US embassy cable - 05PARIS5999

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 005999 
 
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 - HURRICANE KATRINA AND 
POLITICAL FALLOUT 
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 06, 2005 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
HURRICANE KATRINA AND POLITICAL FALLOUT 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
HURRICANE KATRINA AND THE POLITICAL FALLOUT THAT HAS FOLLOWED 
IN WASHINGTON AND ACROSS THE U.S. WERE PROMINENTLY COVERED 
OVER THE WEEKEND. AMBASSADOR STAPLETON WAS INTERVIEWED ON 
SATURDAY IN POPULAR RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE PARISIEN WHERE HE SPOKE 
OF HIS VISIT WITH PM DE VILLEPIN AND THANKED THE FRENCH 
GOVERNMENT, BUT ALSO THE PEOPLE OF FRANCE, FOR THEIR OFFERS OF 
HELP AND ASSISTANCE. 
 
COVERAGE OF THE HURRICANE AND THE TRAGEDIES OF THE STRANDED 
LEAD SEVERAL EDITORIALISTS TO COMMENT ON AMERICA'S SOCIAL AND 
ECONOMIC FRACTURE. IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS TWO 
COMMENTATORS POINT TO AMERICA'S WEAKNESS, WHILE IN FRANCE SOIR 
THOMAS DE ROCHECHOUART CALLS KATRINA "A WEAPON OF POLITICAL 
DESTRUCTION." (SEE PART C) FRANCE SOIR INTERVIEWS CATHERINE 
DURANDIN OF IRIS: "THE FIRST SHOCK WAS THE TELEVISION COVERAGE 
OF AMERICA'S SOCIAL FRACTURE. CREATING A FEELING OF 
HUMILIATION AND UNEASINESS. THE SECOND ONE WAS SEEING 
COUNTRIES SUCH AS BANGLADESH AND AFGHANISTAN OFFERING TO HELP. 
A NEW FEELING IS COMING TO THE SURFACE IN THE U.S.: AMERICA IS 
NO LONGER THREATENED BY FOREIGN TERRORISM BUT BY A DOMESTIC 
THREAT: SOCIAL FRACTURE. AMERICA HAS NEVER APPEARED SO WEAK. 
FOR THE PRESIDENT, THE CHANGE IN HIS IMAGE BETWEEN THE DAYS 
AFTER 9/11 AND AFTER KATRINA IS CATASTROPHIC. HIS DOMESTIC AND 
INTERNATIONAL POLICIES HAVE SUFFERED A FRONTAL ASSAULT." 
 
CATHOLIC LA CROIX DEVOTES ITS LEAD STORY TO EGYPT'S 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND TITLES: "EGYPT TRIES OUT 
PLURALISM," BUT ADDS THAT MUBARAK IS THE OBVIOUS WINNER OF 
TOMORROW'S ELECTIONS.  AGNES ROTIVEL INTERVIEWS ASSISTANT 
SECRETARY DAN FRIED ON THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS IN EGYPT AND THE 
 
SIPDIS 
ASSISTANCE THE U.S. CAN BRING TO THE PROCESS. "IT IS GOOD NEWS 
WHEN ARAB LEADERS AROUND THE GLOBE, EVEN THOSE WHO ARE NOT YET 
IN A DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM, FEEL THE NECESSITY OF ADOPTING, AT THE 
MINIMUM, THE RHETORIC OF DEMOCRACY. THIS IS A WAY OF OPENING 
THE DOOR. THERE IS NO DEMOCRACY KIT, MADE IN AMERICA.  WE NEED 
TO SPEAK CLEARLY OF DEMOCRACY IN THE NAME OF THE UNITED 
STATES, OF THE TRANSATLANTIC COMMUNITY AND OF ALL WHO SUPPORT 
FREEDOM. WE MUST WORK IN THE REGION WITH EUROPE." 
LE FIGARO LEADS WITH A REPORT ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED CORN. 
THE EDITORIAL STATES "IN PLAYING ON THE PHANTASM OF 
`FRANKENFOODS' AND ON A WARY ANTI-PROGRESS REFLEX, GMO 
OPPONENTS ARE AVOIDING A TRUE QUESTION: HOW FIELDS SEEDED WITH 
GMOS CAN CO-HABIT WITH CLASSICAL CROPS WITHOUT CONTAMINATING 
THEM? ANSWERS EXIST. THE MOST BRUTAL IS TO PRACTICALLY FORBID 
ALL GMO CROPS: THAT'S `GOODBYE PROGRESS' AND IT'S WHAT GERMANY 
HAS DONE. THE MOST SENSIBLE CONSISTS IN PUTTING IN PLACE 
REGULATIONS TO AVOID CONTAMINATION, AS DONE IN SPAIN. FRANCE 
HASN'T DONE ONE OR THE OTHER. FRANCE CAN CHOOSE BETWEEN 
FOLLOWING MADRID AND MAINTAINING ITS RANK AS THE LEADING 
AGRICULTURAL POWER IN EUROPE OR IT CAN IMITATE BERLIN AND 
CONDEMN ITSELF TO DECLINE." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
HURRICANE KATRINA AND POLITICAL FALLOUT 
 
