This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

171345Z May 06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 003269 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR FR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Bush Immigration Policy 
War on Terror Rehabilitation of Kadhafi - Venezuela Weapons 
Ban 
PARIS - Wednesday, May 17, 2006 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
Bush Immigration Policy 
War on Terror 
Rehabilitation of Kadhafi - Venezuela Weapons Ban 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
Le Figaro leads with several balanced articles and its 
editorial on President Bush and his "Attempts to Close the 
Mexican Border" while Liberation and Les Echos both title 
their reports: "Bush Between the Carrot and the Stick." Le 
Figaro devotes three major articles announced on the front 
page: "The President's Counter Offensive," "A Global 
Reform" and "Mexico Disappointed." The editorial is 
entitled "Bush as Border Guard." (See Part C) 
 
Most front pages continue to focus on domestic issues: the 
no-confidence vote at the National Assembly, which failed 
yesterday for lack of support, leaves PM Villepin weak. Le 
Figaro headlines: "The UMP Does the Minimum for Villepin,' 
while Liberation titles "The Right Censures Itself." 
 
The economic press leads with the hostile takeover of 
Arcelor by Mittal to be played out today on the stock 
exchange. Le Figaro Economie devotes a major report to 
Airbus and its A350 "which will need to be revised, its 
launch postponed, and cost double the initial price." 
 
La Tribune devotes wide coverage to the Cannes Film 
Festival, which opens today, to the world premiere of the 
Da Vinci Code and to the "hegemony of mega film budgets 
which are being threatened by smaller productions and by 
pirated copies." The editorial entitled "Hollywood in 
Cannes" comments: "The gap resides between the myth the 
Festival organizers want to promote, and the place of honor 
granted to a commercial super production which would never 
have been chosen to run among the official contenders. 
There are those who will wonder what would become of the 
Cannes Festival if it stopped getting high on Hollywood 
super productions. The irony lies in that, just when Cannes 
is beginning to accept films for what they are, pure 
entertainment, American movie studios are beginning to have 
doubts about the effectiveness of their films as models." 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
Bush Immigration Policy 
 
"Pierre Rousselin in right-of-center Le Figaro (05/17): 
"The fact that the U.S., a nation of immigrants, has 
reverted to using its National Guard in order to stop its 
illegal immigration shows that we, the Europeans, are not 
the only ones to still grapple with the problem. President 
Bush knows that 6,000 soldiers will not stop illegal 
immigration: if he chose to make the announcement it was to 
make an impact and prove that the U.S. wants to change a 
system that works no better than ours. The issue of 
assimilating such a large number of immigrants has become a 
political time bomb, here as there. But in the U.S., the 
vast majority of immigrants are Hispanics who have espoused 
the nation's values: they are not a cultural problem, 
except maybe when it comes to the issue of language. The 
'melting pot' is threatened. The law that will ultimately 
be adopted will have to be a synthesis of two diametrically 
opposed texts. President Bush is very attached to 
immigration and its values. And while he favors the 
Senate's more liberal approach, he is facing opposition 
from his own party. The impact of the National Guard 
announcement is meant to reassure his own party. 
Immigration could well become a major political platform in 
the November elections." 
 
"Bush Between the Carrot and the Stick" 
Laurent Mauriac in left-of-center Liberation (05/17): "As 
he proposes to send 6,000 National Guards to the Mexican 
border, President Bush is also proposing to grant legal 
status to illegal immigrants on U.S. soil. This is a highly 
sensitive issue for the President: his position on 
immigration is perceived as a major reason for his recent 
drop in popularity. His televised speech was the first one 
on a national issue. It was also an opportunity to divert 
attention from the latest revelations about the NSA taps. 
The first reactions show that the U.S. President was not 
able to alter the divisions in his own party. But according 
to a CNN poll, the American people reacted positively to 
the speech: 67% says they have a good opinion of his 
immigration policy." 
 
"Bush Between the Carrot and the Stick" 
David Barroux in right-of-center Les Echos (05/17): "With 
the mid-term elections looking extremely close, President 
Bush is trying to wield both the carrot and the stick. But 
once again he has failed. He is too soft for some, too 
harsh for others. The President did not find the words to 
bring together his Republican majority or to charm the 
Democrats. Yet in the President's first speech on a 
domestic issue he did try to give tokens to both camps." 
 
"Mexico Disappointed by a 'Sovereign Decision'" 
Frederic Faux in right-of-center Le Figaro (05/17): "For 
Vincente Fox, the American immigration plan is a major 
failure, two months from a presidential election. Worried 
over a measure that in his eyes will not resolve the 
problem of illegal immigration, Fox had to bow to a' 
sovereign decision.'" 
 
War on Terrorism 
 
"'War' Against Terror Supercedes Civil Liberties" 
Corinne Lesnes in left-of-center Le Monde (05/17): 
"Washington's pretext of national security to legitimize 
unconstitutional practices compares to other periods in 
history, like  the two world wars and the Cold War. These 
practices are in keeping with the Enemy Alien Act of 1798, 
which has never been repealed. But in 2003 the Supreme 
Court gave a ruling on Guantanamo detainees that went 
against the administration, because, as Sandra Day O'Connor 
said, 'a state of war is not a blank check.' David Cole, a 
staunch critic of the Bush administration regrets the use 
of 'Commander in Chief as a magic word.' even if with 
terrorism, the challenge is prevention, which led to John 
Ashcroft's 'preemptive paradigm.' But, says Cole, 'the 
government has sacrificed certain constitutional 
principles. The administration is offering a strange deal: 
we sacrifice the freedom of some other individual in the 
name of security for all.' The Heritage Foundation sees 
nothing wrong in this attitude: says the Foundation's James 
Carafano: 'Let's give 5000 terrorists to the Europeans, and 
see what they do.'" 
 
Rehabilitation of Kadhafi - Venezuela Weapons Ban 
 
"Chavez Visits Kadhafi" 
Lamia Oualalou in right-of-center Le Figaro (05/17): "The 
U.S. could not have chosen a better time to annoy Chavez 
and upset his relations with some of his most fiendish 
friends. As he was about to land in Tripoli, Washington 
upset the deck of cards and distributed good and bad marks. 
As the State Department announced normalization with Libya, 
it also announced a ban on weapons sales to Venezuela 
accused of not cooperating on the war against terror. The 
decision is symbolic, since Chavez's prior decision to 
shift suppliers. It was also predictable, considering 
Washington's attitude towards Spain and Brazil. But the 
decision also marks a new escalation and the increasing 
isolation of Chavez on the international scene." STAPLETON