PASS USTR/PA; 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 - IRAQ: FORMATION OF NEW 
GOVERNMENT SECRETARY RICE TO ASIA 
PARIS - WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2005 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
1. IRAQ: FORMATION OF NEW GOVERNMENT 
2. SECRETARY RICE TO ASIA 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
FRONT-PAGES AND SEVERAL EDITORIALS ARE DEVOTED TO THE EUROPEAN 
UNION'S BOLKESTEIN DIRECTIVE, A MEASURE AFFECTING THE SERVICE 
SECTOR AND WHICH, ACCORDING TO SOME, IS BEING USED AND ABUSED 
BY THE PROPONENTS OF THE "NO" ON THE EU CONSTITUTION 
REFERENDUM. PRESIDENT CHIRAC IS QUOTED AS CALLING THE 
DIRECTIVE "UNACCEPTABLE." YVES THREARD IN LE FIGARO CRITICIZES 
THE "OPPORTUNISM" AND "DEVIOUSNESS" OF THE BOLKENSTEIN 
DETRACTORS. IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION, JEAN-MICHEL THENARD 
ASKS: "IS IT SO HARD TO FIND SOMETHING TO CRITICIZE IN THE 
EUROPEAN CONSTITUTION THAT ITS ADVERSARIES ARE GOING ELSEWHERE 
TO FIND AMMUNITION TO SCARE THE VOTERS?" 
 
IRAQ AND THE IMPORTANCE OF TODAY'S HISTORIC PARLIAMENTARY 
SESSION IN BAGHDAD ARE NOTED. FOR ADRIEN JAULMES IN LE FIGARO, 
"THE SHIITES AND THE KURDS ARE TAKING THEIR REVENGE." IN 
CATHOLIC LA CROIX, AGNES ROTIVEL GIVES A FACTUAL REPORT OF THE 
SHIITES AND THE KURDS' "LONG ROAD TO POWER." ROTIVEL NOTES THE 
SYMBOLISM OF THE DATE: "IT IS THE ANNIVERSARY DATE OF THE 1988 
GASSING OF THE KURDS IN THE VILLAGE OF HALABJA." 
 
IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO, POLITICAL EXPERT GERARD CHALIAND 
SPEAKS OF "2005 AS A DECISIVE YEAR FOR IRAQ." CHALIAND GIVES 
CREDIT TO THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION FOR CREATING A CERTAIN 
"DYNAMIC" IN THE REGION, BUT CONCLUDES THAT "THE EFFECTS OF 
THE BUSH POLICY ARE MORE OBVIOUS IN RUSSIA'S IMMEDIATE 
PERIPHERY, THAN IN THE GREATER MIDDLE EAST."  IN LEFT-OF- 
CENTER LE MONDE, BRITISH FM JACK STRAW PENS AN OP-ED ON 
BRINGING DEMOCRACY TO THE MIDDLE EAST BUT WARNS AGAINST 
"IMPOSING A MODEL." (SEE PART C) 
 
SECRETARY RICE'S TRIP TO ASIA IS REPORTED IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER 
 
SIPDIS 
LE FIGARO. FOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT PHILIPPE GELIE "THIS 
TRIP IS THE ASIAN EQUIVALENT OF HER TRIP TO EUROPE, WITH A 
SIMILAR FOUNDING SPEECH TO BE DELIVERED IN JAPAN." (SEE PART 
C) 
 
PRIME MINISTER RAFFARIN'S VISIT TO ISRAEL IS ANALYZED IN LEFT- 
OF-CENTER LIBERATION AS "GIVING A NEW DIRECTION TO FRANCE'S 
POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THIS IS THE SOFT MUSIC WE HAVE BEEN 
HEARING FROM THE QUAI D'ORSAY. FM BARNIER, WHO HAS THE 
REPUTATION OF BEING MORE OF AN ATLANTICIST THAN HIS 
PREDECESSOR, DE VILLEPIN, HAS MADE THIS ONE OF HIS GOALS. THE 
FRENCH PRESIDENT HAS OPERATED A RAPPROCHEMENT WITH THE U.S. AT 
SYRIA'S EXPENSE. THE INVITATION TO ATTEND THE INAUGURATION OF 
THE NEW HOLOCAUST MUSEUM IN ISRAEL HAS GIVEN FRANCE AN 
OPPORTUNITY TO ILLUSTRATE THIS NEW DIRECTION, BY SENDING NOT 
ITS FOREIGN MINISTER, AS DID GREAT BRITAIN, GERMANY OR SPAIN, 
BUT ITS PRIME MINISTER." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
IRAQ: FORMATION OF NEW GOVERNMENT 
 
