US embassy cable - 05PARIS5931

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 005931 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
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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 
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ROME/PA; USVIENNA FOR USDEL OSCE. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, KMDR, FR 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - HURRICANE KATRINA 
IRAQ 
PARIS - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 01, 2005 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
1. HURRICANE KATRINA 
2. IRAQ 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
TWO HUMAN TRAGEDIES, CAUSED BY TWO DEVASTATING FORCES, NATURE 
AND RUMOR, SHARE TOP BILLING IN TODAY'S HEADLINES: HURRICANE 
KATRINA AND YESTERDAY'S DEADLY STAMPEDE DURING A PILGRIMAGE IN 
BAGHDAD. CATHOLIC LA CROIX CARRIES A DOUBLE FRONT-PAGE 
HEADLINE: "DEADLY PANIC ON A BAGHDAD BRIDGE" AND "KATRINA 
DEVASTATES THE AMERICAN SOUTH EAST." THE EDITORIAL BY 
DOMINIQUE QUINIO, TITLED "TRAGEDIES" POINTS TO THE "STRANGE 
GEOGRAPHICAL TELESCOPING OF EVENTS WHICH HAS BROUGHT TOGETHER 
IRAQ AND THE U.S." COMMENTARIES EMPHASIZE AMERICA'S INABILITY 
TO PREDICT AND PROTECT, "IN SPITE OF ITS HIGH TECHNOLOGY." "A 
COLOSSUS WITH FEET OF CLAY" SAYS LA CROIX; "THE GREATEST 
NATION IN THE WORLD KNOCKED OUT BY NATURE" WRITES LIBERATION. 
LE FIGARO TITLES ITS EDITORIAL "AMERICA TRAPPED." (SEE PART C) 
 
THE SECOND MAJOR FRONT-PAGE STORY, THE DEADLY STAMPEDE IN 
BAGHDAD WHICH CAUSED THE DEATH OF SOME ONE THOUSAND IRAQIS 
ACCORDING TO LE FIGARO, IS ANALYZED IN THE CONTEXT OF IRAQ'S 
SECURITY SITUATION. FOR GEORGE MALBRUNO, RUMOR, WHICH HAS 
ALWAYS PLAYED A ROLE IN SADDAM'S DAYS, WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE 
TRAGEDY. (SEE PART C) 
 
LIBERATION INTERVIEWS BAKHTIAR AMINE, A FORMER MEMBER OF 
IRAQ'S ALLAOUI GOVERNMENT: "SINCE SADDAMISTS AND TERRORIST 
WERE KEPT FROM ENTERING THE PILGRIMS' ZONE BY THE SECURITY 
POLICE, THEY USED THE RUMOR OF A SUICIDE BOMB TO CAUSE HARM. 
THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR TERRORIST ATTACKS IN IRAQ, CALLED BY 
SOME FOREIGN MEDIA RESISTANT FIGHTERS, ARE NOTHING MORE THAN 
ENEMIES OF ALL IRAQIS, WHATEVER THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS." 
FRANCE SOIR INTERVIEWS DOMINIQUE THOMAS, A MIDDLE EAST EXPERT: 
"THE RECENT NEGOTIATIONS ON THE CONSTITUTION HAVE PROVEN THAT 
TODAY'S IRAQ COULD BE BUILT WITHOUT THE SUNNIS. THAT WOULD BE 
VERY DANGEROUS. THE SUNNIS COULD EASILY AND PERMANENTLY PLUNGE 
INTO AN ARMED CONFLICT. THE AMERICANS INTERVENED IN IRAQ 
WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. THEY ARE 
NOW CAUGHT IN A BIND. TODAY THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE 
FUTURE OF IRAQ. THEY CANNOT LEAVE." 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
HURRICANE KATRINA 
 
