US embassy cable - 05PARIS5458

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 005458 
 
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 - IRAN IRAQ 
PARIS - THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2005 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
IRAQ 
IRAN 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
DOMESTIC STORIES DOMINATE TODAY'S FRONT PAGES EXCEPT FOR THE 
ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL PRESS, WHICH DEVOTES ITS FRONT PAGES TO 
THE RISING PRICE OF OIL, (LA TRIBUNE) WHICH, ACCORDING TO LES 
ECHOS, " HAS NOT DENTED THE CONFIDENCE OF WORLD MARKETS DUE TO 
"PRESIDENT BUSH'S OPTIMISM."  RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO 
EQUALLY DEVOTES ITS EDITORIAL TO AN ECONOMIC MATTER: TITLED 
"CHINA, THE YUAN AND US," THE EDITORIAL COMMENTS: "CHINA HAS 
HAD AN ARRANGEMENT WITH THE U.S. FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS. IN 
EXCHANGE OF A STABLE YUAN, MASSIVE CHINESE INVESTMENTS HAVE 
TRAVELED TO WALL STREET TO BUY AMERICAN BONDS, THUS FILLING 
THE GAP OF AMERICA'S DEFICIT. IT IS PARTIALLY BECAUSE OF THESE 
CHINESE INVESTMENTS THAT BUSH'S ADMINISTRATION WAS ABLE TO 
FINANCE THE WAR IN IRAQ WITHOUT EFFECTING U.S. CREDIT RATES." 
 
IRAQ AND SECRETARY RUMSFELD'S COMMENTS ON IRAN PROVIDING 
SOPHISTICATED WEAPONS TO IRAQ ARE REPORTED IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER 
FRANCE SOIR AND LE FIGARO. FRANCE SOIR QUOTES CNRS EXPERT 
AZADEH KHIAN-THIEBAUT: "IT IS NOT IN THE IRANIANS' INTEREST TO 
HELP THE IRAQI GUERRILLA." "UNLESS OF COURSE," ADDS FRANCE 
SOIR, "WITH THE NUCLEAR CRISIS BETWEEN IRAN AND THE WEST, THE 
IRANIANS ARE EAGER TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THE U.S. ABOUT THE 
MEANS THEY HAVE AT THEIR DISPOSAL IN IRAQ." IN REGIONAL OUEST 
FRANCE THE EDITORIAL COMMENTS ON AMERICA'S "CHANGING MOOD" 
OVER AMERICA'S INVOLVEMENT IN IRAQ, AND WASHINGTON'S TALK OF A 
PARTIAL PULLOUT, "PARADOXICALLY JUST WHEN COUNTRIES SUCH AS 
FRANCE ARE DEMONSTRATING THEIR SUPPORT TO WASHINGTON." (SEE 
PART C) 
 
LE FIGARO ENTITLES AN ARTICLE: "IRAQI LAWYERS DISCOURAGED BY 
NON-RESPECT OF THE LAW." THE ARTICLE STATES IRAQ IS A "SEMI- 
SOVEREIGN" COUNTRY OCCUPIED BY FOREIGN TROOPS "WHO, ACCORDING 
TO A COUPLE OF IRAQI LAWYERS, HAVE RAIDED THEIR LAW OFFICES." 
THE U.S. MILITARY IS REPORTED AS HAVING DENIED THE CHARGES. 
 
IRAN AND THE NUCLEAR CRISIS REMAIN TODAY'S MAJOR INTERNATIONAL 
STORIES. LEFT-OF-CENTER LE MONDE IN ITS EDITORIAL ADOPTS A 
CRITICAL STANCE VIS-A-VIS THE EUROPEANS WHO APPEAR "UNABLE TO 
READ TEHRAN'S DIPLOMATIC MESSAGE." SEVERAL ARTICLES POINT TO 
THE DIVISIONS AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THE IAEA AS WELL AS TO 
WASHINGTON'S SUPPORT OF THE EUROPEAN EFFORT. (SEE PART C) 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
IRAQ 
 
