Cablegate: Media Reaction Report - Global War On Terror: London

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 004878

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 - GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR: LONDON
BOMBINGS
PARIS - WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2005

(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:

GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR: LONDON BOMBINGS

B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION AND RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO CARRY
SIMILAR HEADLINES: "SUICIDE BOMBERS SUSPECTED IN LONDON."
LIBERATION ADDS THAT THIS IS A "FIRST IN EUROPE" AND IN HIS
EDITORIAL GERARD DUPUY SUGGESTS THAT FIGHTING AGAINST THIS
FORM OF TERRORISM IS A "MISSION IMPOSSIBLE." (SEE PART C)
TERRORISM IN GENERAL HOLDS A PROMINENT PLACE IN TODAY'S
REPORTING, WHICH INCLUDES THE SUICIDE ATTACK IN ISRAEL AND THE
CAR BOMBING IN LEBANON, TARGETING OUTGOING DEFENSE MINISTER
ELIAS MURR. IN LE FIGARO THE REPORT NOTES: "CONTRARY TO FORMER
TARGETS, ELIAS MURR, WHO IS PRESIDENT LAHOUD'S SON-IN-LAW, HAS
NEVER BEEN ACCUSED OF BEING A SYRIAN OPPONENT. JUST THE
OPPOSITE. THE ATTACK PROVES THAT THE FORMER DISTINCTIONS
BETWEEN PRO AND ANTI-SYRIANS IS NO LONGER OPERATIVE IN
DAMASCUS."

DOMESTIC ISSUES ARE VERY PROMINENT IN TODAY'S HEADLINES, WITH
PM DE VILLEPIN'S PLAN TO PROMOTE 67 POLES OF EXCELLENCE TO
BOOST REGIONAL RD AND EMPLOYMENT HEADLINED IN LE MONDE AND THE
ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL PRESS. IN HIS EDITORIAL IN REGIONAL
NORD LAIR JULES CLAUWAERT COMMENTS: "FRANCE WAS LAGGING
BEHIND IN DOING WHAT THE AMERICANS HAVE ALREADY DONE: PUTTING
RESEARCHERS, MANAGERS AND ENGINEERS TO WORK TOGETHER."

POPULAR RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE PARISIEN LEADS WITH A CSA POLL
WHICH CONCLUDES THAT "60 PERCENT OF THE FRENCH NO LONGER HAVE
CONFIDENCE IN THEIR PRESIDENT," ADDING THAT "MISTRUST HAS
REPLACED SKEPTICISM." THE POLL COMES ON THE EVE OF BASTILLE
DAY AND THE TRADITIONAL TELEVISED PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS WHICH
INTERIOR MINISTER SARKOZY CONSIDERS OUTDATED, "ESPECIALLY WHEN
THERE IS NOTHING NEW TO REPORT AND MOST OF THE FRENCH ARE
ALREADY ON VACATION." LIBERATION TITLES ITS ARTICLE: "SARKOZY
WOULD PREFER A BASTILLE DAY WITHOUT CHIRAC ON TELEVISION."

LEFT-OF-CENTER LE MONDE CARRIES AN INTERVIEW WITH FORMER
PENTAGON ADVISOR RICHARD PERLE: "FIGHTING AGAINST THE
TERRORIST THREAT INCLUDES BETTER SUPPORT FROM THE EUROPEANS.
AND I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT INTELLIGENCE SERVICES. I AM TALKING
ABOUT IRAQ WHERE THE LEAST WE COULD EXPECT IS NEUTRALITY FROM
FRANCE. NOT ONLY DOES CHIRAC NOT SUPPORT US, HE IS ON A
CAMPAIGN AGAINST US. THIS IS NOT SOMETHING ONE DOES TO A
FRIEND... THIS WAS A MISTAKE. FRANCE IS WRONG TO DEVELOP THE
NOTION OF A NECESSARY COUNTERWEIGHT TO THE U.S. WE ARE TWO
DEMOCRACIES: WE CANNOT OPPOSE EACH OTHER. THE AMERICANS EXPECT
A LOT FROM NICOLAS SARKOZY ON THIS SUBJECT." THIS LAST
COMMENTARY ON SAKORZY WAS PICKED UP BY THE FREE NEWSPAPER
METRO AND SELECTED BY POPULAR RIGHT-OF-CENTER FRANCE SOIR AS
THE "SENTENCE OF THE DAY."

