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 000296 
 
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 - New Chilean President - Iran 
PARIS - Tuesday, January 17, 2006 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
New Chilean President 
Iran 
 
(B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
Headlines and editorials are dominated by Prime Minister 
Villepin's plans to promote employment for young people and 
those over the age of 57. 
 
Today's major international story in the national and regional 
press is the "Triumph of Women in Liberia and Chile" (right-of- 
center Le Figaro's headline). Le Monde's front page also hails 
the victories of Bachelet and Johnson-Sirleaf and adds Tarja 
Halonen who won the first round of the presidential election 
in Finland. (See Part C) 
 
Iran continued to elicit reports and commentaries over the 
weekend particularly in light of Russia's proposal that 
Teheran enrich uranium on Russian soil. Le Figaro's headline 
in the Saturday-Sunday edition of the paper: "The U.S. and 
Europe Together Against Iran." (See Part C) 
 
The American raid in the Bajaur tribal zone on January 13 was 
widely noted in the print and electronic press on Monday. Le 
Figaro's New York correspondent commented on "The U.S.'s 
Embarrassed Silence." "From the White House to the Pentagon to 
the State Department or the CIA, the instructions with regard 
to the press appeared to be `no comment.'" 
 
The Sunday weekly paper le Journal du Dimanche carries a full- 
page report entitled: "A Prisoner of the CIA in Baghdad." The 
article tells the story of Abdul Jabbar al-Kubaysi, former 
head of the Iraqi Patriotic Alliance who today lives in France 
and who was arrested in 2004. Of his time in jail al-Kubaysi 
says: "the only thing that it taught me is the true nature of 
American democracy." 
 
In the Monday edition of economic right-of-center Les Echos 
foreign affairs specialist Jacques Hubert-Rodier pens an op-ed 
entitled: "New Strategy for the Middle East." "The American 
president is going to have to reformulate his strategy for the 
Middle East with Ariel Sharon's successors. This redefinition 
is going to be necessary within a broad context because beyond 
the Middle East, Iraq after Saddam is far from being the model 
of democracy for the rest of the region that President Bush 
had hoped for." 
 
Le Figaro's Washington correspondent Philippe Gelie comments 
on First Lady Laura Bush's position within the Administration: 
"The First Lady is increasingly on the front line to defend 
the President or represent him abroad. During George Bush's 
first term she would leave the White House only to inaugurate 
libraries and to visit kindergartens. Yesterday she was the 
U.S.'s official representative at the swearing in ceremony of 
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Liberia. In the galaxy of political 
women who surround the American President, the First Lady is 
winning back her place, the first." 
 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
New Chilean President 
 
"Moving to the Left" 
In regional La Nouvelle Republique du Centre Ouest 
editorialist Herve Cannet writes (01/17): "From Santiago to 
Brasilia, form La Paz to Caracas the South American continent 
is veering left. A moderate left maybe. that has nothing to do 
with the `barbudos' who called for armed revolution against 
the Yankees in the 1960s. But after decades of exaggerated 
conservatism encouraged by the Pentagon that was implementing 
to the letter the Monroe Doctrine making South America 
Washington's own backyard, the rise to power of a number of 
progressive leaders marks a definite change." 
 
"The New Map of the World" 
Pierre Rousselin's editorial in right-of-center Le Figaro 
(01/14): "Iraq is no longer dictating the map of the world. 
Today, one counts one's allies vis--vis the danger Iran's 
nuclear program presents. Angela Merkel's meeting at the White 
House unofficially designates her as reunited Europe's voice 
in the U.S. with regard to Iran. This marks a radical shift 
from the Europe's position during the Iraqi crisis. The 
transatlantic reconciliation is rather spectacular. It is not 
the fruit of chance but the result of hard work on both sides 
over the last few months. In Iran, President Ahmanidejad is 
counting on Europe's weakness and on George W. Bush's 
difficulties in Iraq.  This calculation could be wrong and 
because of his repeated provocations he is only isolating 
himself further." 
 
 
"Iran's Well Thought Out Nuclear Strategy" 
Renaud Girard, a senior reporter for right-of-center Le 
Figaro, wrote an analysis in Saturday's edition of the daily. 
He argues that (01/14): "The U.S. is not a concern for Iran 
because it is bogged down in Iraq. The Mullahs know that 
Washington's priority is troop withdrawal in the region. The 
Europeans are not much of a concern either because the Mullahs 
know that the Europeans, frozen by repentance and pacifism, 
are morally weak.  They are also militarily weak, having 
drastically reduced their armed forces since the fall of the 
Berlin wall. As for the Israelis, they will think twice before 
striking nuclear sites in Iran, if only to avoid re-igniting 
the battle on the Lebanese border, held by force by the 
Hezbollah, a militia that is pledged to Teheran.  The Board of 
Governors of the AIEA is going to have to deal with this 
issue, which it will then pass on to the UNSC that will in 
turn take its time to reflect on the possibility of economic 
sanctions.  Nothing to worry about..." 
STAPLETON