US embassy cable - 05PARIS8217

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 008217 
 
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 - Alleged CIA Secret Prisons 
The U.S. and the UN China - U.S.: Airbus and Nuclear 
Competition 
PARIS - Monday, December 05, 2005 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
Alleged CIA Secret Prisons 
The U.S. and the UN 
China - U.S.: Airbus and Nuclear Competition 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
President Chirac's participation in the Franco-Africa summit 
and the prospect of a "historic" Chinese Airbus contract are 
today's two major front-page stories. As regards the contracts 
for Airbus, Les Echos headlines: "Airbus Signs a Historic 
Contract with China" while the editorial is titled "One Airbus 
for 800 Million T Shirts." Liberation devotes a major report 
to China's "nuclear dependency" and more specifically to the 
"Franco-American Duel for the Contract of the Century." (See 
Part C) 
 
The media focuses on immigration control as part of President 
Chirac's visit to Africa. Le Figaro headlines: "Chirac's 
Gesture" while the editorial is titled "Chirac in Favor of 
Selective Immigration." Yves Threard believes that for once 
the stance adopted by the President is not just "words." He 
commends France's intention to support the deliverance of 
visas to African professionals, including "professors and 
artists. France has lost some of its prestige in Africa. The 
U.S. has become the new land of plenty for African students." 
 
Europe's construction "through its defense" is the subject of 
an op-ed in Les Echos by Defense Minister Alliot-Marie: "I 
believe that a joint defense and security initiative will 
contribute to revive Europe's confidence and action. We are 
facing new challenges today, including the permanent threat of 
terrorism. For Europe, only a strong cooperation between the 
governments is an adequate response. While all our answers 
cannot be military, they must be above all military. Contrary 
to what some contend, the EU and NATO are not rivals: they 
complement each other. The EU experience in defense matters 
should help it approach the transatlantic alliance without any 
hesitation whatsoever. Europe needs more strategic autonomy. 
The European Defense Agency is a way to optimize our efforts 
and needs. Mostly, the agency encourages the emergence of a 
competitive European defense industry base." A separate op-ed 
in La Croix by Jose Manuel Barosso is titled "More Money is 
Needed for Europe!" In Liberation the President of the 
European Parliament pens an op-ed titled "Inventing a New 
Budget for the EU." 
 
Le Figaro devotes a full-page report to "A Day with the 
Marines in Iraq" by its correspondent Adrien Jaulmes. The 
heading reads: "A year after taking Fallujah, the Americans 
continue to pursue un-stoppable insurgents." Liberation 
carries a full-page portrait of the Belgian woman converted to 
Islam who became a suicide bomber in Iraq, while Le Parisien 
devotes a two-page report to "Al-Qaeda in France: Confessions 
of a Terrorist." Christophe Dubois quotes suspected terrorist 
Safe Bourada: "French institutions are part of the list of our 
enemies." 
 
A major report in Le Figaro is titled: "The Americans Refuse 
to Give Explanations About Secret Prisons" while another story 
is devoted to the new relationship between the U.S. and the UN 
(See Part C). 
 
Le Journal du Dimanche carries a portrait of Pascal Lamy, 
Secretary General of the WTO, "The Man Who Needs to Bring 
 
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Together 149 Countries." "Market capitalism has its faults, 
Lamy is quoted as saying, but everything we have tried in its 
stead for the past 150 years has failed." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
Alleged CIA Secret Prisons 
"Secret Prisons: Washington Refuses To Explain" 
Philippe Gelie in right-of-center Le Figaro (12/05): 
"Secretary Rice is setting out to deal with the toughest 
challenge of her career as Secretary of State. Thanks to 
rather weak pressure from the Europeans, she has no intention 
of lifting the veil covering the involvement of the CIA in 
allegations of rendition flights. On the contrary, she will be 
putting each country in front of its responsibility, asking 
each one to pick sides. Since the original story broke, 
Washington has been promising to answer the formal requests 
for an explanation. The European tour which will take 
Secretary Rice to Germany, Romania, Ukraine and Brussels, will 
 