TODAY'S FLIGHT OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY IS PROMINENTLY
REPORTED. LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION COMMENTS THAT IN SPITE OF
THE COSTS AND PROJECTED SHORT LIFESPAN, MANNED SHUTTLE FLIGHTS
ARE A "NECESSITY. WHAT WOULD MANKIND BE IF IT GAVE UP ON
DISCOVERING THE UNKNOWN AND GAVE IN TO FEAR OF INFINITE
SPACE?" BUT SEVERAL INTERVIEWS HOLD AN OPPOSITE VIEW. IN
FRANCE SOIR FORMER FRENCH ASTRONAUT PATRICK BAUDRY SAYS:
"THESE FLIGHTS ARE BOTH TOO COSTLY AND USELESS," WHILE IN LE
PARISIEN ALEX ROLAND, A NASA HISTORIAN SAYS: "THE SHUTTLE IS
TOO FRAGILE AND TOO EXPENSIVE."

(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR: LONDON BOMBINGS

"MISSION IMPOSSIBLE"
GERARD DUPUY IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (07/13): "EVERYTHING
SEEMS TO POINT TO SUICIDE BOMBERS IN THE LONDON ATTACKS. A
FACT THAT IS FAR FROM REASSURING. FROM IRAQ TO ISRAEL THE
PROOF IS IN THAT IT IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO PROTECT ONESELF
AGAINST SUCH ATTACKS. THE `AL-QAEDA' LABEL BEING ATTACHED TO
ISLAMIC TERRORISTS IS VERY MISLEADING: EXCEPT FOR A FEW OF THE
MASTERMINDS, MOST OF THESE OPERATIONS ARE LED BY DECENTRALIZED
AND AUTONOMOUS GROUPS, WHO ARE OFTEN INDIGENOUS, MADE UP OF
HOME BORN INDIVIDUALS. THE THREAT IS A GLOBAL ONE BUT THOSE
WHO THREATEN US COULD BE NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBORS. THIS IS ENOUGH
TO MAKE US REGRET THE COLD WAR AND ITS PROFESSIONAL BAD GUYS.
IT IS OFTEN EASIER TO DETECT A JAMES BOND THAN A RUN-OF-THE-
MILL COMMUTER WHO LOOKS AS THOUGH HE IS GOING TO WORK BUT IS
PLANNING TO BLOW HIMSELF UP."

"A NEW BREED OF TERRORISTS"
BRUNO DIVE IN REGIONAL SUD OUEST (07/13): "THE MYTH OF THE
KILLER COMING FROM ALGERIA OR AFGHANISTAN WAS SHATTERED IN A
CAR OF THE LONDON TUBE. WE IN FRANCE SHOULD ALSO BEWARE
BECAUSE THE SAME FATE IS LURKING BEHIND EVERY CORNER.
CONVERSIONS TO RADICAL ISLAM ARE ALSO HAPPENING ON THIS SIDE
OF THE ENGLISH CHANNEL. THE PROFILE OF THESE NEW COVERTS IS
WELL KNOWN: THEY LIVE IN LOW-INCOME SUBURBS, HAVE LITTLE OR NO
SCHOOLING, ARE JOBLESS AND HAVE OFTEN SERVED PRISON TERMS.
THEY ARE FRENCH BUT NURTURED IN HATE TOWARDS THE WEST. THEY
DON'T ALL TURN TO TERRORISM, ALTHOUGH THEY PROVIDE AN IDEAL
FODDER FOR RECRUITMENT. THIS IS THE CHALLENGE OUR EUROPEAN
DEMOCRACIES ARE FACED WITH."

"THE CHOICE IS BETWEEN SHARING OR TERROR"
FRANCOIS BUTGEAT IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (07/13): "WHAT
IS THE ANSWER TO TERRORISM? IS IT BUILDING NEW WALLS. AND NEW
GUANTANAMOS.? THERE IS A MORE EFFECTIVE WEAPON WHICH HAS
ALREADY BEEN IDENTIFIED BUT WHICH IS NOT BEING IMPLEMENTED
BECAUSE OF ITS HIGH COST. THIS WEAPON IS `SHARING.' THE
SHARING OF ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES. THE SHARING OF
POLITICAL POWER. PALESTINE, ALSO, MUST BE SHARED. THAT PROMISE
MADE LONG AGO IS FAST BECOMING A CHARADE. FINALLY, SHARING
DOES NOT MEAN GIVING ONLY, IT MEANS ALSO KNOWING HOW TO TAKE,
AS IN TAKING THE ADVICE OF OTHERS. IF WE LISTEN ONLY TO
OURSELVES WE LACK PERSPECTIVE. OUR POLITICAL AND MEDIA
ESTABLISHMENTS SUFFER FROM THIS ILL. SHARING OR TERROR, THE
CHOICE IS STILL OURS." STAPLETON

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