Cablegate: Media Reaction Report - Gwot - Abu Gharaib -

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 006600

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 - GWOT - Abu Gharaib -
Guantanamo
PARIS - Tuesday, September 27, 2005

(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:

GWOT - Abu Gharaib - Guantanamo

B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

Domestic political and economic news dominate most front
pages, with emphasis on Interior Minister Sarkozy's televised
interview last evening announcing his new anti-terrorist
measures, and the arrest of a group of Islamic radicals who
were allegedly preparing several attacks in Paris. Le Figaro
headlines "Islamists Planned Attack on Paris Metro," while
France Soir titles: "Sarko Tracks Terrorists." Liberation
devotes its editorial to the new anti-terrorist measures and
warns against laws that can undermine civil liberties. Gerard
Dupuy suggests the legislation should be revised within three
years "like the Patriot Act." The liberation of prisoners from
Abu Gharaib is reported in Le Figaro while Le Monde devotes
its editorial to "American Tortures." (See Part C)

Sharon's re-election at the head of the Likud is reported in
Liberation, which calls his short victory over Netanyahu a
"breath of fresh air for the Prime Minister which saves the
party. Obviously, the renewed violence in Gaza did not affect
Sharon's position. His quick and firm reaction. probably
served to show the voters that when it comes to Israel's
security, Sharon does not fool around."

(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

GWOT - Abu Gharaib - Guantanamo

"American Tortures"
Left-of-center Le Monde in its unsigned editorial (09/27): "As
thousands marched in protest in Washington. the Human Rights
Watch published a damning report for the U.S. Army on torture
methods and degrading treatment of prisoners implemented in
the name of the `war against terror.' This report is important
for two reasons: it destroys the myth that the torture methods
used in the Abu Gharaib prison were isolated incidents. It
also makes testimonials from American soldiers available. The
methods revealed are not new. They are used in Iraqi prisons,
in Afghanistan and in Guantanamo. They have been proven to be
systematic methods used by the U.S. . The American
administration has not brought forward a satisfactory response
to the fact that its army violates the laws of war. It was
successful, in U.S. public opinion, as far as Abu Gharaib is
concerned, in demonstrating that the perpetrators were not
answering to direct orders. Will America accept this version
implicating `lost soldiers.?' The peace movement in the U.S.
is not fighting this battle, having chosen instead to save the
lives of its boys. By authorizing its Army to use methods
which international law qualifies as `severe violations of the
laws of war' such as `torture' and `inhuman treatment,' the
U.S. is placing itself outside the law and does a disservice
to that which it claims to be defending: liberty, justice and
democracy. Each time an Iraqi or an Afghan is abused and
killed, or tortured, it is a defeat for America and all those
who defend the values it pretends to be defending, simply
because America is a democracy. But more pragmatically, the
use of torture is one less opportunity for Washington to win
its wars, because for every prisoner who is abused, for every
picture from Abu Gharaib and Guantanamo, there are ten
combatants who rise against the U.S."

"The Americans Set Free Prisoners from Abu Gharaib"
Adrien Jaulmes in right-of-center Le Figaro (09/27): "These
liberations could be construed as measures with limited impact
by the Iraqis who still think of Abu Gharaib as a symbol of
American military brutality. For the Human Rights Watch Abu
Gharaib is only the tip of the iceberg of a more generalized
system of torture perpetrated elsewhere in Iraq, such as in
Faludjah by the 82nd battalion. This attempt to pacify Sunni
public opinion is probably coming too late . for the October
15 vote on the Iraqi Constitution. According to another NGO,
International Crisis Group, the risk of civil war and of an
Iraqi breakdown is to be feared if the Americans do not
quickly take into account the demands of the Sunni community."
"Secrecy"
Gerard Dupuy in left-of-center Liberation (09/27): "The fight
against terrorism is both a sacred cause and a secret mission
and it is therefore allergic to ordinary explanations. Still
the effectiveness of anti-terrorism measures cannot undermine
civil liberties. The threat of terrorism is that threat of
which everyone is speaking, but there is that other threat on
the guardrails protecting democratic values. This is why the
legislation drafted (in France) should include a clause
requiring the law to be revisited in three years, like the
Patriot Act." STAPLETON

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