US embassy cable - 05PARIS7057

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 007057 
 
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 - 
PARIS - Friday, October 14, 2005 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
Chechnya Hostage Situation 
Iraq 
Syria 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
Secretary Rice's "surprise visit to Moscow" this afternoon is 
 
SIPDIS 
briefly noted in Le Figaro and was announced early this 
morning on the all-news television station LCI. 
 
Front pages and editorials are dominated by SNCM (Corsican 
ferries) labor unions' vote to return to work. International 
news focuses on the latest massacre in Chechnya, Iraq, and the 
avian flu threat at "Europe's door." Liberation reports 
"confirmed cases in Turkey and several suspicious cases in 
Romania."  The editorial comments on the "need to implement 
the principle of precaution, made necessary by globalization." 
 
Le Figaro headlines: "A New Massacre in the Caucasus." "True 
scenes of war and more than sixty dead. The Kremlin orders a 
lock down of the region." (See Part C) 
 
Iraq and the vote on the Constitution are reported in Le 
Figaro and La Croix. "Security measures are extremely strict, 
with the country practically cut off from the rest of the 
world" writes Agnes Rotivel in La Croix. (See Part C) France 
Info radio this morning reported that the insurgents have 
promised "bloodshed". 
Rotivel also drafts a portrait of the former Marine, Jimmy 
Massey, author of the book "Kill, Kill, Kill." "We were 
mercenaries. We had carte blanche to kill..." 
 
The speculation surrounding the "suicide" of Syria's Interior 
Minister Kanaan leads political analyst Pierre Prier to 
comment that the Syrian regime is "tearing itself apart from 
the inside." (See Part C) 
 
Le Monde carries a front-page op-ed by former Socialist 
Justice Minister Robert Badinter entitled "With Turkey, Europe 
Renounces." "It is misleading to claim that negotiations will 
not lead to an automatic membership. This has been the case in 
the past thirty years. With Turkey's membership, Europe is 
condemned to becoming an ever-growing market." Le Figaro 
carries an op-ed by Douglas Alexander, the British Minister 
for European Affairs, who writes: "With the opening of the 
negotiations, Europe has done the right thing. Integrating 
Turkey is in the best interest of both parties." 
 
Financial La Tribune reports on the latest conflict between 
Paris and Brussels about the WTO, and specifically over 
Brussels methods: "After the Bokestein directive and the HP 
labor dispute, a new bone of contention has risen between 
Paris and Brussels: President Chirac is asking Barosso for a 
`reorientation of the Doha trade negotiations. Paris is 
concerned about the concessions the European Trade 
Commissioner has been making in the name of the EU-25. 
Yesterday, FM Douste-Blazy called on his British counterpart 
to apprise him of `France's concerns over Brussels leading the 
negotiations without proper consultations." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
Chechnya Hostage Situation 
 
"War Scenes in Caucasus" 
Irene de Chikoff in right-of-center Le Figaro (10/14): "From 
the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea, every Republic is a powder 
keg. Terrorist attacks are spreading and no one is able to 
contain their spread or unravel the causes of the conflicts, 
to determine whether they are caused by growing crime, Islamic 
Jihaddist movements or more ancient ethnic rivalries. At the 
Kremlin yesterday the atmosphere was heavy, with Putin feeling 
that the attack in Nalchik was a direct attack on him. Heads 
will begin to roll. Soon." 
 
 
"Washington Looking for Winning Strategy" 
Philippe Gelie in right-of-center Le Figaro (10/14): "The 
White House continues to make the same bet: by adopting the 
Constitution. the Iraqis will be proving that they are intent 
on building a democracy in the Middle East, in spite of 
terrorism. The escalation of the attacks, and the weak 
political process are undermining these presidential 
certainties. American public support for the war is dropping. 
and soldiers in Iraq have doubts about succeeding. At the same 
time, diplomats are wondering about the chances for 
institutional stability. The weak link is the containment of 
terrorism. Lacking any new strategy to address this, President 
Bush has put all his hopes in the political process. But on 
the ground, what is becoming clear is the reverse correlation 
between the political process and the terrorist escalation. 
`When democracy will have been established, it will be the end 
of the insurrection,' said Vice President Cheney. The fading 
of this mirage is threatening the White House's exit 
strategy." 
 
Syria 
 
"The Syrian Regime Tearing Itself Apart from the Inside" 
Pierre Prier in right-of-center Le Figaro (10/14): "Does the 
spectacular and mysterious death of Kanaan signal the 
beginning of the end for the Syrian regime? . The idyllic 
landscape orchestrated by Hafez el-Assad has vanished. Syria 
no longer has allies: not in the West, and not in the Arab 
world. Damascus is surrounded by hostile nations. The 
Americans are occupying Iraq. Saudi Arabia suspects Syria from 
having orchestrated the assassination of Hariri. France and 
the U.S. became allies to throw the Syrians out of Lebanon. In 
the post-9/11 era, the former key nation of the Middle East is 
now the nation no one needs any longer. The U.S., involved in 
a bloody war in Iraq, sees things in black and white when it 
comes to its friends and allies. The only thing Washington is 
asking from Syria is to stop financing Hezbollah. As for 
France's new stance, it is mainly due to disappointment. Paris 
wanted to show to the world - but especially to the U.S., the 
superiority of its soft approach over force and of its 
intimate knowledge of the Middle East over ideology. France 
was going to lead Syria to democracy, thus presenting a 
counter model to Bush's `Greater Middle East.' Today, the 
regime, under strong international pressure is tearing itself 
apart from the inside. But without a major incident, the 
dissolution of the regime could take a long time." STAPLETON