"BUSH'S RUINED RENTR " 
NICOLAS MADELAINE IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS (09/06): 
"PRESIDENT BUSH IS BUT A PRISONER OF EVENTS HE HAS NO CONTROL 
OVER. THE ELEMENTS SEEM TO HAVE JOINED FORCES AGAINST HIM. IN 
THE WAKE OF KATRINA, UNLIKE AFTER 9/11, NATIONAL UNION IS NOT 
THE KEYWORD. THE GOVERNMENT, WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO BE READY TO 
DEAL WITH AN UNPREDICTABLE TERRORIST ATTACK, HAS BEEN CAUGHT 
SHORT BY A NATURAL CATASTROPHE WHICH HAD BEEN FORECAST. 
ATTACKED IN 2001, THE U.S. IS, IN 2005, HUMILIATED. NEW 
ORLEANS HAS THE MAKINGS OF A `TITANIC' WHERE THE RICH COULD 
ESCAPE WHILE THE POOR WERE DYING, THE SCENES CARRIED LIVE ON 
TELEVISION, WITH AMERICA AND THE WORLD WATCHING. TO SUCCEED ON 
THE DOMESTIC FRONT, PRESIDENT BUSH NEEDED A SECOND WIND. FOR 
THE MOMENT, THE WINDS ARE BLOWING AGAINST HIM." 
"KATRINA, A WEAPON OF POLITICAL DESTRUCTION" 
THOMAS DE ROCHECHOUART IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER FRANCE SOIR (09/06): 
"THE CONTRAST WAS TERRIBLE: AS REFUGEES PILED UP AT THE 
SUPERDOME, GEORGE BUSH FLEW OVER THE REGION ON AIR FORCE ONE, 
HIS HIGH CLASS AIRCRAFT. HE WAS TOO FAR AND TOO DISTANT. SINCE 
THEN, THE POLITICAL STORM HAS BEEN GROWING. UNDER ACCUSATIONS 
OF INDIFFERENCE TOWARDS THE BLACK AND THE POOR, PRESIDENT BUSH 
IS QUICKLY LOSING WHAT MADE UP HIS STRENGTH: A RELATIONSHIP OF 
TRUST LINKING A PRESIDENT TO THE PEOPLE. THE NATIONAL UNITY 
THAT SAW THE LIGHT AFTER 9/11 SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN BLOWN TO 
SMITHEREENS. PRESIDENT BUSH IS TODAY BEING ACCUSED OF HAVING 
DISREGARDED DISTRESS CALLS FROM A PART OF AMERICA MADE UP 
ESSENTIALLY OF BLACKS AND HISPANICS. WHAT IS AT STAKE IS 
AMERICA'S WEAKENED SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC MODEL. THE U.S. IS 
EXPERIENCING A PROFOUND EXISTENTIAL CRISIS. KATRINA, THE HAND 
OF FATE, IS TURNING INTO A WEAPON OF POLITICAL DESTRUCTION FOR 
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION." 
 
"THE RAVAGES OF A HURRICANE" 
NICOLAS BAVAREZ IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS (09/06): "WITH 
9/11, THE U.S. MEASURED ITS VULNERABILITY. KATRINA HAS 
DEMONSTRATED THE PERSISTING INABILITY OF THE ADMINISTRATION TO 
DEAL WITH A MAJOR CRISIS. THREE CONCLUSIONS MUST BE DRAWN. THE 
FIRST IS THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED IN THE PREVENTION OF A 
CRISIS. THE SECOND IS THE PERSISTENCE OF A DEEP FRACTURE 
BETWEEN THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH, THE RICH AND THE POOR, THE 
WHITE AND THE BLACK. FINALLY, ONE NOTES THE PRECARIOUSNESS OF 
CIVIL ORDER IN A FREE NATION. KATRINA IS PLAYING THE ROLE OF A 
MAGNIFYING GLASS. THE TRAGEDY OF NEW ORLEANS IS SHOWING UP THE 
CONTRAST BETWEEN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S EXCEPTIONAL 
EFFECTIVENESS IN ECONOMIC MATTERS AND ITS INABILITY IN DEALING 
WITH SOCIAL ISSUES. AMERICA'S ECONOMIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL 
SUCCESS IS IN SHARP CONTRAST WITH ITS SOCIAL IMMOBILITY. THE 
COROLLARY OF KATRINA AND THE PREDICTED DEFEAT OF THE U.S. IN 
IRAQ SHOULD URGE EUROPE TO FIND A COMMON APPROACH TO 
INTERNATIONAL CRISIS MANAGEMENT - FROM TERRORISM TO THE 
ENVIRONMENT TO ECONOMIC CRISES." STAPLETON