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be an opportunity for frank discussions between allies. The 
answer which has been chosen is exclusively political. In 
essence, Secretary Rice will say `the war against terror 
concerns you as well as us, and you should point out to your 
publics the advantages (of fighting terrorism) rather than 
point a finger at us.' No U.S. official has officially 
admitted to the existence of secret prisons. Washington 
continues to hide behind legality in order to cut short every 
question, with comments such as `the U.S. respects the 
sovereignty of its allies.' In short, `what has not been 
proven need not be justified.' With this line of attack, 
Secretary Rice hopes to gain something politically, and bring 
 
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her allies to participate in the war against terror. But this 
is also where she could hit the biggest snag, while measuring 
the depth of the transatlantic misunderstanding. The argument 
used in her USA today interview has been the justification for 
detaining `illegal combatants.' In the absence of 
transparency, secret prisons, rendition flights and phantom 
detainees could well dig a deeper transatlantic gap, which had 
begun to diminish with the second Bush term. This could weaken 
the Euro-American cooperation in Iran, Afghanistan and Syria." 
 
The U.S. and the UN 
 
"The U.S. Uses the Budget to Threaten the UN" 
Jean-Louis Turlin in right-of-center Le Figaro (12/05): "Kofi 
Annan postponed his trip to Asia for budgetary reasons. It is 
a sign that he is taking the U.S. threat, unconfirmed but 
implicit, of linking the U.S. contribution to the reforms 
approved in September, seriously. He remembers what happened 
before, and so does John Bolton. The U.S. Ambassador has also 
decided to use the budget to force the institution to change, 
an institution which he openly denigrated before joining it. 
His mission is UN reforms. and his supreme threat is that the 
U.S. could be tempted to marginalize the UN and favor new 
international institutions, which are more receptive or more 
malleable. Whether this is a bluff or not, this trial of 
strength amuses no one: the UN cannot function without its 
budget. In this battle, the U.S. is isolated, while Bolton 
remains faithful to his image of stubborn intransigence. While 
the Americans are not alone in wanting to move UN reforms 
forward, their strong-arming methods are re-enforcing the 
feelings of small nations, which mistrust measures dictated by 
the U.S. According to an expert, by using the budget as a 
hostage, Bolton is placing himself in an untenable position." 
 
China - U.S.: Airbus and Nuclear Competition 
 
"Dependency" 
Patrick Sabatier in left-of-center Liberation (12/05): "There 
is no stake as crucial for globalization than the emergence of 
China as a peaceful superpower through its economic 
integration in the world. The visit to France of China's Prime 
Minister should not be looked at exclusively through the prism 
of industrial contracts signed with French companies. Chinese 
leaders have opted for capitalism and prosperity. Its record 
growth has triggered a great Chinese dependency on the rest of 
the world. History has at times shown that superpowers in the 
making have reverted to aggression in order to ensure their 
growth. Integration through commerce and diplomacy is of 
course much better. France must do everything it can in this 
regard.' 
 
"Franco-American Duel for the Deal of the Century" 
Pierre Haski in left-of-center Liberation (12/05): "A 
difficult technological and political choice for the Chinese: 
who of the French or the Americans will be the partner of 
reference in China's nuclear industry? The stakes are 
essentially political, in a choice that is pitting France's 
Areva against Washington's Westinghouse. France has the 
advantage over the U.S. of having already built nuclear 
reactors in China and offering better long-term after sales 
technical support than the U.S., whose establishment sees 
Beijing as a potential enemy." 
 
"China's Explosive Dynamism" 
Gilles Delafon in right-of-center Le Journal du Dimanche 
(12/05): "As always, a Chinese visit is always dominated by an 
economic agenda. Even so, since 1997, Beijing has become 
France's `strategic' partner. Beijing defends a multi-polar 
world in the face of the U.S. . With the result that France, 
going against the rest of the EU, has asked for the lifting of 
the Chinese arms embargo. On human rights, France does not 
speak up much. But there aren't many nations which choose to 
put democratic values before their economic interests. If one 
considers China's economic evolution, it is undeniable that 
the opening of its market is a much better instrument for 
political liberalization than all the speeches in the world." 
STAPLETON