Cablegate: Media Reaction Report - Hurricane Katrina And

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 005999

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 - HURRICANE KATRINA AND
POLITICAL FALLOUT
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 06, 2005

(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:

HURRICANE KATRINA AND POLITICAL FALLOUT

B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

HURRICANE KATRINA AND THE POLITICAL FALLOUT THAT HAS FOLLOWED
IN WASHINGTON AND ACROSS THE U.S. WERE PROMINENTLY COVERED
OVER THE WEEKEND. AMBASSADOR STAPLETON WAS INTERVIEWED ON
SATURDAY IN POPULAR RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE PARISIEN WHERE HE SPOKE
OF HIS VISIT WITH PM DE VILLEPIN AND THANKED THE FRENCH
GOVERNMENT, BUT ALSO THE PEOPLE OF FRANCE, FOR THEIR OFFERS OF
HELP AND ASSISTANCE.

COVERAGE OF THE HURRICANE AND THE TRAGEDIES OF THE STRANDED
LEAD SEVERAL EDITORIALISTS TO COMMENT ON AMERICA'S SOCIAL AND
ECONOMIC FRACTURE. IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS TWO
COMMENTATORS POINT TO AMERICA'S WEAKNESS, WHILE IN FRANCE SOIR
THOMAS DE ROCHECHOUART CALLS KATRINA "A WEAPON OF POLITICAL
DESTRUCTION." (SEE PART C) FRANCE SOIR INTERVIEWS CATHERINE
DURANDIN OF IRIS: "THE FIRST SHOCK WAS THE TELEVISION COVERAGE
OF AMERICA'S SOCIAL FRACTURE. CREATING A FEELING OF
HUMILIATION AND UNEASINESS. THE SECOND ONE WAS SEEING
COUNTRIES SUCH AS BANGLADESH AND AFGHANISTAN OFFERING TO HELP.
A NEW FEELING IS COMING TO THE SURFACE IN THE U.S.: AMERICA IS
NO LONGER THREATENED BY FOREIGN TERRORISM BUT BY A DOMESTIC
THREAT: SOCIAL FRACTURE. AMERICA HAS NEVER APPEARED SO WEAK.
FOR THE PRESIDENT, THE CHANGE IN HIS IMAGE BETWEEN THE DAYS
AFTER 9/11 AND AFTER KATRINA IS CATASTROPHIC. HIS DOMESTIC AND
INTERNATIONAL POLICIES HAVE SUFFERED A FRONTAL ASSAULT."

CATHOLIC LA CROIX DEVOTES ITS LEAD STORY TO EGYPT'S
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND TITLES: "EGYPT TRIES OUT
PLURALISM," BUT ADDS THAT MUBARAK IS THE OBVIOUS WINNER OF
TOMORROW'S ELECTIONS. AGNES ROTIVEL INTERVIEWS ASSISTANT
SECRETARY DAN FRIED ON THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS IN EGYPT AND THE

SIPDIS
ASSISTANCE THE U.S. CAN BRING TO THE PROCESS. "IT IS GOOD NEWS
WHEN ARAB LEADERS AROUND THE GLOBE, EVEN THOSE WHO ARE NOT YET
IN A DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM, FEEL THE NECESSITY OF ADOPTING, AT THE
MINIMUM, THE RHETORIC OF DEMOCRACY. THIS IS A WAY OF OPENING
THE DOOR. THERE IS NO DEMOCRACY KIT, MADE IN AMERICA. WE NEED
TO SPEAK CLEARLY OF DEMOCRACY IN THE NAME OF THE UNITED
STATES, OF THE TRANSATLANTIC COMMUNITY AND OF ALL WHO SUPPORT
FREEDOM. WE MUST WORK IN THE REGION WITH EUROPE."
LE FIGARO LEADS WITH A REPORT ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED CORN.
THE EDITORIAL STATES "IN PLAYING ON THE PHANTASM OF
`FRANKENFOODS' AND ON A WARY ANTI-PROGRESS REFLEX, GMO
OPPONENTS ARE AVOIDING A TRUE QUESTION: HOW FIELDS SEEDED WITH
GMOS CAN CO-HABIT WITH CLASSICAL CROPS WITHOUT CONTAMINATING
THEM? ANSWERS EXIST. THE MOST BRUTAL IS TO PRACTICALLY FORBID
ALL GMO CROPS: THAT'S `GOODBYE PROGRESS' AND IT'S WHAT GERMANY
HAS DONE. THE MOST SENSIBLE CONSISTS IN PUTTING IN PLACE
REGULATIONS TO AVOID CONTAMINATION, AS DONE IN SPAIN. FRANCE
HASN'T DONE ONE OR THE OTHER. FRANCE CAN CHOOSE BETWEEN
FOLLOWING MADRID AND MAINTAINING ITS RANK AS THE LEADING
AGRICULTURAL POWER IN EUROPE OR IT CAN IMITATE BERLIN AND
CONDEMN ITSELF TO DECLINE."

