Cablegate: Media Reaction Report - Middle East - Operation Summer Rain

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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 004693

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.

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR FR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Middle East - Operation Summer Rain
- North Korea, Missile Tests -
Afghanistan

PARIS - Monday, July 10, 2006

(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:

Middle East - Operation Summer Rain
North Korea - Missile Tests
Afghanistan

(B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

The World Cup final victory of Italy over France dominates all of
the headlines and front pages, even of the economic dailies. In
international news the lead story is the worsening situation in
Gaza.

Right-of-center Le Figaro reports that the head of Hamas in the
Palestinian government, Ismael Haniyeh's, "popularity has been
reinforced by the Israeli offensive." The unsigned editorial in the
Sunday/Monday edition of left-of-center Le Monde notes critically
that: "Israeli leaders seem to believe that if they are able to
break the Palestinian population, the latter will turn against
Hamas... this is a dangerous political delusion first and foremost
for Israel itself." A separate article in Le Monde says that Israeli
public opinion is "disoriented" by the operation in Gaza. Catholic
La Croix labels the situation "critical," noting however that Israel
may be willing to release some Palestinian prisoners if doing so
would calm tensions, not to trade for captured Israeli soldier Gilad
Shalit. "We are not talking about an exchange of prisoners." (See
Part C)

According to Monday's right-of-center daily Le Figaro: "Washington
is Seeking Consensus" on the North Korean missile tests issue. "The
Bush Administration is walking on eggshells with regard to North
Korea... the clearest sign of this came from Ambassador Christopher
Hill... following meetings this weekend in Beijing and Seoul where
he asserted that his mission is not to push for sanctions... but to
ensure that all parties speak with one voice. (See Part C)

Saturday's right-of-center Le Figaro devotes a page to violence in
Baghdad, reporting on "confidential information" it allegedly
obtained that shows that Iraqi and U.S. authorities routinely
undercount car bombs and other acts of violence in the city. "These
attacks are most often planned and perpetrated by former members of
Saddam Hussein's army. But the Americans try to lay the blame for
them on the hard kernel of Iraqi guerillas. The U.S. prefers to say
that the suicide attacks are committed by foreign jidhadists, their
enemies in the Al-Qaida terrorist network."

An editorial in regional Le Republicain Lorrain emphasizes that the
deterioration of the situation in Iraq should not overshadow another
"essential theater of operations: Afghanistan." (See Part C)

Saturday's Le Figaro reports on five criminal investigations
underway on American troops. "Considering that they are supposed to
be fighting for the Forces of Good, the troops of George W. Bush
certainly have a lot of black sheep. Five investigations are
underway against American soldiers for crimes perpetrated in Iraq,
threatening to lastingly tarnish an already damaged image of the
army because of Abu Ghraib." It also reports that General Chiarelli
will soon announce the results of another, separate investigation
into charges that 24 unarmed Iraqis, including children, were
massacred by Marines in Haditha in November.

In centrist business-oriented La Tribune, the G8 Summit in Saint
Petersburg heralds the "return of a Great Russia." "Eight years
after taking part in the G8 Summit as a 'sleeping partner,' Russia
is now taking on the presidency and reclaiming its position on the
international scene as a superpower... something of which the
Americans have a dim view."

In economic news, plans for a General Motors - Nissan - Renault
alliance prompt right-of-center economic supplement Le Figaro
Economie's front page to note that: "America is Skeptical." The
inside article notes that "analysts, the media and public opinion
are hostile to an alliance... believing that a three-way wedding
between GM, Renault and Nissan would be a 'nightmare' in that it
would contribute to the car manufacturers already cumbersome
decision-making process." La Tribune devotes two pages to the
alliance plans.

(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

Middle East - Operation Summer Rain

"Collective Punishment"
The unsigned editorial in the Sunday/Monday edition of Le Monde
(07/09-10): "Officially the Israeli Army's Operation Summer Rain has
two objectives: to free the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad
Shalit... and to end rocket launches from Gaza on neighboring
Israeli towns... Among the forty Palestinian deaths in the last few
days, two thirds were civilians and many were children... Various
Israeli NGOs have asked the army to stop 'collectively punishing'
the Palestinian people in the name of an anti-terrorist operation...
Israel's indignation at the kidnapping of one of its soldiers would
be justified if there were not thousands of Palestinians captured
and imprisoned in Israel, some of whom have been held for years
without trial... Israeli leaders seem to believe that is they are
able to break the Palestinian population, the latter will turn
against Hamas... this is a dangerous political delusion first and
foremost for Israel itself."

North Korea - Missile Tests

"North Korea: The Chinese Card"
Le Figaro's editorial by Pierre Rousselin on Saturday (07/08):
"Chinese diplomacy has one absolute priority: to preserve regional -
if not global - stability and to guarantee the conditions for a
'peaceful emergence' of the planet's most populated country. On the
Korean peninsula, this means avoiding the collapse of Pyongyang's
communist regime, which has the two-fold advantage of being robust
and of maintaining the division between the North and the South. If
masses of Korean refugees were to be unleashed in China, a scenario
of regime change would destabilize border regions and threaten the
very existence of the communist power in Beijing. A reunification,
on the German model, would put American troops on the border of the
People's Republic, which would then be ringed by two powerful
American allies: Korea and Japan. One can see why, in these
conditions, the Chinese reaction to the 'provocation' of Pyongyang
was very measured....Beijing is not unhappy to see Washington
embarrassed at a moment when a certain hardening of the American
position towards China is manifest. With regard to Teheran, China
overcame its traditional neutrality and now supports the offer that
the great powers have made to Iran. Will it do the same when it
comes to Pyongyang? For now China sits back and sees that the U.S.
can say what it wants, it can do nothing... The Korean missile
crisis is not about to go away. In order to push Washington to talk
to him, the little Stalin of Pyongyang chose to launch his missiles
on the 4th of July... The stakes are going to get higher and higher.
China... has the means to act: without its oil deliveries and food,
North Korea would not survive for long. Beijing is waiting,
however, for the United States to be compelled to play the Chinese
card."

"Old Demons"
Louis Bigot editorializes in regional daily Le Republicain Lorrain
(07/10): "The situation in Iraq and the sad press reports that we
have been getting everyday the past few years, have overshadowed a
second theater of military operations that is still very volatile
despite over four years of Western presence in the region. During
the past months, Afghanistan once again seems to be in the grips of
its old demons... Because at the onset of the war they did not give
themselves the means to control the country as a whole and to
neutralize the neighboring rear bases of terrorist networks, the
U.S. and NATO have left the door wide open for the return of the
Taliban. At a time when NATO has to practically double its troops
and officially take over for the U.S. in the country, it is
legitimate to be worried that Afghanistan will once again be on the
front stage of the war on terrorism, a war that has failed on its
two main fronts." STAPLETON

© Scoop Media