US embassy cable - 05PARIS3604

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 003604 
 
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; USVIENNA FOR USDEL OSCE. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, KMDR, FR 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - EU CONSTITUTION REFERENDUM - 
TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONSHIP: AMERICAN NEO-CONSERVATISM AND 
EUROPE 
PARIS - WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2005 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
1. EU CONSTITUTION REFERENDUM 
2. TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONSHIP: AMERICAN NEO-CONSERVATISM AND 
EUROPE 
 
(B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
RISING UNEMPLOYMENT, DIVISIONS BETWEEN THE FRENCH POLITICAL 
CLASSES AND SUNDAY'S REFERENDUM CONTINUE TO DOMINATE HEADLINES 
AND EDITORIALS LEADING LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION TO DRAW A 
COMPARISON BETWEEN FRANCE TODAY AND FRANCE IN 1993 PRIOR TO 
THE RATIFICATION OF THE MAASTRICHT TREATY. "THE RIFT IN FRANCE 
HAS WIDENED. AND WORSE YET, THREATENS TO DIVIDE EUROPE WHEN IT 
NEEDS TO BE CONSOLIDATED. TO MAKE IT INTO MORE THAN SIMPLY A 
FREE-TRADE ZONE." (SEE PART C) 
 
IN EUROPEAN NEWS, THE SEPTEMBER ELECTION IN GERMANY IS 
ANALYZED IN LIGHT OF FOREIGN POLICY SHIFTS IF THE RIGHT CAME 
TO POWER, FOR RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO THE GERMAN CDU PARTY 
WOULD: "PIT WASHINGTON AGAINST PARIS." 
 
TODAY'S EDITION OF LE FIGARO CARRIES A PHOTOGRAPH OF AL QAIDA 
LEADER ABU MUSAB AL-ZARQAWI ON ITS FRONT-PAGE WITH THE 
HEADLINE: "ZARQUAOUI: WOUNDED." THE INSIDE STORY LABELS HIM: 
"THE AMERICANS' BETE NOIRE" 
 
DRAWING LESSONS FROM THE CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL 
ASSOCIATION OF POLICE CHIEFS THAT ENDED YESTERDAY IN PARIS, 
LEFT-OF-CENTER LE MONDE QUOTES CHRISTOPHE CHABOUD, HEAD OF 
UCLAT (COORDINATION UNIT OF THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM) WHO 
EXPLAINS THAT "THE TERRORIST NETWORKS IN FRANCE HAVE ALL BEEN 
FORMED AROUND VETERANS OF ONE OF THESE CONFLICTS [BALKANS, 
AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ]." 
LE MONDE'S EXTENSIVE REPORT ON THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM IN 
FRANCE "ANTI-TERRORISM: THE FRENCH WAY" INCLUDES AN INTERVIEW 
OF PIERRE DE BOUSQUET, DIRECTOR OF THE FRENCH COUNTER- 
ESPIONAGE AGENCY DST. HE OUTLINES THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 
"FRENCH JIHADIST: AS "INCREASINGLY DISSATISFIED, YOUNGER AND 
MORE RADICAL THAN A FEW YEARS AGO." BOUSQUET URGES EUROPEAN 
INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES TO REINFORCE THEIR COOPERATION AND 
INSISTS THAT CALLING THE FIGHT AGAINST TERROR A "WAR" IS A 
DANGEROUS METAPHOR: "TO LIKEN THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM TO A 
WAR CARRIES RISKS, AS IT GIVES TERRORISTS A CERTAIN DEGREE OF 
RECOGNITION USING FORCE FEEDS RESENTMENT AND HATRED OF 
DEMOCRACY. IN THIS REGARD, THE DETENTION CAMP AT GUANTANAMO IS 
UNQUESTIONABLY COUNTERPRODUCTIVE IN THAT IT HAS RALLIED TO OUR 
ADVERSARIES' CAUSE INDIVIDUALS WHO IDENTIFY WITH SEEING THEIR 
MUSLIM BROTHERS CHAINED AND DEPORTED OUTSIDE OF ANY LEGAL 
FRAMEWORK." 
POLITICAL COMMENTATOR DANIEL VERNET FOCUSES ON THE ECLIPSE NEO- 
CONSERVATISM IN THE U.S.BY NEW EURO-SAVVY MEMBERS OF THE BUSH 
ADMINISTRATION IN LE MONDE'S OPINION PAGES. (SEE PART C) 
 
IN THE ECONOMIC PRESS THE PESSIMISTIC OECD FORECAST ON GROWTH 
IN EUROPE AS WELL AS THE RECOMMENDATION TO THE EUROPEAN 
CENTRAL BANK TO LOWER ITS RATES DOMINATE THE HEADLINES. THE 
EDITORIAL IN LA TRIBUNE POINTS OUT THAT: "BECAUSE OF THE EIGHT 
INTEREST RATE INCREASES BY THE AMERICAN FEDERAL RESERVE WITHIN 
THE LAST YEAR, THE ECB'S MARGIN FOR MANEUVER IS PRACTICALLY 
NON-EXISTENT." 
 