(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

HURRICANE KATRINA AND POLITICAL FALLOUT

"BUSH'S RUINED RENTR "
NICOLAS MADELAINE IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS (09/06):
"PRESIDENT BUSH IS BUT A PRISONER OF EVENTS HE HAS NO CONTROL
OVER. THE ELEMENTS SEEM TO HAVE JOINED FORCES AGAINST HIM. IN
THE WAKE OF KATRINA, UNLIKE AFTER 9/11, NATIONAL UNION IS NOT
THE KEYWORD. THE GOVERNMENT, WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO BE READY TO
DEAL WITH AN UNPREDICTABLE TERRORIST ATTACK, HAS BEEN CAUGHT
SHORT BY A NATURAL CATASTROPHE WHICH HAD BEEN FORECAST.
ATTACKED IN 2001, THE U.S. IS, IN 2005, HUMILIATED. NEW
ORLEANS HAS THE MAKINGS OF A `TITANIC' WHERE THE RICH COULD
ESCAPE WHILE THE POOR WERE DYING, THE SCENES CARRIED LIVE ON
TELEVISION, WITH AMERICA AND THE WORLD WATCHING. TO SUCCEED ON
THE DOMESTIC FRONT, PRESIDENT BUSH NEEDED A SECOND WIND. FOR
THE MOMENT, THE WINDS ARE BLOWING AGAINST HIM."
"KATRINA, A WEAPON OF POLITICAL DESTRUCTION"
THOMAS DE ROCHECHOUART IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER FRANCE SOIR (09/06):
"THE CONTRAST WAS TERRIBLE: AS REFUGEES PILED UP AT THE
SUPERDOME, GEORGE BUSH FLEW OVER THE REGION ON AIR FORCE ONE,
HIS HIGH CLASS AIRCRAFT. HE WAS TOO FAR AND TOO DISTANT. SINCE
THEN, THE POLITICAL STORM HAS BEEN GROWING. UNDER ACCUSATIONS
OF INDIFFERENCE TOWARDS THE BLACK AND THE POOR, PRESIDENT BUSH
IS QUICKLY LOSING WHAT MADE UP HIS STRENGTH: A RELATIONSHIP OF
TRUST LINKING A PRESIDENT TO THE PEOPLE. THE NATIONAL UNITY
THAT SAW THE LIGHT AFTER 9/11 SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN BLOWN TO
SMITHEREENS. PRESIDENT BUSH IS TODAY BEING ACCUSED OF HAVING
DISREGARDED DISTRESS CALLS FROM A PART OF AMERICA MADE UP
ESSENTIALLY OF BLACKS AND HISPANICS. WHAT IS AT STAKE IS
AMERICA'S WEAKENED SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC MODEL. THE U.S. IS
EXPERIENCING A PROFOUND EXISTENTIAL CRISIS. KATRINA, THE HAND
OF FATE, IS TURNING INTO A WEAPON OF POLITICAL DESTRUCTION FOR
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION."

"THE RAVAGES OF A HURRICANE"
NICOLAS BAVAREZ IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS (09/06): "WITH
9/11, THE U.S. MEASURED ITS VULNERABILITY. KATRINA HAS
DEMONSTRATED THE PERSISTING INABILITY OF THE ADMINISTRATION TO
DEAL WITH A MAJOR CRISIS. THREE CONCLUSIONS MUST BE DRAWN. THE
FIRST IS THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED IN THE PREVENTION OF A
CRISIS. THE SECOND IS THE PERSISTENCE OF A DEEP FRACTURE
BETWEEN THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH, THE RICH AND THE POOR, THE
WHITE AND THE BLACK. FINALLY, ONE NOTES THE PRECARIOUSNESS OF
CIVIL ORDER IN A FREE NATION. KATRINA IS PLAYING THE ROLE OF A
MAGNIFYING GLASS. THE TRAGEDY OF NEW ORLEANS IS SHOWING UP THE
CONTRAST BETWEEN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S EXCEPTIONAL
EFFECTIVENESS IN ECONOMIC MATTERS AND ITS INABILITY IN DEALING
WITH SOCIAL ISSUES. AMERICA'S ECONOMIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL
SUCCESS IS IN SHARP CONTRAST WITH ITS SOCIAL IMMOBILITY. THE
COROLLARY OF KATRINA AND THE PREDICTED DEFEAT OF THE U.S. IN
IRAQ SHOULD URGE EUROPE TO FIND A COMMON APPROACH TO
INTERNATIONAL CRISIS MANAGEMENT - FROM TERRORISM TO THE
ENVIRONMENT TO ECONOMIC CRISES." STAPLETON

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