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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 001637 
 
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 - Israeli 
Incursion Moussaoui Trial Iraq U.S. - India Nuclear Accord 
Milosevic 
PARIS - Wednesday, March 15, 2006 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
Middle East - Israeli Incursion 
Moussaoui Trial 
Iraq 
U.S. - India Nuclear Accord 
Milosevic 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
International news is dominated by the Israeli incursion into 
Jericho and the ensuing violence and kidnappings of 
westerners, including two French journalists, while on the 
domestic front PM Villepin's tug of war with student and 
workers unions over his youth employment legislation is 
growing in intensity. Yesterday's not so peaceful 
demonstrations in front of the Sorbonne University, which 
ended up in skirmishes with riot police, are "reminiscent of 
May 68" according to some commentators. President Chirac, as 
predicted yesterday, spoke in favor of his Prime Minister's 
legislation, while on a visit to Berlin. But some commentators 
suggest his support "was lukewarm." 
 
The Israeli raid of a Jericho jail is front-page news, with 
Liberation making the following editorial commentary on its 
front page: "Electoral Incursion into Jericho." In the 
editorial Pierre Haski explains: "It is one more gesture 
towards the extreme right made by Olmert before the 
legislative elections." (See Part C) 
 
Liberation also reports on Iraq and the U.S. "new strategy" as 
it turns to the Sunnis. The article is entitled: "Daily 
Massacres in Iraq Between Religious Groups." (See Part C) 
 
The resumption of the Moussaoui trial leads Philippe Gelie in 
Le Figaro to comment: "The Bush Administration Could be Facing 
a Fiasco." "The failure. would re-enforce the Pentagon hard 
liners that it is better to settle accounts with terrorists in 
ad hoc military courts, than in civilian courts." (See Part C) 
Le Figaro also carries an op-ed on the "new alliance of the 
century" between India and the U.S. Guy Sorman wonders 
"whether democratic India will develop faster than tyrannical 
China. "His answer is "probably yes. And American investments 
will help it along," (See Part C) 
In his political analysis in Le Figaro, Pierre Prier asks 
"whether Saudi Arabia can escape the fate of other Arab 
countries?"  which have had free elections. 
 
Les Echos carries an op-ed by Jacques Hubert-Rodier, the 
international political editor on "Milosevic or the End of 
Impunity." (See Part C) 
 
Liberation carries a small article about a petition, which is 
circulating in the U.S. "asking that the U.S. grant asylum to 
`persecuted' Jews from France." The petition is said to have 
been launched in Los Angeles by French Jews living there, as a 
reaction to the death of Ilan Halimi. 
 
Le Figaro interviews Bernard-Henri Levy on his "American 
Vertigo," an interview entitled American Vertigo, French 
Perils." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
"Middle East - Israeli Incursion" 
 
"Short Term" 
Pierre Haski in left-of-center Liberation (03/15): "What has 
Israeli gained with this spectacular military incursion in a 
forbidden zone? While there is no denying that capturing Ahmed 
Saadate was a long-standing Israeli objective, the moment 
chosen is not so banal. With two weeks to go before the 
Israeli legislative elections, Olmert seems bent on giving the 
Israeli extreme right tokens of good faith. Olmert is not a 
career military man. But yesterday he proved he was able to 
carry out such a military operation successfully. But at what 
cost? The pictures of prisoners in their underwear taken away 
in military trucks will be interpreted as one more humiliation 
by the Palestinians. It is impossible not to make the 
comparison with the Abu Ghraib pictures, which were so 
instrumental in discrediting America's policy and fed the 
rebel's ranks. Israel's forceful raid could well re-enforce 
resentment in a Palestinian population already under financial 
hardship for not having voted `as they should have.' This is a 
strange approach for a government that says it is trying to 
find peaceful ways of coexistence between the two people." 
 
Moussaoui Trial 
 
"A Legal Fiasco for the Bush Administration?" 
Philippe Gelie in right-of-center Le Figaro (03/15): "Beyond 
the legal consequences, the mishandling of the witnesses in 
the Moussaoui trial could turn out to be more serious than 
just a procedural hitch. For some, it is a sign of how badly 
the government wants Moussaoui's head. While Moussaoui's 
guilty plea gave the government a lot of work, the Bush 
administration's objectives are far too complex to be content 
with a partial confession. With this trial the Bush 
administration is trying to prove that one can try terrorists 
within the right of law; it also wants to make this the trial 
of 9/11 and for lack of having Ben Laden in their hands, the 
Americans need someone to bear the responsibility. By 
ricochet, the administration also wants to exonerate the FBI 
and other agencies for their mistakes and their inability to 
prevent the attacks. All of these ambitions are being 
threatened. Moussaoui is not as good a culprit as they had 
hoped. The legal system will need to be extremely convincing 
to turn Moussaoui's silence into a criminal act. Failure of 
the proceedings. would re-enforce the Pentagon hard liners 
that it is better to settle accounts with terrorists in ad hoc 
military courts, than in civilian courts." 
 
