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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 004033 
 
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 Middle East - Olmert to Europe 
- Gaza Violence European Defense 
PARIS - Wednesday, June 14, 2006 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
Iraq 
Middle East - Olmert to Europe - Gaza Violence 
European Defense 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
Le Figaro reports on its front page "Iraq: President Bush's Surprise 
Visit" and entitles its inside article: "Bush in the Heart of the 
Iraqi Quagmire;" Le Parisien carries a color photo of President Bush 
shaking hands with PM al-Maliki. This is also the "Photo of the Day" 
selected by France Soir. (See Part C) 
 
Yesterday's front page of afternoon paper Le Monde ran a photo of 
President Bush and his cabinet advisors at Camp David and a report 
on the Iraq strategy meeting in an article entitled: "George Bush 
refuses to set a date for the withdrawal of the troops." (See Part 
C) 
 
Le Monde profiled Charles Swift, the defense lawyer assigned by the 
Pentagon to defend Bin Laden's former driver held in Guantanamo. 
"Swift and others contest the arbitrariness of special tribunals set 
up after 9/11... In a document sent to the Courts, they compare 
President Bush to George III who refused to grant his subjects in 
the colonies the same rights British subjects enjoyed in the 
mainland..." Swift is quoted: "I swore to uphold the Constitution, 
not to obey the President..." 
 
In Le Figaro, a brief item reports on the French government 
officially linning up behind the EU to close Guantanamo: "Yesterday, 
France declared its 'solidarity' with Austria's demarche to ask for 
the closing of Guantanamo during the next U.S.-EU summit. The 
Foreign Ministry said it was waiting for 'the results of the U.S. 
investigation' into the recent suicides." 
 
La Croix's question of the day, "Is Europe Sufficiently Mobilized 
Against Guantanamo?" is answered by Jean-Marie Cavada, President of 
the Commission on Civil Liberties at the EU Parliament: "Europe must 
protest further in order to lead the U.S. to close Guantanamo. On 
Tuesday, the Parliament voted a text which states that Guantanamo 
stands outside the law... While the vote carries no political 
obligation, it will have important repercussions on the 
international scene, and on the image of the U.S. ... The text will 
put pressure on the U.S. to talk about this issue during the U.S.-EU 
summit next week." Cavada also raises the EU's opposition to 
transferring personal travelers' data to the U.S. government. 
 
La Croix devotes its lead to "Increased Violence in Gaza" and 
reports extensively on PM Olmert's visit to Paris. For Le Figaro, 
"The Palestinians Are on the Verge of a Civil War," a headline 
echoed in Le Parisien. (See Part C) 
 
La Croix interviews Jacques Huntzinger, former French Ambassador to 
Israel and President of the France-Israel Foundation: "The 
relationship that developed between Sharon and Chirac in 2004 
influenced France's Israel policy. Chirac became aware that to carry 
influence in the Middle East, one needed to have an Arab policy but 
also a relationship with Israel... Olmert convinced Sharon to pull 
out of Gaza... and that Israel must move towards two separate 
states... But it is a fact that unilateralism must now make way to a 
dialogue with the Palestinians..." 
 
Two op-eds in Le Figaro deal with European issues: one, penned 
jointly by Defense Ministers from France and Germany, Alliot-Marie 
and Jung, is entitled: "Europe's Armed Forces: a Global Mission for 
Peace." (See Part C) The second, penned by researcher Gustav 
Lindstrom, calls for a "joint national security structure at the 
European level, similar to the one recently created in the U.S. 
under the Department for Homeland Security." 
 
