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Lucia A Keegan  07/19/2006 05:30:33 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Lucia A Keegan

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SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Israeli-Lebanese Conflict - French 
and American Cooperation - Middle East - French and American 
Policies 
PARIS - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
Israeli-Lebanese Conflict - French and American Cooperation 
Middle East - French and American Policies 
 
(B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
Left-of-center Le Monde's headline: "Chirac and Bush Want to 
Neutralize Hezbollah" and accompanying article assert that by 
sending Pm Villepin to Beirut on Monday, President Chirac wanted to 
"make a strong political gesture as a reminder of the special nature 
of the Franco-Lebanese relationship." 
 
Right-of-center Le Figaro's editorial by Pierre Rousselin entitled 
"Bush and Chirac Together Against Hezbollah" says that for once 
"French and Americans are playing off the same sheet of music with 
the same objectives in view." (See Part C) 
 
The editorial by Guillaume Goubert in Catholic La Croix underscores 
that "Lebanon will not be seen as sovereign as long as its southern 
border is controlled by not by its own army but by armed militias 
that are more attentive to what they are told by Damascus and 
Teheran than by Beirut. This in itself explains the lack of 
criticism on the part of the great powers as well as a number of 
Arab countries to Israel's incursion." 
 
For right-of-center Le Figaro, French diplomacy is "caught between a 
rock and a hard place." "On the one hand it cannot afford to remain 
inactive with regard to the conflict... and on the other hand it 
cannot make any hasty decisions that would cause tension namely with 
the Americans... For the time being Paris has decided to hide behind 
the UN consultations and the return at the end of the week of the 
mission sent by Kofi Annan from to the Middle East." 
 
The Paris-based International Herald Tribune columnist William Pfaff 
explains the failures of America's policies in the Middle East in an 
op-ed entitled: "American Weaknesses" in left-of-center Le Monde. 
(See Part C) 
 
Former Clinton adviser Robert Malley is interviewed in Liberation, 
stressing that the Bush Administration's lack of involvement in the 
Israeli-Lebanese conflict is "deliberate... The Administration's 
line has always been not to negotiate with terrorist or rogue 
states... therefore Washington's capacity to have an influence with 
the principal players in this tragedy: Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and 
Iran is nil." 
 
Left-of-center Le Monde notes the reticence of France and the U.S. 
to send UN troops into southern Lebanon "both countries have had 
painful experiences in the matter. 58 French paratroopers and 241 
American marines were killed in Lebanon in October 1983 in attacks 
believed to have been perpetrated by Hezbollah." Right-of-center Le 
Figaro says that a "recourse to UN troops is difficult... especially 
given that UNIFIL's mission will come to a close at the end of the 
month and that it has by and large been a failure." 
 
An op-ed by Richard Hiault in economic right-of-center Les Echos 
outlines the "The Unkept Promises of the G8." "Like every year 
commitments were made, like every year only some or even none of 
then will be kept... And yet the club that brings together the 
countries that represent two thirds of the world's economy should 
serve as a guide and as an example. 
 
Joseph Limagne in regional Ouest France analyzes the future of the 
relationship between Russia and Europe: "The escalation of violence 
in the Middle East has almost completely overshadowed the first 
summit organized by Russia since it became a part of the G8 in 
1994... Europe is still trying to determine what its relationship 
should be with Russia... ideally it should be a partnership that is 
both honest and non-complacent... As an example: it is not because 
Europe criticizes the U.S. for Guantanamo that the latter is less of 
a partner." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
Israeli-Lebanese Conflict - French and American Cooperation 
"Bush and Chirac: Together Against Hezbollah" 
Pierre Rousselin in the editorial in right-of-center Le Figaro 
(07/19): "Contrary to other crises that strongly opposed George W. 
Bush and Jacques Chirac, their positions on the war against 
Hezbollah are compatible... As early as 2004, Lebanon was a subject 
of Franco-American rapprochement after the rift over Iraq. It 
remains an issue on which George W. Bush and Jacques Chirac can work 
together: both think that the time to contain Hezbollah has come... 
In the division of labor between the U.S. and France over the 
Israeli-Lebanese conflict, the U.S. maintains its support for 
Israel... while France poses itself as the defender of Lebanon." 
 
"Inactivity" 
Gerard Dupuy in left-of-center Liberation's editorial (07/19): "The 
principal explanation for the relative indifference of the 
international community to the armed conflict in Lebanon is the 
weight of the U.S. The UN is powerless without it and Bush's blind 
conformity to Israel's decisions is a powerful incentive to 
inactivity... In reality as we have seen in Darfur, when the 
regional players decide to act militarily they have their hands free 
for a considerable length of time.... The mixture of military 
adventurism and dogmatic ideology incarnated by Ahmadinejad, joined 
with the decrepit Baathist power in Syria lend a collision course 
feeling to Hezbollah's provocations. It is one thing to condemn 
Israel for retaliating disproportionately; it is another to run the 
risk of lending a helping hand to Nasrallah!" 
 
Middle East - French and American Policies 
 
"France's Shift" 
The unsigned editorial in left-of-center Le Monde notes that there 
are two principal reasons for France's shift with regard to Lebanon 
(07/19): "The first is the assassination of Rafic Hariri in February 
¶2005. The former Lebanese Prime Minister was considered to be 
President Chirac's 'best foreign friend'... The second is the 
Franco-American rapprochement that followed the assassination. Paris 
and Washington gave their support to the anti-Syrian political 
faction that won the elections. And France and the U.S. worked 
together to pass Resolution 1559 at the UN which called for the 
withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon... Mr. Chirac, the 
traditional ally of Arab countries, has decided to measure his 
diplomacy. He has called for the Israelis to show restraint on one 
side and for an end to the Hezbollah problem on the other. His 
current stance has more legitimacy than before and it is the only 
one that will ensure that France and the U.S. remain on the same 
course working together to promote international consensus." 
 
Regional daily La Republique des Pyrenees' Jean-Marcel Bouguereau 
writes (07/19): "Concerning the powerlessness of the international 
community with regard to this conflict, the brunt of the 
responsibility lies on George W. Bush whose foreign policy from Iraq 
to Iran to the Palestinian territories has ceaselessly reinforced 
Islamic extremism." 
 
"A Conflict Without an End But Not Without a Solution" 
In left-of-center Le Monde Daniel Vernet writes (07/19): "The one 
thing that has not been tried yet is the massive involvement of the 
international community, that is to say above all else the U.S., 
working to promote a compromise and with a military presence on the 
ground. The Americans refuse because the successive Israeli 
governments have refused. But the rubble that is American 
Middle-Eastern policy from Iraq to Lebanon, from Iran to the 
Palestinian territories should prompt the U.S. to change its mind." 
STAPLETON