Cablegate: Media Reaction Report - Lebanon - Paris and Washington At

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Lucia A Keegan 08/11/2006 09:58:27 AM From DB/Inbox: Lucia A Keegan

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UNCLAS PARIS 05409

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 005409

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DEPT FOR INR/R/MR; IIP/RW; IIP/RNY; BBG/VOA; IIP/WEU;
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR FR

SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Lebanon - Paris and Washington at
Odds
PARIS - Thursday, August 10, 2006

(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:

Lebanon - Paris and Washington at Odds

B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

The Israeli offensive, negotiations at the UN to amend the
Franco-American resolution and President Chirac's "possible
intention to present his own UN resolution" as announced by Le
Figaro are today's lead stories. According to Le Figaro "President
Chirac is beginning to distance himself from Washington." The
editorial, entitled "Chirac's Lebanese Score" commends Chirac for
"clarifying" the situation: "If Washington does not amend the
present draft resolution, he will offer his own, calling for a cease
fire." Liberation titles its report "Between Washington and Paris, a
Tug-of-war at the UN." La Croix's editorial by Dominique Quinio,
borrowing from Chirac's description of lost time in the conflict, is
entitled "Immoral." Les Echos, commenting on President Chirac's
remarks about "Washington's reservations" focuses on the fact that
"Paris is now willing to put pressure on Washington." But in
regional Les Dernieres Nouvelles d'Alsace, Jean-Claude Kiefer
concludes: "The U.S. will decide on the ceasefire when it decides it
is time." (See Part C)

Liberation and Le Figaro quote President Chirac in his Toulon press
conference yesterday: "To abandon the idea of an immediate cease
fire is the most immoral of solutions... I cannot imagine that
either the Americans or anyone else would accept this..." Both
reports emphasize Chirac's demand that "hostilities end immediately"
and that the mission of an international force "should be clarified,
with a fair distribution between the various participants." Le
Figaro reports that "for the time being the U.S. refuses to make an
Israeli pull out a prerequisite, and quotes Chirac: "The Americans
appear somewhat reserved on this issue." Le Figaro also reports on
President Chirac's defense of France's stance towards Iran, "an
important regional nation which should be consulted," and towards
Syria and al-Assad, "who I do not completely trust."

La Croix examines the role that historic French-Lebanese ties play
in the conflict in an article titled "Lebanon Remains a Favorite
Child of the Elyse." The article hints that these two countries are
closer in opinion than France and the U.S.: "The discord between
Washington and Paris is deep, despite appearances and the official
speeches given since the beginning of the crisis." While La Croix
grants both countries share the goal of neutralizing Hezbollah, the
disagreement lies in the strategy; it especially emphasizes U.S.
aversion to an immediate ceasefire. "Israel knows that it has carte
blanche to continue its strikes against Hezbollah, which, for the
American administration, dominated by the neoconservatives, is a
terrorist organization of the same order as Hamas in Palestinian
territories." Alluding to a paralysis of French diplomacy, the
article concludes: "Even if Jacques Chirac's willingness to try to
end the conflict is sincere, he does not have a solution to oppose
the Israeli-American determination."

In Le Monde, Parliamentarian Pierre Lellouche pens a harsh op-ed
against the U.S. and its lost battle against terrorism and calls on
France and Europe to take the lead in resolving the situation in
Lebanon. (See Part C)

FR2-TV, Radio France Info and wires announced this morning that
London has pushed up it terrorist alert to high alert after
dismantling a terrorist plot to put explosives in hand luggage on a
British Airways flight from London to the U.S.

La Croix carries an op-ed by Luc Guyau, president of the Permanent
Assembly of Agriculture Chambers, about the Doha stalemate at the
WTO. Guyau refutes economists' theoretical claims that multilateral
trade liberalization brings price down. According to Guyau,
liberalization brings almost no gain for medium developed countries.
As for Europeans, Guyau says: "We are not ready to sacrifice our
agriculture under the pretext that other countries can produce
cheaper!"