The editorial in financial Les Echos is entitled: "Hazing Bernanke." 
For Pierre-Angel Gay the relationship between Black Monday in 
October 87 and the recent fall of the NYSE is "the arrival, both 
times, of a novice to head the Federal Reserve... At the time, 
Greenspan's reaction and the way he got out from under led some to 
say that he was being tested... But to say that the same holds true 
for Bernanke may be going too far..." 
Les Echos also carries an interview with former U.S. Ambassador to 
France Felix Rohatyn who supports the merger between Paris Euronext 
stock exchange and the NYSE: "this is the best way for both to 
increase their attractiveness worldwide and to compete with 
London... With this merger, Paris will become Europe's financial 
capital..." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
Iraq 
 
"Bush in the Heart of the Iraqi Quagmire" 
Philippe Gelie in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/14): "Security 
constraints have their silver lining. Yesterday, President Bush took 
full advantage of these as he visited Baghdad, taking everyone by 
surprise, including his host... This was a get-acquainted visit for 
the President and PM al-Maliki. The White House hopes that treating 
Maliki as a political partner on an equal footing will consolidate 
his legitimacy in the eyes of the Iraqis... President Bush 
apparently found what he was looking for: confirmation that 
Washington can count on the government to progressively decrease its 
presence in Iraq... President Bush was able to congratulate the 
American forces for the elimination of Zarkawi. But mostly the visit 
was well timed to coincide with the political calendar in the U.S. 
Although the President's ratings have plummeted because of the war, 
his advisor Karl Rove expects to use the war as an electoral 
weapon." 
 
"Surprise Visit to Baghdad" 
Bruno Fanucchi in right-of-center Le Parisien (06/14): "Six days 
after eliminating Zarkawi, President Bush gave himself the 
opportunity to bank on this un-hoped for success. And to reiterate 
America's determination to 'win the war against terrorism,' in which 
'Iraq plays a central role...' because, as the President said, 'when 
America makes a promise, it delivers...' But the American President 
took pains to avoid setting any deadline for a troop withdrawal, and 
refused to stand by General Casey's statement on Sunday about a 
partial pullout, insisting that a decrease in troops would 'depend 
on conditions on the ground' which have drastically worsened in the 
past several weeks." 
 
Middle East - Olmert to Europe - Gaza Violence 
 
"Promised Land, Cursed Land" 
Les Echos's editorial board under the pen name Favilla (06/14): "The 
text of the referendum proposed by Abbas is considered by outside 
observers to be a clever initiative. The text clearly recognizes the 
existence of Israel in that it does not demand all of Palestine, but 
the territories not occupied by Israel in 67. But the hopes of 
seeing all parties rallying to the initiative have been short-lived. 
Israel's unilateral pullout from Gaza and the West Bank was intended 
as a fait accompli and not the result of a dialogue. It does not 
care for a text that would reopen negotiations on Israel's borders. 
As for Hamas, it picked up quickly on the fact that the referendum 
intended to deprive it of an opportunity to expand its sovereignty 
over all of Israel's territories. This is a position shared by all 
Islamic extremists and Iran's President... While the document of the 
imprisoned Palestinians gave birth to a new hope for peace, it 
underlines the irreconcilable character of the two internal lines 
within the Palestinian movement, to the point of leading perhaps to 
the beginning of a civil war. On the banks of the Jordan, there is 
not much distance between promised land and cursed land." 
 
"On the Verge of a Civil War" 
Patrick Saint-Paul in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/14): "Fatah and 
Hamas appear to be on collision course... The political battle they 
have engaged in appears to have no solution... According to Saed 
Erakat, a Fatah negotiator, 'the Gaza chaos is spreading to the West 
Bank like a forest fire... It is essential that a single authority 
take over. Otherwise the internal war is going to worsen...'" 
 
"Europe's Armed Forces: a Global Mission for Peace" 
French Defense Minister Alliot-Marie and German counterpart Franz 
Josef Jung in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/14): "Europe's security 
and defense policy allows the EU to operate at the level of crises 
prevention and conflict management... Stability in all of Europe's 
neighboring countries is in the interest of all Europeans... The 
Barcelona process has improved security and stability south and East 
of the Mediterranean... But the EU's foreign and security policies 
must also operate at the global level... because of the new 
interdependency in armed conflicts and their consequences... In the 
context of NEPAD, we support the efforts of our African neighbors: 
Europe's initiatives in Africa are growing in number... The fate of 
the African continent is increasingly a matter of concern for all of 
Europe and not solely for those countries that border the 
Mediterranean." STAPLETON