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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 003844 
 
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. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR FR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Iraq - Guantanamo - 
Anti-Americanism Somalia Iran 
PARIS - Wednesday, June 07 2006 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
Iraq - Guantanamo - Anti-Americanism 
Somalia 
Iran 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
Domestic issues dominate today's front pages and many editorials, 
with the Socialist Party's internal strife making news, while Iraq, 
Somalia and Iran dominate international news. 
 
Le Figaro carries an op-ed entitled: "Guantanamo, Putting an End to 
Anti-American Propaganda" by University Professor Yves Roucaute, an 
opinion piece which stands apart from the traditional accusations 
against the U.S., and gives refutation to "The Road to Guantanamo" 
movie opening today. After tracing legal arguments for the camp, he 
concludes: "Guantanamo is a sign of courage in the midst of a world 
war against terrorism." (See Part C) 
 
La Croix leads with "Iraq: An Endless War" and devotes three inside 
pages to "The War in Iraq, The U.S. Army's Nightmare," (See Part C) 
"Iraq Triggers Cold Sweat Among the Republicans" and an interview 
with political expert Walid Phares who says: "If the Americans leave 
Iraq, the country will fall apart." Another article by Francois 
d'Alancon is entitled "Iraqi Armed Groups Dictate their Law." Le 
Figaro reports on its front page that "despite the liberation of 2 
500 prisoners, Iraq's new Prime Minister al-Maliki is failing to 
give his government coherence." 
 
In Les Echos Sergio Romano pens an op-ed from Milan entitled 
"Withdrawing from Iraq: Italy and America." He opines that while 
Prodi will withdraw Italy's troops to "satisfy his election promise, 
the new Italian government is encumbered by this pull out because it 
could negatively affect Italian American relations without resolving 
the problem of Baghdad." (See Part C) 
 
Liberation announces the opening of the "Road to Guantanamo" a film 
"which has already elicited much controversy. The subject naturally 
demands it, seeing as it shows how the Americans lost their sense of 
democracy and torture in Gantanamo, whether one is a Taliban, a 
member of Al-Qaeda or a poor soul who landed there by mistake." La 
Croix comments: "it is a film put together from tales told by three 
British men who were caught in the Afghan turbulence and landed in 
Guantanamo. The film is first and foremost a cry of indignation. It 
is not a political pamphlet; it aims to recall the existence of a 
detention camp ruled by principles which deprive human beings of 
their basic rights and go against democracy." 
 
The situation in Somalia and the U.S. support for "warlords" is 
analyzed in Le Monde, while Le Figaro titles its report: "Resistance 
to Islamists Is Building Up." FR2 television in its report recalled 
the failed 1992 "give back hope" operation and added that "after the 
departure of the 28 000 U.S. Marines there was total anarchy."  In 
Liberation Roland Marchal, a researcher at the CNRS, comments: 
"Mogadishu is not Somalia... The tribunals have ensured the 
capital's security. But governing a city of over a million people, 
or even an entire country is something else all together. The 
tribunals were united in battle, but I do not think they have a 
vocation to handle administrative issues... They are hampered by 
their ethnic divisions." 
 
Iran is "studying the West's proposals" according to Le Figaro, 
which Tehran finds "positive" and also "ambiguous" according to 
Liberation. (See Part C) 
 
Les Echos carries an op-ed entitled "European Stock Exchanges and 
American Imperialism" which comments on the NYSE and Euronext 
merger. In this regard Le Figaro reports on its front page: "Chirac 
Criticizes the Franco-American Stock Axis." In its economic pages, 
Le Figaro Economie, the report explains Chirac's preference for a 
marriage between Euronext and the Deutsche Borse. The editorial in 
La Tribune is entitled "Interference," and comments: "What is Chirac 
trying to do? His stance in favor of the Deutsch Borse is both 
familiar and disturbing. Disturbing, because if Chirac though he 
could influence the merger, he might have spoken up before the 
betrothal... Familiar, because the President once again demonstrates 
the propensity for French politicians to put their nose in affairs 
that do not concern them..." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
Iraq 
 
"Guantanamo, Putting an End to Anti-American Propaganda" 
University Professor Yves Roucaute in right-of-center Le Figaro 
(06/07): "In the midst of a world war against terrorism, the 
Guantanamo affair is a serious matter. Instead of giving our support 
to those who are on the front lines, the poison of anti-Americanism 
is undermining the morale of our nations... This is an asymmetric 
war, detention saves lives, and prisoners are being liberated a few 
at a time. Critics of Guantanamo would rather listen to the 
liberated prisoners than see the conditions of the camp for 
themselves... Anti-Americanism seems increasingly to have become the 
opium of the people. The heart of a world without a soul where 
morality has no place... If the true strength of a Republic resides 
in its virtue, virtue is measured by the amount of courage used to 
fight in its name. Guantanamo is courage." 
 
