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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001891 
 
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 - ETA Cease-Fire 
Iraq 
PARIS - Friday, March 24, 2006 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
ETA Cease-Fire 
Iraq 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
From crisis to dialogue seems to be the message sent by 
today's headlines in their appraisal of the confrontation 
between PM Villepin and the opponents to his youth employment 
legislation, the CPE. Union leaders will be meeting with 
Villepin, which leads Liberation to headline "Forced Dialogue" 
adding: "Important demonstrations force Villepin to meet with 
unions." Le Figaro's article is entitled: "Villepin and Unions 
Begin to Talk While Demonstrations Get Out of Hand." Indeed 
pictures of burning cars are featured on most front pages and 
led last evening's news broadcasts. For Le Parisien, there is 
no doubt: "This CPE Is Dead . But the Ransacking Continues." 
Le Parisien carries a poll showing that 66% of the French are 
in favor of withdrawing the CPE, 35% among right-leaning 
sympathizers and 85% among left-leaning sympathizers. Many 
commentators bemoan the lost time over a dialogue which, for 
Liberation, is bringing together two "reluctant" 
interlocutors: "Villepin spurned by signs that his majority is 
beginning to show signs of fatigue, and the unions who realize 
that the situation in the streets is getting out of hand." 
 
The ETA cease-fire leads Le Monde and Le Figaro to comment on 
the "first signs of hope." Both invite France to "help 
Zapatero" and "side with Spain." (See Part C) Catholic La 
Croix interviews Joseba Arregi, a former minister from the 
Spanish Basque region: "This cease-fire is the result of a 
joint judicial and police Franco-Spanish cooperation. France's 
contribution has been vital. Now France's help will be even 
more important to keep small cells which disagree with the 
movement from creating autonomous groups." 
 
The Israeli election campaign, the EU Energy Summit, Belarus, 
the liberation of three hostages held in Iraq and the 
Washington Post story about a Minister of Saddam Hussein 
having worked for France and the CIA, make up today's 
international stories. Le Monde entitles one of its reports on 
the Iraqi Minister: "Skepticism in Paris But the Cooperation 
Confirmed" notes the "ambivalence in the French attitude that 
along with Germany led the opposition to the war in Iraq. But 
this is forgetting the context of the time." An unnamed source 
at the French Defense Ministry is quoted: "Up until the 
departure of Hans Blix's team from Iraq, cooperation between 
Paris and Washington was complete." The article goes on: 
"NBC's revelations will probably not have the same impact in 
France as in Germany where public opinion discovered in the 
past few months that their government's manifest opposition to 
the war had not prevented it from cooperating with American 
intelligence services backstage." 
 
Le Monde reports on a U.S. study by two Harvard scholars who 
claim that "the U.S. is experiencing acts of terrorism in part 
because of the strong pro-Israeli lobbies in Washington." A 
separate article relates the Israeli press's "concern" over 
the study, which it interprets as "a warning signal." 
 
At the EU Summit France's "economic patriotism" served to set 
the tone, according to Le Figaro, which comments on Angela 
Merkel's criticism of France's economic stance. All outlets 
report on President Chirac walking out of the conference 
center to protest a speech given in English, the "language of 
business", according to Ernest-Antoine Selliere, the 
"culprit." Seillere was previously President of the French 
Association of Business Captains, MEDEF, and has now a similar 
role at the European level. 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
ETA Cease-Fire 
"Basque Hope" 
Left-of-center Le Monde in its editorial (03/24): "Caution is 
the word. While the cease-fire is what PM Zapatero was waiting 
for, he refrained from sounding triumphant. He also cautioned 
that the peace process would be `long, hard and difficult.' 
This `permanent cease-fire' looks much more promising than the 
previous `indefinite truces.' While the idea of a `Great 
Basque Nation' does not fit with either the Spanish or French 
national approaches, Zapatero has initiated a reform that will 
grant the region more autonomy. He will need the political 
support of the French authorities, who cooperated closely 
these past years in policing the borders. If Zapatero manages 
to bring his plans to fruition he will have proved one can 
reconcile standing firm in the face of violence with political 
dialogue. Without the former, the war against terrorism is 
condemned to fail. Without the latter, eradicating terrorism 
remains a chimera. This lesson goes for more than just Spain. 
This is why Zapatero must be able to count on France's 
support." 
 
"Hope for Peace for Basque Country" 
Pierre Rousselin in right-of-center Le Figaro (03/24): "Let us 
hope that this `permanent cease-fire' is the beginning of the 
end for ETA. Spain deserves to be rid of this terrorist weight 
it has been carrying for the last thirty years. Zapatero is 
right to be cautious when he says he expects a `long, hard and 
difficult' peace process. because the terrorists have 
renounced none of their goals. But despite this, the hopes are 
on a par with past hardships. The question remains whether the 
terrorists will be willing to renounce some of their demands 
in order to be part of the democratic process. France was 
explicitly mentioned in their communiqu as being part of the 
solution to the Basque situation. France will contribute to a 
definitive peace in the Basque region only if, when it comes 
to repression on this side of the Pyrenees, it keeps all of 
Spain's well-defined interests clearly in mind." 
 
Iraq 
 
"Iraq and the U.S. Three Years Later" 
Bernard-Henri Levy, author of American Vertigo, in his column 
in right-of-center weekly Le Point (03/24): "This is an 
opportunity for me to repeat what I have said before: that the 
war was absurd, mismanaged, aiming at the wrong target and 
achieving a tour de force: instead of reducing the number of 
Islamic terrorists and their power, doing the exact opposite. 
Having said this, anti-American paranoia is taking such 
proportions, with exaggerations of a `satanic' America, that I 
must also reiterate certain truths. The oil scenario is not 
enough to explain the war. The truth is that Wolfowitz, Perle 
and the others launched a war which cannot be explained by 
such rationalization. As to America's `imperialism,' history 
will in fact tell whether it was Jacksonism, Hamiltonism or 
Wilsonism which were operative in the launching of the war. 
What is certain is that the old concept of American 
imperialism setting up a bridgehead in Iraq does not fit with 
American tradition. Finally, the notion that princes of 
darkness without morals or principles engaged in the most 
immoral of all wars goes against logic. If morality were an 
issue, the decision to topple Saddam made this war sensible. 
It is only much later, when the political management of the 
conflict came up, when winning peace rather that winning the 
war turned into a disaster. America's mistake was not being 
political enough. All this may appear theoretical for many: 
but reality will hit when America reverts to its isolationism. 
and abandons Iraq to its fate and a civil war. This is when we 
will regret the time when America, despite its failings, still 
cared about the world." STAPLETON