Iraq 
 
"Daily Massacres in Iraq Between Religious Groups" 
Jean-Pierre Perrin in left-of-center Liberation (03/15): "For 
Iraq, the worse possible scenario is on the move: the scenario 
for a civil war. Since the February attacks on the Golden 
Mosque in Samarra, not a day goes by without dozens of Iraqis 
being executed in groups. Most of the bodies found show traces 
of torture. Reprisals against the Sunnis are on the rise. This 
ante-chamber to a generalized civil war is of such concern to 
the U.S. that it has begun to change strategies. After its 
invasion in 2003. Washington favored the emergence of a Shiite 
and Kurdish leadership. This attitude fed Sunni resentment and 
fueled the rebellion. Now, the Bush administration is turning 
to the Sunnis. The U.S Ambassador acknowledged the existence 
of Shiite `death squads' with links to the Defense Ministry. 
Ambassador Khalizad has also made remarks meant to please the 
Sunnis, such as saying that the U.S. would withdraw from Iraq 
and leave no permanent military bases. Can this be a turning 
point in U.S. strategy or just a new tactic to overcome a 
difficult moment? . If this is a new U.S. strategy, it seems 
to be an answer to another set of concerns: the deteriorating 
situation in Southern Iran, a Shiite stronghold." 
 
U.S. - India Nuclear Accord 
 
"U.S. -India: The Alliance of the Century" 
Guy Sorman in right-of-center Le Figaro (03/15): "Nixon went 
to China. Bush to India. While relations between the U.S. and 
China have helped China's economic development, China remains 
a source of concern for the U.S. and the world. The Chinese 
communist party is totalitarian, unpredictable and therefore 
dangerous. Meanwhile India is back. A forgotten India on which 
the West had turned its back. But India is a liberal 
democracy. English is spoken here and India likes America. You 
have only to look at the long lines in front of the U.S. 
consulate in Delhi to see the attraction of the U.S. This is 
why the new alliance between the U.S. and India looks very 
natural. Also playing into India's favor is its religious 
diversity: India is mystical, something that appeals to 
America. Islam is widespread and it cohabits nicely with 
Hinduism, except for small regional conflicts. The moderate 
Islam which the West is seeking dominates in India. Why has 
Europe, and France in particular, not anticipated this new 
alliance? Because Europe does not have a common foreign 
policy, the individual countries' diplomacies compete with 
each other in India. And the Europeans are afraid to irritate 
the Chinese leaders if they are too friendly with India. 
Europe is not at ease in India: it does not give brownie 
points for its democracy. Bush on the other hand has not made 
this diplomatic faux-pas. As exporters of democracy, the 
Americans praise India's model. Can we call this new alliance 
between the U.S. and India the alliance of the century? Maybe. 
Let's now watch the match between India and China. Will 
democratic India develop faster than tyrannical China? 
Probably yes. And American investments will help it along." 
 
Milosevic 
 
"Milosevic or the End of Impunity" 
Jacques Hubert-Rodier in right-of-center Les Echos (03/15): 
"The Hague tribunal, despite its errors. will remain in 
history, like the Rwanda tribunal, as the first to judge war 
criminals since the Nuremberg trials. There is nevertheless a 
big difference between the Nuremberg tribunal and that of 
former Yugoslavia. The first was created by the four 
victorious powers of WWII, while the Hague tribunal, as that 
of Rwanda, resulted directly from a decision of the UN 
Security Council, which is supposed to represent the 
international community. The International Criminal Court, 
which is always confronted with U.S. opposition, is strictly 
limited.  One cannot turn to it except when national tribunals 
break down or at the request of the UN Security Council. One 
can also question the deterrent quality of international 
justice. Nuremberg didn't stop the genocides of the latter 
half of the 20th century. But, Washington, in the Security 
Council, finally let the ICC take up the question of war 
criminals in Darfur. The message of Milosevic's trial, even 
though it was not concluded, and that of Saddam Hussein's as 
well, is clear. Escaping justice has become more difficult, 
even if international justice remains imperfect." STAPLETON