Cablegate: Media Reaction Report - Middle East - Iraq - Syria

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 007213

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 - Middle East - Iraq - Syria
Trade - WTO And Agricultural Subsidies UNESCO- Cultural
Diversity
PARIS - Friday, October 21, 2005

(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:

Middle East - Iraq - Syria
Trade - WTO And Agricultural Subsidies
UNESCO- Cultural Diversity

B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

An array of domestic social and economic stories dominate
today's front pages, but democratization in the Middle East is
a major international story: Syria and the Mehlis report on
Hariri's assassination is front-paged in Le Figaro which also
devotes its editorial to Washington's "diplomatic approach" of
the Syrian issue. In his weekly wrap up column in Le Figaro
Ivan Rioufol reviews the "democratic headway" made in Iraq,
but also in other parts of the region. Rioufol describes
Iraq's "other reality" and criticizes the "pacifists who have
picked the wrong enemy in Bush as the warmonger." The weekly
magazine Paris Match editorial is a sweet and sour take on the
"advances" made in Iraq, in spite of "the brutal and unfair
war" being waged "without intelligence." (See Part C) The
Abbas visit to Washington is reported in Le Figaro and
Liberation, and the support of President Bush widely noted.

France's position against Brussels on trade and agricultural
subsidies continue to elicit articles, commentaries and
interviews. Le Monde stresses France's "isolation" and
President Chirac's "mistaken battle" as an answer to "France's
`no' vote on the EU Constitution." Le Figaro Economie which
quotes Robert Portman from Geneva also stresses that France's
"pressures" to keep agriculture out of the WTO negotiations is
creating "a European chaos which is worrying the rest of the
world." (See Part C) In La Croix French Trade Minister
Christine Lagarde gives one more interview on the controversy:
"We are convinced that when it comes to certain agricultural
products, the EU Trade Commissioner is outside his mandate. We
do not want the negotiations on agriculture to continue at
this time."

Le Monde devotes a front-page op-ed to cultural diversity and
Washington's "hostility" to the UNESCO convention. (See Part
C)

(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

Middle East - Iraq - Syria

"Syria's Hour Has Come"
Pierre Rousselin in right-of-center Le Figaro (10/21): "El-
Assad's future may be hanging on the outcome of the
investigation into Hriri's assassination. Iraq, Syria: two
very different approaches but the same desire in Washington to
get things to change radically in that part of the world. It
would seem that the Americans are making every effort not to
repeat past mistakes. With France's support, diplomacy has
taken over in the Syrian crisis. Pressure on the Syrian regime
will continue and it is hard to see how Damascus will be able
to overcome its isolation. Secretary Rice previously acquired
the support not only of Paris but also of Moscow. The next
step at the UNSC could be about sanctions, but as Paris has
indicated, on the condition that they be directed against the
regime and not the civilian population. Thus, contrary to what
transpired in the Iraqi crisis, an international system is
being implemented without tension and in the framework of the
UN to force the Syrian regime to change its stance. One hopes
that el-Assad will cooperate."

"Iraq: The Other Reality"
Ivan Rioufol in right-of-center Le Figaro (10/21): "For the
anti-Bushists, it is a bitter pill to swallow: the Iraqis have
accepted the democracy offered by the U.S. History is
correcting the caricature of President Bush and his single-
mindedness. Anti-Americanism makes one blind: and although
there is insecurity in the Middle East, it has not kept the
Israelis and the Palestinians from moving ahead, or the
Lebanese from opening their eyes, Libya from disarming, and
calm from coming to Afghanistan. The people know who their
enemies are, and by voting they have identified them. By
continuing to point a finger at Bush as a warmonger, the
`pacifists' have picked the wrong enemy. He and his allies
have managed to topple a tyrant and engaged in an battle
against Islamic imperialism."

"The Door Is Slightly Ajar"
Alain Genestar in right-of-center weekly Paris Match (10/21):
"We must not, through our ingrained anti-Americanism, insult
the millions of Iraqis who have voted in spite of terrorist
threats. One can be radically set against this war in Iraq -
as we are - against the brutal and unfair way the war was
decided. One can criticize President Bush yet without
contradiction acknowledge that the vote in Iraq is good news,
the first good news since the start of the war. Some will say
that the Iraqi Constitution is too religious. What they mean
is too Muslim. But Iraq has a culture and a religion that must
be respected. This is a Western and racist reflex against the
`Muslim' nature of the Constitution. Yet we are not shocked
when the American President swears on the Bible. Democracy as
we would wish it and as the formerly oppressed Iraqis have
dreamed it, is not for tomorrow. And neither is peace. This
terrible war, which everyone continues to criticize because it
kills innocents and serves as a pretext for terrorism, will by
force end one day. By voting, the Iraqis have taken the first
step."

Trade - WTO And Agricultural Subsidies

"France Isolated"
Left-of-center Le Monde in its editorial (10/21): "The
confrontation between President Chirac and the European
Commission is taking on a new dimension just when Europe is
stalemated after the votes on the EU Constitution. and after
the confrontations between Paris and London over the joint EU
agricultural policy. The fact that Mandelson is close to Tony
Blair has added to the French President's bad mood. But beyond
this, the way Chirac is demonstrating his opposition to
liberalization is his answer to the French voters who said
`no' to the EU treaty. France has many arguments it can use to
defend its position on agriculture. But once again it is
practically isolated in this battle. France's continued
attacks on Brussels have made it lose some of its power of
persuasion. This defensive strategy, inspired by domestic post
referendum concerns, is not how France will regain its lead
role in Europe."

UNESCO - Cultural Diversity

"Cultural Diversity: A Manifest for A Different Globalization"
Nicole Vulser in left-of-center Le Monde (10/21): "For once
the world's most powerful nation culture-wise, the U.S., found
itself naked and alone in its vain battle to introduce
desperate amendments to try and rid the convention of all
substance. Washington's frontal hostility towards the
convention is both political and economic. American pressure
is strong both at the WTO and in bilateral negotiations.
American diplomats and trade representatives are directly
involved in defending America's cultural sovereignty around
the world in exchange for access to agricultural markets.
Until now, in the cultural sector, there was no legislation
outside the national framework. Now there is one. The U.S.
will not ratify the convention, like the Kyoto protocol. But
this convention on cultural diversity exists and will act as
reference, a step forward when compared to the previous
vacuum." STAPLETON

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