"GETTING OUT OF THE IRAQI QUAGMIRE" 
JULIEN REDON IN REGIONAL OUEST FRANCE (08/11): "SOMETHING IS 
PROBABLY CHANGING IN AMERICA'S PERCEPTION OF THE WAR IN IRAQ. 
FOR A LONG TIME THE AMERICANS STOOD TOGETHER IN THE FACE OF 
ADVERSITY, CONVINCED FOR THE MOST PART THEY WERE RIGHT. BUT AS 
THIS BELIEF BEGINS TO WAVER, IT HAS BECOME MORE DIFFICULT FOR 
THOSE IN POWER TO UPHOLD A MARTIAL STANCE. AND THIS IS WHY 
WASHINGTON IS BEGINNING TO TALK ABOUT THE PROSPECT OF A 
PARTIAL PULLOUT. PARADOXICALLY, THIS IS TAKING PLACE JUST 
WHEN, ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE, THOSE WHO WERE THE MOST 
HOSTILE TO THE U.S. INTERVENTION, AMONG THEM FRANCE, ARE 
SHOWING AN EAGERNESS TO HELP WASHINGTON GET OUT OF THE 
QUAGMIRE. THEY HAVE PROBABLY COME TO REALIZE THAT AN OUTRIGHT 
U.S. PULLOUT FROM IRAQ WOULD BE EVEN MORE PERILOUS, AND NOT 
ONLY FOR THE U.S." 
 
IRAN 
 
"WASHINGTON ENCOURAGES EUROPEAN EFFORTS" 
GUILLEMETTE FAURE IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO (08/11): 
"PRESIDENT BUSH ACKNOWLEDGED HE REMAINS SUSPICIOUS ABOUT 
IRAN'S NUCLEAR AMBITIONS. HE HAS ADOPTED A DISTANT BUT 
WATCHFUL ATTITUDE, LOOKING OVER THE SHOULDERS OF THE EUROPEANS 
TO SEE WHAT IS BEING DISCUSSED AT THE NEGOTIATING TABLE. 
DURING A PRESS CONFERENCE FROM HIS TEXAS RANCH, PRESIDENT BUSH 
DID EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO ERASE ANY LINGERING DOUBTS ABOUT 
THE WHITE HOUSE'S SUPPORT OF THE EUROPEAN DIPLOMATIC EFFORT IN 
THE IRANIAN CRISIS. IF THE IRANIANS WERE TO PERSIST IN THEIR 
ATTITUDE, PRESIDENT BUSH MADE IT CLEAR THE ANSWER WOULD BE A 
CONCERTED RESPONSE BETWEEN THE U.S. AND THE EUROPEANS." 
 
"IRAN'S AMBITIONS" 
LEFT-OF-CENTER LE MONDE IN ITS UNSIGNED EDITORIAL (08/11): "AT 
FIRST GLANCE THE NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE INTERNATIONAL 
COMMUNITY AND IRAN CAN APPEAR COMPLEX AND FULL OF UPSETS. BUT 
IN REALITY IT IS SIMPLE AND POINTS TO A SINGLE TRUTH: IRAN'S 
AMBITION TO GET ITS HANDS ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS. FOR YEARS, IRAN 
HAS PURSUED THIS GOAL WHILE DENYING IT. THIS WAS IRAN'S 
AMBITION UNDER THE SHAH; IT REMAINS IRAN'S AMBITION UNDER THE 
MULLAHS. IN SPITE OF NUMEROUS OBSTACLES, THE IRANIANS HAVE NOT 
ABANDONED THEIR QUEST. IRAN IS CONVINCED THAT COMMERCIAL AND 
MILITARY NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES ARE THE ONLY WEAPONS THAT CAN 
BALANCE THE PRESSURE FROM ITS REGIONAL NEIGHBORS WHERE 
AMERICAN BASES HAVE BEEN SPROUTING. IN ADDITION, THREE NEW 
NUCLEAR STATES HAVE EMERGED IN THIS UNSTABLE REGION: INDIA, 
PAKISTAN AND ISRAEL, IRAN'S DECLARED ENEMY, WHICH IT HAS SWORN 
TO DESTROY. FACED WITH IRAN'S DETERMINATION AND THE SUBTLETY 
OF ITS DIPLOMACY, APT TO BLOW HOT AND COLD, EUROPE IS 
STAMMERING. SUFFERING FROM MYOPIA, IT HAS BEEN UNABLE TO 
DECIPHER THE HARDENING POPULIST STANCE OF IRAN AFTER ITS 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. EUROPE EXPECTED RAFSANJANI BUT HAS HAD 
TO MAKE DO WITH THE ULTRACONSERVATIVE AHMADINEJAD. DEAF, 
EUROPE IS INCAPABLE OF DECODING AND ANTICIPATING TEHRAN'S 
MESSAGES. THE TROIKA, WHICH IS NOW OPENLY SUPPORTED BY 
WASHINGTON, CONTINUES TO BET ON THE VIRTUES OF DIPLOMACY. 
INDEED THERE IS NO OTHER OPTION, OTHER THAN A DANGEROUS 
POLITICAL ESCALATION AND AS A LAST RESORT A MILITARY 
ESCALATION." HOFMANN