"2005, A DECISIVE YEAR FOR IRAQ" 
GERARD CHALIAND IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO (03/16): "NEVER 
AGAIN WILL THE SUNNIS GOVERN IRAQ AS A HEGEMONY. WE MUST GIVE 
CREDIT TO WASHINGTON FOR THIS, NO MATTER HOW WE FEEL ABOUT THE 
WAR AND THE WAY IT WAS CONDUCTED. TODAY, IRAQ IS TRIPARTITE. 
BUT IRAQ CANNOT BE GOVERNED WITHOUT THE SUNNIS. MILITARILY 
SPEAKING, THE WAR IN IRAQ CANNOT BE WON BY THE AMERICANS. THIS 
FALLS IN THE HANDS OF THE IRAQI ARMY. BUT WILL THIS ARMY, WITH 
THE ADVANTAGE OF NOT BEING A FOREIGN ARMY, SUCCEED? TODAY'S 
SUNNI INSURRECTION EXISTS PRIMARILY THANKS TO SYRIA'S HELP. 
2005 IS A DECISIVE YEAR FOR IRAQ: IT WILL DETERMINE IRAQ'S 
EQUILIBRIUM, OR ITS INSTABILITY. TO AVOID A CIVIL WAR IN IRAQ, 
SUNNI REPRESENTATION MUST BE SUPPORTED. MUCH WILL ALSO DEPEND 
ON IRAQ'S THREE NEIGHBORS: IRAN, SYRIA AND TURKEY. WASHINGTON 
IS CONVINCED THAT ITS STRATEGY OF EXPANDING THE REALM OF 
REGIONAL DYNAMICS BRINGS ABOUT RESULTS. IT IS INDISPUTABLE 
THAT SUCH A STRATEGY HAS RESULTED IN POSITIVE EFFECTS IN 
UKRAINE AND GEORGIA. BUT IN THE GREATER MIDDLE EAST, THE U.S. 
IMAGE IS NOT AS POSITIVE AS IT IS IN THE FORMER COMMUNIST 
WORLD. THE POLICY OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION (IN THE MIDDLE 
EAST) MUST BE CREDITED WITH HAVING PROVOKED A CERTAIN DYNAMIC, 
BUT THINGS ARE STILL HAPPENING. THE RESULTS ARE MORE OBVIOUS 
IN THE RUSSIAN PERIPHERY THAN IN THE GREATER MIDDLE EAST WHERE 
NOTHING DECISIVE HAS HAPPENED YET, EXCEPT FOR THE TOPPLING OF 
IRAQ'S BAATH REGIME." 
 
"WE MUST NOT IMPOSE A DEMOCRATIC MODEL" 
BRITISH FM JACK STRAW IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LE MONDE (03/16): 
"DEMOCRACY MUST BE IMPLEMENTED IN THE MIDDLE EAST'S BEST 
INTEREST, BUT ALSO EUROPE'S. IT IS AN IMPERIOUS NECESSITY TO 
SUPPORT THE REGION'S MODERNIZATION. BUT WE MUST BE HUMBLE. 
DEMOCRACY TAKES TIME. LET US NOT TRY TO IMPOSE A MODEL AND LET 
US LISTEN TO THE NEEDS AND ASPIRATIONS OF THE VARIOUS 
GOVERNMENTS AND THEIR PEOPLE. LET US ABANDON THE ARROGANT AND 
CONDESCENDING NOTION THAT ISLAM IS OPPOSED TO CHANGE. THIS IS 
NOT THE CASE IN INDONESIA OR TURKEY. EUROPE HAS A TRUE 
OPPORTUNITY TO JOIN THE U.S. IN SUPPORTING THE EXPANSION OF 
FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY. LET US DO THIS NOT AS TACITURN 
PARTNERS, BUT BY BRINGING TO THE TABLE WHAT EUROPE KNOWS OF 
THE MIDDLE EAST." 
 
SECRETARY RICE TO ASIA 
 
SIPDIS 
 
"AFTER EUROPE, RICE TO CHARM ASIA" 
PHILIPPE GELIE IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO (03/16): "THE TRIP 
RICE BEGAN YESTERDAY IS MEANT AS THE EQUIVALENT OF HER TRIP TO 
EUROPE, WITH A SIMILAR POLICY SPEECH TO BE DELIVERED IN JAPAN. 
SECRETARY RICE MAY ANNOUNCE THE SALE OF F-16 AIRCRAFT TO BOTH 
 
SIPDIS 
INDIA AND PAKISTAN, THUS IMPLICITLY ACKNOWLEDGING THEIR STATUS 
AS NUCLEAR POWERS. MORE GENERALLY, THE TRIP GIVES WASHINGTON 
AN OPPORTUNITY TO DEFINE ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA. WHOSE 
RECENT LAW ON THE USE OF FORCE AGAINST TAIWAN RE-ENFORCES 
AMERICA'S CONCERNS." LEACH