US embassy cable - 05PARIS6558

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 006558 
 
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TAGS: OPRC, KMDR, FR 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Global Economy: Cost of 
Reconstruction- Iraq - Hurricanes Katrina and Rita - Political 
Debate Middle East - Gaza Violence 
PARIS - Monday, September 26, 2005 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
1. Global Economy: Cost of Reconstruction- Iraq - Hurricanes 
Katrina and Rita - Political Debate 
2. Middle East - Gaza Violence 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
A wide variety of stories, domestic and international, lead in 
today's front pages. Left-of-center Liberation dedicates its 
lead and a three-page spread to aspiring women in France's 
presidential race, with Defense Minister Alliot-Marie in the 
lead. Socialist Segolene Royal is the other woman politician 
portrayed in Liberation as a potential candidate. Editorialist 
Jean-Michel Helvig comments: "France is going through a phase 
ripe for such speculation: none of the two big parties has an 
uncontested or a sure-win candidate." Right-of-center Le 
Figaro devotes its lead to renewed violence in Gaza. But the 
editorial focuses on President Bush's dilemma regarding 
reconstruction costs in Iraq and in the U.S. after Hurricanes 
Katrina and Rita. La Tribune's editorial focuses on "President 
Bush's Painful Choices" and devotes its front page to "G7 
Concerns Over America's Deficit."  (See Part C) 
 
European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson is interviewed in 
Le Figaro Economie after the G4: "Europe is one of the world's 
most open markets, more even than the United States. Our farm 
subsidies are decreasing, while in the U.S., because of the 
last Farm Bill, subsidies are increasing. In the Doha cycle, 
Europe will be negotiating after having made reforms. The U.S. 
will have to negotiate without having implemented its reforms. 
(On Airline subsidies) The U.S. has unilaterally torn its copy 
of the 1992 agreement, but I still have my copy. Recently, the 
President of Airbus said he preferred to negotiate with Boeing 
rather than going before the WTO." 
 
A controversy over Hewlett-Packard's decision to lay off 
personnel in France as part of a wider European plan has been 
growing in the past few days, leading HP's CEO for France to 
give an interview in Le Figaro Economie: "HP is implanted in 
France for strategic reasons and we have no plans to leave 
France, which is Europe's third largest market. We have 
announced a worldwide restructuring plan, with job losses 
throughout Europe. And what we can observe is that the issue 
has become an affair of state only in France." 
 
The debate over Turkey's EU membership is once again a major 
story. Interior Minister Sarkozy, over the weekend, toned down 
his hard-line position against Turkey, "after receiving orders 
from Chirac" according to France Soir, while in an op-ed in 
Liberation by Pierre Lellouche, a National Assembly 
Representative, explains why "Turkey has not fulfilled its 
obligations and why Europe is not ready for a wider 
expansion." Lellouche, previously in favor of Turkey's EU 
membership, concludes: "Opening negotiations on Turkey's EU 
membership on October 3, without a strong Turkish political 
gesture towards Cyprus and the Armenians, is in my view 
premature." In his editorial in Catholic La Croix Dominique 
Gerbaud comments: "Turkey has become an issue of strong 
divisions and opposition in France's political debate." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
Global Economy: Cost of Reconstruction- Iraq - Hurricanes 
Katrina and Rita - Political Debate 
 
"Bush Between Katrina and Iraq" 
Pierre Rousselin in right-of-center Le Figaro (09/26): "Money 
is the nerve center of war. For Americans, it is also becoming 
the key word linking Iraq and the damages caused by Katrina 
and Rita. While anti-war demonstrators marched in Washington, 
Rita hit Texas and deflected attention from the protesters. 
For President Bush, Hurricane Katrina presented the advantage 
of making people forget about Iraq. The U.S. President, at 
times looking as a commander in chief and at times as a 
construction foreman, handled Rita better than he handled 
Katrina. The fact that he is down in opinion polls is not as 
serious as some say. What is serious is the turn of the 
American political debate. Accused of having ignored the poor 
and the Black, President Bush wants to spend without counting. 
Known for cutting social programs, President Bush has become 
an advocate of the Welfare state. And so the Republican 
message has becomes murky. Those up for midterm re-election 
are adding up the figures: rebuilding the south will cost as 
much as the war in Iraq to-date. For President Bush, the bill 
will be paid, even if it means that the deficit will grow. But 
in the Republican Party concerns are growing, especially 
budgetary concerns, while the Iraqi adventure keeps eliciting 
more and more criticism. President Bush should watch out: his 
allies know that voters hate it when things are not clear, 
particularly where their money is concerned. Angela Merkel has 
learned the hard way." 
 
"Painful Choices" 
Francois Xavier-Pietri in centrist La Tribune (09/26): 
"Hurricane Rita turned out to be less devastating than 
predicted. Small comfort for President Bush who will 
nevertheless be confronted by painful choices. His financing 
plan for rebuilding the South leaves the G7 and the IMF 
somewhat skeptical. The budgetary equation, which the White 
House is facing, is more than a little complex. The figures 
announced for Katrina and Rita are to be added to the 
financing needs for the calamitous adventure in Iraq and 
rising oil prices. Whether over pure politics, with the 
midterm elections, or over economic policy, the U.S. President 
is at an impasse. But the real problem is that an America that 
is forced to slow down is not good for the world's economy. 
This is why G7 and IMF experts are rushing to help. But how 
much can they do? After all, the answers lie with the U.S. 
President." 
 
Middle East - Gaza Violence 
 
"Strategy" 
Gerard Dupuy in left-of-center Liberation (09/26): "There has 
been no grace period for Gaza. The weekend attacks are neither 
surprising nor do they put the Israeli pullout in question. 
The Israeli response was as always more violent than the 
Palestinian attacks, which reconfirms the disproportionate 
balance of firepower of the recent past. We are back to the 
same situation but with a new strategy: on the Palestinian 
side, it is a show of limited belligerence; on the Israeli 
side it is mostly symbolic posturing with real bullets. The 
pullout inevitably had to lead to a phase of consolidation, 
with factions on both sides preparing for the electoral 
battle. Hamas, which is seen as the winner of the elections in 
Gaza, wants to take over the image of the victorious fighter, 
while it demonstrates that Abbas is unable to control Gaza." 
STAPLETON