(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

"President Chirac's Lebanese Score"
Yves Threard in right-of-center Le Figaro (08/10): "President Chirac
had no choice but to intervene, because France was increasingly
stretching its position in order to satisfy Washington... and
Lebanon, a country with which France enjoys privileged relations.
The President's stance is now clear... a stance which brings to mind
Chirac's distancing from Washington during the second Gulf war...
France wants to retain its role of mediator and moderator between
Washington and Tel Aviv's stance to do away with Hezbollah on the
one hand, and the different demands of Middle East nations... France
is the only European country to offer an alternative for a
resolution to the conflict, maybe because of Chirac's 'emotional'
involvement with Lebanon... Indeed his remarks about Syria, which he
holds responsible for Hariri's assassination, have never harsher."

"America's 'Reservations'"
Jean-Claude Kiefer in regional Les Dernieres Nouvelles d'Alsace
(08/10): "Although President Chirac has acknowledged America's
'reservations' at the UN, he still wants to believe in a possible
ceasefire soon. When things do not move as one would want them to,
heralding optimism is diplomacy's last weapon... America's
'reservations,' which are officially based on the Lebanese army's
ability to take over control... is in fact Washington's way to hold
things up. Washington wants to give Israel the time it needs... to
'rid' Southern Lebanon of Hezbollah... As long as the U.S. continues
to play for time, Israel will have the green light it needs... This
is the interpretation we must give to Israel's extension of its
ground offensive... This policy is full of dangers, which both
Olmert and Bush must be aware of. But according to Washington,
without whom nothing is decided in Jerusalem, the stakes are worth
the risk. The 9/11 rhetoric is still going strong in the U.S. In the
name of this logic, the war against Hezbollah goes well beyond the
Lebanese battlefields. Seen from the U.S., this is a battle against
Islamic terrorism and its various ingredients: Iran, Syria, the
Iraqi Shia movement and the new Taliban... In the face of such
determination, the diplomatic pas-de-deux at the UN, more or less
orchestrated by France, is secondary. The U.S. will decide on the
ceasefire when it decides it is time."

"Immoral"
Dominique Quinio in Catholic La Croix (08/10): "Yesterday, the
prospect of reaching an agreement at the UN on an immediate
cessation of hostilities seemed to be very far indeed... President
Chirac in fact explained that the U.S. was reluctant to accept a
text that took into account the Lebanese demand of an Israeli pull
out. Is this Washington's way of playing for time to allow Israel
the means to fatally wound Hezbollah and destroy its arsenal, which
has proven to be more lethal than expected? For the French President
this wasting of time is 'immoral.' He has asked for an immediate
cessation of hostilities, then a negotiated ceasefire and the
presence of an international force, in which France is ready to
participate, despite past painful experiences... In announcing that
France might be inclined to present its own draft resolution, the
French President is emphasizing France's isolation and the
difficulty in finding a consensual European diplomatic position. Yet
Europe has the moral, military and economic strength to play a
mediating role in the region. Its impotence is indeed immoral."

"The Ingredients For A World Crisis Converge"
Parliamentarian Pierre Lellouche in right-of-center Le Monde
(08/10): "The ingredients for a world crisis have converged... North
Korea, Kashmir and the Middle East represent a powder keg requiring
immediate action... America has embarked on a war against terror, a
solitary war. This unilateral war, without allies, without political
strategy and which is founded on an illusory technological
superiority has already failed in Iraq, is compromised in
Afghanistan and increasingly criticized inside the U.S. It also
fans the fires of anti-American hatred and leads allies to take
their distance. Upon leaving Iraq, this attitude could turn America
inward, more isolated than ever from other democracies because of
its 'international boots on the ground' approach... In the present
conflict, there are only three paths: either Lebanon can disarm
Hezbollah alone, which is impossible; Israel is left to do it in its
place thus destroying Lebanon, which is the worst possible solution,
or the international community takes over. France and Europe must
take the political and military lead of the international community
in the Lebanese conflict to avoid a repeat of the scenario which
developed between the two world wars." STAPLETON

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