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 000232 
 
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 - Iran Iraq Transatlantic 
Relations - Merkel to Washington 
PARIS - Friday, January 13, 2006 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
Iran 
Iraq 
Transatlantic Relations - Merkel to Washington 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
Interior Minister Sarkozy and his program for 2006 are today's 
dominant front-page story. Communist l'Humanite headlines: 
"Sarkozy Copies the American Model," Liberation headlines "I 
Will Be the State" above a picture of Sarkozy, and Le Figaro 
titles "Sarkozy's Program." His plans to revise the 
Constitution in order to reinforce the presidency's powers 
capture much attention and elicite a wide number of editorial 
commentaries. 
 
Iran is still the number one international story. For 
Liberation "Iran Is Charging Full Steam Ahead" and Le Figaro 
reports that the "EU wants to take the issue before the UNSC." 
A report penned by Maurin Picard itemizes "three possible 
catastrophic scenarios", including a lack of consensus at the 
UN, in which case "the U.S. would have no other choice but to 
consider a military option." (See Part C) 
 
Angela Merkel's "much awaited" visit to Washington makes the 
front page of Le Monde. Le Figaro carries a large color 
picture of Secretary Rice and Angela Merkel in great spirits. 
In connection to Merkel's visit, several articles report on 
alleged German spies in Iraq. (See part C) 
 
In his weekly wrap-up column in Le Figaro, Ivan Rioufol 
praises the "democratic progress made in Iraq." (See Part C) 
 
The economic boom in the U.S. is widely reported. In Le 
Figaro, Yves de Kedrel pens an op-ed on the good health of the 
U.S. economy. "If the figures announced prove to be exact, it 
will mean that for the second straight quarter U.S. stock 
yields have stayed in the two digit figure. The U.S. economy 
is healthy and productivity is up." 
 
La Tribune reports that Washington does not wish to threaten 
economic growth for the sake of the environment, but is 
calling for partnerships between governments and big 
industrial companies. The six partners in the Asia Pacific 
Partnership have "turned their back on the Kyoto Protocol and 
its ambitious objectives." The partners agreed to create eight 
working groups, and the U.S. and Australia have promised to 
provide $128 million dollars for the Partnership's funding. 
NGOs, however, protest that measures are strictly voluntary 
and not binding, and the economies of the partners are still 
wedded to using fossil fuels. 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
Iran 
 
"Iran Master of the Nuclear Game" 
Jean-Pierre Perrin in left-of-center Liberation (01/13): 
"Sanctions or no sanctions, Iran is determined to move forward 
on the nuclear issue. President Ahmadinejad has managed to 
rally all principals behind him on this issue: there is a 
unanimous Iranian front countering the West. This is in fact 
the only issue over which the Iranian President is not being 
contested. For the time being there is no clear out to the 
crisis. To oppose Iran's stubbornness we can be certain to 
find Washington's own stubbornness. Ambassador Bolton is a 
determined adversary of Tehran. And as for the EU, which had 
put all its hopes in a political dialogue with Tehran, the 
outcome is a blatant failure. Europe must now sheepishly 
accept to align with the U.S. And if there are sanctions, the 
(European) companies implanted in Iran will pay the price." 
 
"Iran Threatened With Sanctions" 
Thomas Cantaloube in right-of-center Le Parisien (01/13): 
"Even if the EU-3 insists that it is still `eager to resolve 
the issue diplomatically,' there is very little margin of 
maneuver left for the European emissaries, caught as they are 
between Iran's intransigence and the Americans, who have 
always been pushing for immediate sanctions." 
"Scenarios for an International Crisis" 
Pierre Bocev in right-of-center Le Figaro (01/13): "If Russia 
and China decide to veto a resolution on sanctions against 
Iran at the UN, and this despite U.S. and EU efforts to change 
their minds, the U.S. will have no other choice but to 
reconsider its military options. It will be up to the 
Americans to prove the legitimacy of this dangerous outcome 
through as wide a coalition as possible. This scenario is 
close to the `coalition of the willing' imagined by President 
Bush in the framework of his fight against terror." 
Iraq 
 
"Progress in Iraq" 
Ivan Rioufol in right-of-center Le Figaro (01/13): "Observable 
events in Iraq could well correct the misleading prognosis of 
an American fiasco. The anti-Bushists continue to say that 
democracy cannot be imposed through force. Yet it is easy to 
see that democracy has continuously been progressing in Iraq 
since 2003. The country has a media, which is freer than any 
other media anywhere in the Arab world, and in January three 
elections took place with growing participation despite 
efforts by extremists to keep voters away. To date, we have 
seen neither the shock between civilization, the rebellion of 
the Arab street nor the Lebanization of Iraq that were 
predicted. The anti-Bushists can only hold on to persisting 
acts of terrorism, which are the work of Islamic extremists 
and nostalgic elements who still cling to the Saddam era, but 
who are increasingly cut off from the rest of the Iraqi 
people." 
 
Transatlantic Relations - Merkel to Washington 
 
"Renewing Ties, Stressing Differences" 
Antoine Jacob in left-of-center Le Monde (01/13): "During her 
visit to Washington, Merkel should be raising the issue of 
Guantanamo and it's closing. Still, Washington appreciates 
finding an interlocutor in Berlin who is more attuned to 
listening and understanding than her predecessor. Meanwhile 
the press has revealed that while Berlin was denouncing the 
war in Iraq, German spies were present in Baghdad helping the 
Americans to bomb the city." 
 
"German Spies Implicated in Iraq" 
Pierre Bocev in right-of-center Le Figaro (01/13): 
"Allegations of German spies having helped the Americans in 
Iraq could trigger a political crisis in Berlin. raising the 
question of whether the German posturing against the war may 
have been nothing but a smokescreen." 
 
"Re-Launching German-American Friendship" 
Philippe Gelie in right-of-center Le Figaro (01/13): "Merkel 
is promoting a different tone, in friendship as well as in 
criticism, between the U.S. and Germany. This is more than 
just a transatlantic visit: the trip is supposed to give 
America a new and rejuvenated image of Germany. In addition to 
the message itself, the nature of the relationship will depend 
on chemistry: Bush, who has surrounded himself with women, is 
sure to appreciate Merkel's pragmatism." 
 
"A Stable German Foreign Policy" 
Sylvie Goulard in Catholic La Croix (01/13): "Even if Angela 
Merkel were to return to a less exclusive Franco-German 
relationship, this would not be bad for the EU, or for France. 
Merkel seems to be interested in Germany's traditional role of 
defending the smaller European nations. Merkel has always been 
in favor of a strong relationship with the U.S. In 2003, she 
gave her support to Bush and the war in Iraq. But since then 
she has learned quite a lot: contrary to her predecessor, her 
first trip was not to the U.S. She knows that German opinion 
has reservations about the transatlantic partnership because 
of Guantanamo and the alleged use of torture by the CIA. 
Finally, if Merkel were really answering to Washington, she 
would have stopped opposing Turkey's EU- membership. Merkel is 
full of surprises and she may prove to be the last true 
`statesman' in Europe." STAPLETON