THE ON-GOING DISPUTE BETWEEN THE U.S. AND FRANCE OVER 
SUBSIDIES TO AIRBUS PROMPTS LA TRIBUNE TO HEADLINE: "AMERICAN 
PRESSURE ON EADS AND AIRBUS." "THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
HAS TOLD THE PENTAGON NOT TO SIGN ANY CONTRACTS WITH COMPANIES 
THAT HAVE RECEIVED SUBSIDIES FROM GOVERNMENTS THAT ARE PART OF 
THE WTO." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
EU CONSTITUTION REFERENDUM 
 
"DEGRADATION" 
THE EDITORIAL IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION BY JEAN-MICHEL 
THENARD (05/25): "THE SITUATION HAS WORSENED COMPARED WITH 
MAASTRICHT. THE LEFT WING IS DIVIDED. AND THE RIGHT IS TAKING 
STOCK OF THE FAILURES OF THE `CHIRAC DECADE'. NO MATTER WHAT 
THE OUTCOME OF THE VOTE IS ON SUNDAY IN FRANCE, EVEN IF THE 
`YES' WINS, THE POLITICAL CRISIS WILL HAVE GOTTEN WORSE AND 
THE WINNERS WILL HAVE TO TAKE THIS INTO CONSIDERATION." 
 
TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONSHIP: AMERICAN NEO-CONSERVATISM AND 
EUROPE 
 
"THE ECLIPSE OF THE NEO-CONSERVATIVES" 
DANIEL VERNET IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LE MONDE (05/25): "WE SHOULD 
BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURY NEO-CONSERVATISM TOO QUICKLY. JUST 
BECAUSE SOME OF ITS PRINCIPAL FIGURES ARE NO LONGER PART OF 
THE ADMINISTRATION. THEY HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY A NEW BREED OF 
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND DIPLOMATS MANY OF WHOM ARE 
`EUROPISTS.' THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY ARE PARTISANS OF 
EUROPEAN INTEGRATION, SIMPLY IT MEANS THAT THEY ARE EXPERTS ON 
EUROPE. THERE IS NO NEED TO EXPLAIN TO THEM THE DIFFERENCE 
BETWEEN SLOVAKIA AND SLOVENIA FOR EXAMPLE. THIS IS THE CASE 
FOR CONDOLEEZZA RICE'S DEPUTY ROBERT ZOELLICK, OR THE NUMBER 
THREE AT THE STATE DEPARTMENT NICOLAS BURNS. OR EVEN THE 
NUMBER THREE AT THE PENTAGON ERIC EDELMAN. WHO REPLACED A 
NOTEWORTHY NEO-CONSERVATIVE: DOUGLAS FEITH. COINCIDENCE OR 
DELIBERATE CHOICE? IN WASHINGTON, THE OPINIONS ARE DIVIDED. 
CERTAIN FOREIGN OBSERVERS POINT OUT THAT IT IS NOT A MATER OF 
CHANCE IF EXPERTS ON EUROPE HAVE FOUND THEIR WAY TO KEY POSTS 
WITHIN THE ADMINISTRATION WHILE GEORGE W. BUSH'S SECOND TERM 
WAS MARKED FROM THE BEGINNING BY A HAND HELD OUT TO EUROPE. 
OTHERS CONSIDER THAT CONDI RICE CHOSE THESE DEPUTIES BECAUSE 
SHE KNOWS THEM, NOT BECAUSE THEY KNOW EUROPE. EITHER WAY. THE 
U.S. HAS DISCOVERED THAT TO WORK WITHOUT EUROPE CARRIES MORE 
DISADVANTAGES THAN ADVANTAGES. IT IS A QUESTION OF STYLE, BUT 
WITH REGARD TO THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIP STYLE IS OF THE 
ESSENCE. A RETURN TO A MORE TRADITIONAL NOTION OF DIPLOMACY 
AFTER YEARS OF UNILATEREALISM DURING BUSH'S FIRST TERM IS NOT 
INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE RHETORIC THAT AIMS AT PROMOTING 
DEMOCRACY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. BUT EUROPE WOULD BE WRONG TO 
REJOICE TOO QUICKLY AT BEING RID OF ITS NEO-CONSERVATIVE 
INTERLOCUTORS. AND WOULD BE WELL-ADVISED NOT TO APPEAR, IN THE 
EYES OF THE WORLD, TO BE STUCK IN A STATUS QUO WHILE AMERICA 
BECOMES A REVOLUTIONARY FORCE." WOLFF