"AMERICA TRAPPED" 
PIERRE ROUSSELIN IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO (09/1): "THE 
DAMAGE LEFT BY HURRICANE KATRINA IS UNPRECEDENTED. SURPRISE 
AND CONSTERNATION HAVE TAKEN OVER. FIRST AND FOREMOST KATRINA 
IS A HUMAN TRAGEDY, WHICH ILLUSTRATES ONCE AGAIN OUR INABILITY 
TO FIGHT AGAINST NATURE'S UNLEASHED RAVAGES. USED TO 
HURRICANES, THE MOST POWERFUL NATION IN THE WORLD IS SUDDENLY 
AS POWERLESS AS WAS SOUTHEAST ASIA IN THE FACE OF THE TSUNAMI. 
WHILE THE TSUNAMI WAS EXCEPTIONAL, IT MAY BE THAT IN THIS 
INSTANCE THE ROUTINE OF THE HURRICANE SEASON LED OFFICIALS TO 
UNDERESTIMATE KATRINA'S STRENGTH. THE AREA HIT BY THE 
HURRICANE IS A NERVE CENTER FOR AMERICA. THE TRAGEDY HAS HIT 
AT THE WORST POSSIBLE MOMENT, WHEN THE BARREL OF OIL HAS 
ALREADY HIT THE 70-DOLLAR MARK. THE U.S. COULD BE FACING A GAS 
SHORTAGE. THE AUTHORITIES, WHO WANT TO BE REASSURING, QUICKLY 
ANNOUNCED AN EMERGENCY PLAN AND THE AVAILABILITY OF STRATEGIC 
OIL RESERVES, IN THE HOPES OF MAKING A PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT 
AND KEEPING MARKETS FROM OVERREACTING. THE PRESENT CATASTROPHE 
COULD HAVE LONG-LASTING CONSEQUENCES ON THE AMERICAN ECONOMY. 
WHAT IS MOST SURPRISING IS THAT IN A COUNTRY AS MODERN AS THE 
U.S., THE MAGNITUDE OF THE DEVASTATION IS STILL LARGELY 
UNKNOWN TWO DAYS AFTER THE TRAGEDY." 
 
"TRAGEDIES" 
DOMINIQUE QUINION IN CATHOLIC LA CROIX (09/01): "IN SPITE OF 
ITS HIGHLY EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATION, ITS TECHNOLOGICAL AND 
FINANCIAL MEANS, IN SPITE OF ITS POWER, THE COLOSSUS REVEALED 
IT HAS FEET OF CLAY WHEN IT COMES TO FIGHTING AGAINST NATURE." 
 
"THE LAWS OF THE SKIES AND OF THE JUNGLE" 
PATRICK SABATIER IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (09/01): "THIS 
MAJOR CRISIS . HAS LED PRESIDENT BUSH TO SHORTEN HIS SUMMER 
VACATION AND TO RETURN TO WASHINGTON. NEW ORLEANS WILL REMAIN 
A GHOST TOWN FOR MONTHS. WHAT IS MOST STRIKING AND MOST 
REVEALING IS THE BRUTAL COLLAPSE OF A HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED AND 
DEVELOPED SOCIETY. THE MOST POWERFUL NATION IN THE WORLD 
KNOCKED OUT BY A BLOW THAT CAME FROM THE SKIES AND THE OCEAN. 
THE AUTHORITIES, BOTH LOCAL AND FEDERAL, AT A LOSS, WADE 
THROUGH THE RISING WATERS. AND VIOLENCE, WHICH IS NEVER VERY 
FAR IN A REGION WHERE POVERTY IS OFTEN ENDEMIC, IS TAKING 
OVER, PUNCTUATED BY LOOTING. AFTER THE LAWS OF THE SKIES, THE 
LAWS OF THE JUNGLE ARE TAKING OVER." 
 
IRAQ 
 
"THE DEVASTATING FORCE OF RUMOR" 
GEORGE MALBRUNO IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO (09/01): "AT THE 
ROOT OF YESTERDAY'S TRAGEDY, RUMOR. RUMOR IS AN IMPORTANT 
COMPONENT OF AN IRAQI SOCIETY EXTENUATED BY VIOLENCE AFTER 
HAVING BEEN DOMINATED BY THE CONSTRAINTS OF A DICTATORSHIP. 
UNDER SADDAM RUMOR WAS A STRATEGIC WEAPON USED FOR 
DISSIMULATION. TODAY, IN A COUNTRY SHAKEN BY THE SETTLING OF 
SCORES AND REPEATED TERRORIST ATTACKS, UNVERIFIED INFORMATION, 
PLOTTING AND A DOSE OF IRRATIONALITY HAVE HELPED TO WIDEN THE 
GAP THAT SEPARATES THE SUNNI AND SHIITE COMMUNITIES. THE SUNNI 
INSURGENTS TELL WHOEVER WILL LISTEN THAT THE SHIITES ARE ALL 
IN CAHOOTS WITH IRAN'S SHIITE COMMUNITY. AND THE SHIITES 
ACCUSE ALL SUNNIS OF HAVING BAATHIST CONNECTIONS." 
 
"TRAGEDIES" 
DOMINIQUE QUINIO IN CATHOLIC LA CROIX (09/01): "ALL OF IRAQ'S 
ILLS CAME TOGETHER DURING A PARTICULARLY MURDEROUS DAY. RUMOR 
CAUSED A MOVEMENT OF PANIC THAT LEFT OVER 800 DEAD. A STRANGE 
GEOGRAPHICAL TELESCOPING OF EVENTS BROUGHT TOGETHER POOR 
EXTENUATED IRAQ AND THE U.S." STAPLETON