US embassy cable - 05PARIS7213

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 007213 
 
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 - Middle East - Iraq - Syria 
Trade - WTO And Agricultural Subsidies UNESCO- Cultural 
Diversity 
PARIS - Friday, October 21, 2005 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
Middle East - Iraq - Syria 
Trade - WTO And Agricultural Subsidies 
UNESCO- Cultural Diversity 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
An array of domestic social and economic stories dominate 
today's front pages, but democratization in the Middle East is 
a major international story: Syria and the Mehlis report on 
Hariri's assassination is front-paged in Le Figaro which also 
devotes its editorial to Washington's "diplomatic approach" of 
the Syrian issue. In his weekly wrap up column in Le Figaro 
Ivan Rioufol reviews the "democratic headway" made in Iraq, 
but also in other parts of the region. Rioufol describes 
Iraq's "other reality" and criticizes the "pacifists who have 
picked the wrong enemy in Bush as the warmonger." The weekly 
magazine Paris Match editorial is a sweet and sour take on the 
"advances" made in Iraq, in spite of "the brutal and unfair 
war" being waged "without intelligence."  (See Part C) The 
Abbas visit to Washington is reported in Le Figaro and 
Liberation, and the support of President Bush widely noted. 
 
France's position against Brussels on trade and agricultural 
subsidies continue to elicit articles, commentaries and 
interviews. Le Monde stresses France's "isolation" and 
President Chirac's "mistaken battle" as an answer to "France's 
`no' vote on the EU Constitution." Le Figaro Economie which 
quotes Robert Portman from Geneva also stresses that France's 
"pressures" to keep agriculture out of the WTO negotiations is 
creating "a European chaos which is worrying the rest of the 
world." (See Part C) In La Croix French Trade Minister 
Christine Lagarde gives one more interview on the controversy: 
"We are convinced that when it comes to certain agricultural 
products, the EU Trade Commissioner is outside his mandate. We 
do not want the negotiations on agriculture to continue at 
this time." 
 
Le Monde devotes a front-page op-ed to cultural diversity and 
Washington's "hostility" to the UNESCO convention. (See Part 
C) 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
Middle East - Iraq - Syria 
 
"Syria's Hour Has Come" 
Pierre Rousselin in right-of-center Le Figaro (10/21): "El- 
Assad's future may be hanging on the outcome of the 
investigation into Hriri's assassination. Iraq, Syria: two 
very different approaches but the same desire in Washington to 
get things to change radically in that part of the world. It 
would seem that the Americans are making every effort not to 
repeat past mistakes. With France's support, diplomacy has 
taken over in the Syrian crisis. Pressure on the Syrian regime 
will continue and it is hard to see how Damascus will be able 
to overcome its isolation. Secretary Rice previously acquired 
the support not only of Paris but also of Moscow. The next 
step at the UNSC could be about sanctions, but as Paris has 
indicated, on the condition that they be directed against the 
regime and not the civilian population. Thus, contrary to what 
transpired in the Iraqi crisis, an international system is 
being implemented without tension and in the framework of the 
UN to force the Syrian regime to change its stance. One hopes 
that el-Assad will cooperate." 
 
"Iraq: The Other Reality" 
Ivan Rioufol in right-of-center Le Figaro (10/21): "For the 
anti-Bushists, it is a bitter pill to swallow: the Iraqis have 
accepted the democracy offered by the U.S. History is 
correcting the caricature of President Bush and his single- 
mindedness. Anti-Americanism makes one blind: and although 
there is insecurity in the Middle East, it has not kept the 
Israelis and the Palestinians from moving ahead, or the 
Lebanese from opening their eyes, Libya from disarming, and 
calm from coming to Afghanistan. The people know who their 
enemies are, and by voting they have identified them. By 
continuing to point a finger at Bush as a warmonger, the 
`pacifists' have picked the wrong enemy. He and his allies 
have managed to topple a tyrant and engaged in an battle 
against Islamic imperialism." 
 
"The Door Is Slightly Ajar" 
Alain Genestar in right-of-center weekly Paris Match (10/21): 
"We must not, through our ingrained anti-Americanism, insult 
the millions of Iraqis who have voted in spite of terrorist 
threats. One can be radically set against this war in Iraq - 
as we are - against the brutal and unfair way the war was 
decided. One can criticize President Bush yet without 
contradiction acknowledge that the vote in Iraq is good news, 
the first good news since the start of the war. Some will say 
that the Iraqi Constitution is too religious. What they mean 
is too Muslim. But Iraq has a culture and a religion that must 
be respected. This is a Western and racist reflex against the 
`Muslim' nature of the Constitution. Yet we are not shocked 
when the American President swears on the Bible. Democracy as 
we would wish it and as the formerly oppressed Iraqis have 
dreamed it, is not for tomorrow. And neither is peace. This 
terrible war, which everyone continues to criticize because it 
kills innocents and serves as a pretext for terrorism, will by 
force end one day. By voting, the Iraqis have taken the first 
step." 
 
Trade - WTO And Agricultural Subsidies 
 
"France Isolated" 
Left-of-center Le Monde in its editorial (10/21): "The 
confrontation between President Chirac and the European 
Commission is taking on a new dimension just when Europe is 
stalemated after the votes on the EU Constitution. and after 
the confrontations between Paris and London over the joint EU 
agricultural policy. The fact that Mandelson is close to Tony 
Blair has added to the French President's bad mood. But beyond 
this, the way Chirac is demonstrating his opposition to 
liberalization is his answer to the French voters who said 
`no' to the EU treaty. France has many arguments it can use to 
defend its position on agriculture. But once again it is 
practically isolated in this battle. France's continued 
attacks on Brussels have made it lose some of its power of 
persuasion. This defensive strategy, inspired by domestic post 
referendum concerns, is not how France will regain its lead 
role in Europe." 
 
UNESCO - Cultural Diversity 
 
"Cultural Diversity: A Manifest for A Different Globalization" 
Nicole Vulser in left-of-center Le Monde (10/21): "For once 
the world's most powerful nation culture-wise, the U.S., found 
itself naked and alone in its vain battle to introduce 
desperate amendments to try and rid the convention of all 
substance. Washington's frontal hostility towards the 
convention is both political and economic. American pressure 
is strong both at the WTO and in bilateral negotiations. 
American diplomats and trade representatives are directly 
involved in defending America's cultural sovereignty around 
the world in exchange for access to agricultural markets. 
Until now, in the cultural sector, there was no legislation 
outside the national framework. Now there is one. The U.S. 
will not ratify the convention, like the Kyoto protocol. But 
this convention on cultural diversity exists and will act as 
reference, a step forward when compared to the previous 
vacuum." STAPLETON