"Withdrawing from Iraq: Italy and America" 
Sergio Romano in right-of-center Les Echos (06/07): "In a few days, 
after consultations with the Americans in Washington, the government 
of Romano Prodi is going to announce a calendar for the pull-out of 
Italian troops from Iraq... The new Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
Massimo D'Alema, recalled that the Silvio Berlusconi government had 
already decided on this pull-out before the end of last year... I 
fear that, behind this apparent nonchalance, there is a certain 
embarrassment. The government desires to keep its promises, but it 
wants to avoid the 'Zapatero effect' and must keep in mind two 
requirements. It does not want to waste an investment that has cost 
it blood and money. And it does not want to prejudice relations with 
the United States. Obliged to pass through a narrow window between 
the moderate center and the anti-American left of his coalition, the 
Minister of Foreign Affairs is hiding behind a truism: we already 
decided it and we're going to do it. Is this a reasonable decision? 
It would not be if the American government could show a convincing 
program for the political and economic reconstruction of Iraq. But 
all that President Bush and his collaborators can do is to repeat 
the habitual litany of optimistic and reassuring predictions. If 
they were to recognize that their projects have failed, and if they 
opened themselves up to new perspectives, we could discuss them... 
but for the time being, that is an unlikely prospect. If he decided 
on a pull-out, George Bush would admitting defeat and would thereby 
be committing a sort of political hari kari." 
 
"The U.S. Army's Nightmare" 
Stephanie Fontenoy in Catholic La Croix (06/07): "The Haditha 
killings are the nightmare everybody was afraid of in the U.S. The 
opponents to the war said the soldiers would become an army of 
occupation, unable to distinguish innocent civilians from violent 
insurgents... That the Iraqi invasion would be like Vietnam... After 
three years in Iraq, the distance between American troops and the 
Iraqi population remains... In Uncle Sam's army, there is a feeling 
of malaise. Says Sergeant Mike Dover who trained at Forts Irwin and 
Polk: 'Sometimes the feeling for revenge takes over. It's difficult 
not to respond point blank...' Says Mathew Friedman of the center 
for post-traumatic troubles: 'Iraq is a pressure cooker. It is a 
situation where men are constantly concerned for their safety...' 
U.S. troops are trained before they go to Iraq... But between 
training and the actual situation on the ground, the gap is huge. 
Witness the fact that those who allegedly killed 'in cold blood' the 
civilians in Haditha were Marines: the U.S.'s best trained 
soldiers." 
 
Iran 
 
" Tehran Playing for Time" 
Veronique Soule in left-of-center Liberation (06/07): "It's neither 
yes or no. Iran, which finds the West's proposals 'positive' but 
'ambiguous,' is playing for time. It wants to give up nothing while 
at the same time keeping the door open. Meanwhile, the international 
community which is united on the goal but divided over the means, is 
giving it time... While Javier Solana has kept secret the details of 
the proposals, President Bush said last evening he judged Tehran's 
reaction to be 'positive.'" 
 
"Iran Studies the West's Proposals" 
Maurin Picard in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/07): "Tehran is 
taking its time... The ball is now in its camp. Iran has a few weeks 
to take a stand. In short, the alternative is follows: either Iran 
agrees to stop its uranium enrichment, a prelude to dtente with the 
West, or it favors its nuclear program, thus putting into motion the 
sanctions program which has now been agreed to by Moscow and 
Beijing." 
 
Somalia 
 
"In Somalia, a Reversal for Washington, Fearing Al Qaeda Will Settle 
In" 
Corine Lenes and Jean-Philippe Remy in left-of-center Le Monde 
(06/07): "Washington showed concern about the take over of Mogadishu 
by Islamic tribal militia... and although it said it supported the 
establishment of democratic institutions, 'it did not want to see 
Somalia turning into a haven for foreign terrorists...' But the 
State Department's spokesman did not clearly say whether the U.S. 
had proof of such presence, saying only it 'had real concerns...' 
But according to the U.S. press, Washington believes three of the 
individuals responsible for the Nairobi and Dar-es Salaam attacks 
against the U.S. Embassies are hiding among Somali Islamists... This 
takeover is a failure for the Bush administration... which, since 
9/11, has used the Horn of Africa as a main theatre of operations by 
CENTCOM... The recent progression made by the Union of Islamic 
Tribunals has led the U.S. to support the new alliance of Somali 
'warlords' to stop the Islamists. But the opposite has happened... 
According to the International Crisis Group, the CIA has been 
sending between 100,000 to 150,000 dollars a month to these 
warlords... as well as surveillance equipment to track Al-Qaeda. 
This support may be in contradiction with the arms embargo imposed 
by the UN... It appears that this 'support' for the warlords is 
dividing the Bush administration: according to sources in Nairobi, 
two diplomats stationed in Nairobi, Michael Zorick, in charge of the 
Somali dossier, and Michael Fitzpatrick, in charge of political 
affairs, left their posts abruptly, after opposing Washington's 
policy." 
 
"Responsibility Lies With International Community" 
Isabelle Dath on private RTL radio (06/07): "This is a serious 
setback for the U.S... whose strategy has clearly failed. In spite 
of the fact that it spent millions of dollars on the local 
warlords... they kicked them out of the country. The U.S. is 
concerned that an Islamist regime in Somalia will create a favorable 
environment for al Qaeda to set up camp. If this has not already 
happened... America's concerns are justified, but between us, 
everyone should acknowledge their responsibility. Somalia would not 
be in the situation that it is in today if it had not been 
completely abandoned by the international community as a whole." 
 
"Resistance to Islamists Is Building Up." 
Tanguy Berthemey in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/07): "Diplomats 
fear Washington's reaction. The fall of Mogadishu is a stinging 
failure for Washington, which has for the past months supported the 
'warlords' to counter the Islamic militia's rise... For the U.S., 
the prospect of a 'Talibanization' of Somalia is unacceptable..." 
STAPLETON