US embassy cable - 03OTTAWA2237

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 002237 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAN, WHA/PDA 
WHITE HOUSE PASS NSC/WEUROPE, NSC/WHA 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, KMDR, OIIP, OPRC, CA, TFUS01, TFUS02, TFUS03 
SUBJECT:  MEDIA REACTION: TERRORISM; MIDDLE EAST; 
ECONOMIC ISSUES/WTO 
 
 
TERRORISM 
1.   "Secrets of Sept. 11" 
The leading Globe and Mail (7/31) editorialized: 
"...The intelligence and technical flaws, many of which 
were already known or the subject of intense 
speculation, are detailed in a damning report [the 
joint U.S. congressional inquiry into the terrorist 
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001] that numbers close to 
900 pages. But perhaps the most explosive section, 
which deals specifically with the possible foreign 
assistance made available to the 19 suicide hijackers 
responsible for the attacks, remains secret by order of 
President George W. Bush.... Although complete 
transparency is always preferable, there are times when 
information is simply too sensitive to be made public. 
This may very well be one of those times." 
 
MIDDLE EAST 
2.   "Not all fences make for good neighbours" 
Foreign affairs columnist Marcus Gee observed in the 
leading Globe and Mail (7/31): "Good fences make good 
neighbours, they say. But the security fence that 
Israel is building around the West Bank could have the 
opposite effect, further poisoning relations between 
Israelis and Palestinians and making a peace settlement 
even harder to reach. Even Israel's closest ally, the 
United States, thinks the fence is a mistake.... Israel 
claims that the barrier will keep bombers out and cut 
the number of Israeli casualties, but even the best 
fence will not be able to keep out determined 
terrorists. What it will do is prevent thousands of 
Palestinians from working inside Israel 
by making permanent the ban on Palestinians crossing 
into Israel from the West Bank. The result will be ruin 
for the already devastated Palestinian economy.... 
Construction of the fence continues. Eventually it will 
stretch 700 kilometres and cost $1.5-billion (U.S.). 
Israel says it is not a political border, just a 
security barrier. Perhaps. Perhaps not. What is clear 
is that it is becoming a serious barrier to peace." 
 
ECONOMIC ISSUES/WTO 
3.   "Failing the fair trade test" 
National affairs writer Jim Travers commented in the 
liberal Toronto Star (7/31): "After years of 
confronting protesters in the streets, the World 
Trade Organization is finally face-to-face with the 
much more dangerous enemy within. It is now sadly 
evident that efforts to infuse international 
trade rules with a little equity and a lot of 
enlightened self-interest are bumping headlong into 
more powerful forces.... Unless the U.S. and Europe 
discover new wisdom and generosity in a trade report to 
be released in August, the industrialized world will 
continue to preach the merits of open borders and 
markets, democracy and the rule of law, while denying 
developing countries access to lucrative markets and 
proving that even principles supporting freedom are 
flexible. Those contradictions are loaded with 
implications for an international community standing at 
the clich of a crossroads.... What's needed now is 
evidence that those with wealth are willing to share; 
that rights are universal and inviolate; that security 
is not the exclusive preserve of the most heavily 
armed; that the suffering of one is the suffering of 
all and won't be tolerated. It's a lot to ask of 
those who have so much and find it so difficult to give 
so little." 
 
4.   "The obligation to succeed" 
Editorialist Michle Boisvert wrote in the centrist La 
Presse (7/30): "Did the 146 WTO member countries get 
carried away by the enthusiasm present in Doha to the 
point of underestimating the amount of work to be 
e 
accomplished? In agriculture alone, the sums involved 
are gigantic. The total amount of agricultural 
subsidies is estimated to be $300 billion, 60 percent 
of which are export subsidies. It is the EU countries 
followed by the U.S. who are the champions of 
agricultural subsidies. In light of the discussions 
held in Montreal these two actors do not seem intent on 
modifying the existing scenario. WTO members have to 
succeed even if it means pushing back the deadlines in 
order to establish more realistic calendars.... Major 
economic powers could very well do without the WTO, but 
it is quite a different story for developing countries. 
The WTO is not perfect but it is the only international 
forum where small countries can be heard just as loudly 
as the trade giants." 
 
5.   "The impossible agreement" 
Chief editorialist Jean-Robert Sansfaon wrote in the 
liberal Le Devoir (7/30): "Poor countries are justly 
demanding the end of the mind-boggling subsidies paid 
each year to producers by countries like the U.S. and 
Europe. But yesterday in Montreal, American farmer 
representatives came to shout loud and make clear their 
opposition to such a change. For their part, European 
farmers and their respective governments also refuse 
any reduction to the assistance received under the 
Common Agricultural Policy.... There are so many bones 
of contention in the present cycle of discussions that 
there is little chance the desired consensus will be 
reached by the December 2004 deadline.... Because of 
what is at stake, it is better to push back the 
deadline a few years than to agree to an agreement 
which would only benefit some of the most powerful 
countries." 
 
6.   "Weak protests are good news" 
The conservative Montreal Gazette opined (7/30): "What 
if they gave a world trade conference, and nobody 
protested? That's pretty nearly what happened this week 
in Montreal. Opponents of the World Trade Organization 
talked big, but could stir up only a few hundred 
individuals to demonstrate on the streets against a 
meeting of trade ministers from certain WTO 
countries.... So the good news this week is `the 
system' is tackling some of the issues that fall under 
the general heading of global social justice. The 
additional good news is the public, in Canada at least, 
seems to be coming to accept globalization holds more 
promise than menace. The bad news is the trade 
ministers are moving only very slowly on these matters 
so far. We're almost tempted to suggest what's really 
needed is a great big street demo - a peaceful one, of 
course - in support of more globalization, now." 
 
CELLUCCI