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Lucia A Keegan  08/31/2006 09:44:17 AM  From  DB/Inbox:  Lucia A Keegan

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SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Iran Lebanon 
PARIS - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
Iran 
Lebanon 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
Domestic social issues dominate today's front pages, but Iran and 
its tug of war with the West is the day's major international story, 
with Lebanon and the UNIFIL a close second. Le Figaro entitles an 
article: "Europe Wants to Dialogue With Iran" in which Alexandrine 
Bouilhet opposes Europe's wish "to resolve the crisis through 
negotiations" to the U.S. push "to get sanctions imposed on Iran." 
Another article prominently features Ambassador Bolton "who wishes, 
if need be, to impose sanctions outside the jurisdiction of the 
UNSC, through a 'coalition of the willing.'" The article entitled 
"Washington Flexes Its Muscles But Seeks a Strategy" also notes the 
U.S. effort led by Ambassador Nick Burns to draft a new resolution 
to halt delivery of "sensitive materials" to Iran. The editorial is 
entitled "Bringing Iran Around to Negotiations." (See Part C) 
 
An op-ed in Le Figaro entitled "Iran's Ultimate Plan After the Bomb" 
explains that "Ahmadinejad has no fear of triggering a clash between 
civilizations" and that "'Iranium' will seek to negotiate after it 
has acquired the bomb." 
 
Interior Minister Sarkozy pens an op-ed in Le Figaro on France's 
commitment in Lebanon, today's second major international story: 
Calling for national unity, Sarkozy's op-ed is a strong endorsement 
for France's participation in an international peacekeeping force in 
Lebanon. Noting that the Lebanon issue is part of one of the key 
axes of French foreign policy (and as such should be off-limits for 
political jockeying in the run-up to the 2007 elections), Sarkozy 
characterizes the conflict as "a war provoked by third countries and 
relayed by radical militias." Sarkozy does, however, insist that 
mission and lines of command be clearly established in order to 
avoid the mistakes of pre-1995 interventions in Bosnia. Sarkozy 
argues convincingly against those who insist that France should stay 
out of a war that does not concern it, posing the rhetorical 
question, "What is the alternative?" and concluding "It is 
absolutely necessary that the people of France as a whole support 
the mission of our soldiers in Lebanon." 
 
Le Figaro's article on Lebanon details France's "important" and 
robust deployment of troops and equipment, including its Leclerc 
tanks, "to break with the tradition of impotence of other UN 
operations." (See Part C) La Croix devotes a commentary to 
"introspection" in the Middle East which analyzes the 
"acknowledgments by Olmert, Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad 
of having made errors." (See Part C) 
 
Le Figaro interviews Hussein Haj Hassan, a Hezbollah representative 
in the Lebanese Parliament, who says "the Lebanese army cannot 
defend the country ... and the international community must offer 
something concrete to counterbalance Hezbollah's disarmament..." 
Hassan adds that "UNIFIL is welcome and that France's role is 
accepted, despite France's sometimes ambiguous stance..." Hassan 
also describes Hezbollah's goals: "Give back the Palestinians what 
is there's..." Hassan also decries the international community's 
description of the party as "a terrorist movement" and points to the 
U.S. "as having pushed the Israelis to attack: the Americans' final 
objective is to eliminate Hezbollah and Hamas, encircle Syria and 
establish their version of the Middle East. The attempt has failed, 
but they will try again, with Iran or Syria." 
 
Kofi Annan's visit to Lebanon and Israel is widely reported and his 
visit to Damascus announced for tomorrow, where he will discuss the 
deployment of UNIFIL along its border with Lebanon. FR3 focused on 
his call on the Israeli government to lift the blockade... while TF1 
and FR2 emphasized France's role in UNIFIL. FR3 aired a report on 
Italy's involvement: sending 2,500 soldiers to Lebanon is not just 
"a diplomatic or a humanitarian gesture; Lebanon is also a big 
market for Italian companies." This morning, Radio Europe 1 said 
that "the cease fire in Lebanon was closer to war than peace." 
 
Every outlet reports the accidental explosion of a pipeline in Iraq. 
In communist l'Humanite the accident is announced on the front page: 
"Iraq: The Day's Explosion." Inside, the report quotes Secretary 
Rumsfeld's remarks in Nevada: "We will not say today to 50 million 
Afghans and Iraqis that because of the difficulties we are facing, 
we will abandon them to executioners, terrorists, assassins who are 
the fascists of the 21s century and who try to attack us abroad and 
at home..." 
 
In an op-ed on the future of the European Union, Economist Pierre 
Jaillard argues in La Croix that to open the EU to Turkey would be 
tantamount to abandoning the EU's democratic aspirations for a 
strategic/economic quagmire. Using the occasion of Montenegro's 
independence and the dissolution of Yugoslavia as a starting point, 
Jaillard insists that Europe's common Judeo-Christian heritage is 
essential to its identity, and that Turkey or Morocco have no place 
in a common Europe. 
 
Financial La Tribune announces on its front page "a new battle 
between Boeing and Airbus" over their B737 and A320 programs, 
respectively. According to La Tribune the stakes are "enormous." Le 
Figaro Economie reports that a Russian bank has bought 5% of EADS, 
the parent company of Airbus. 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
Iran 
 
"Bringing Iran Around to Negotiations" 
Pierre Rousselin in right-of-center Le Figaro (08/30): "... The 
international community will have no bearing on Iran until it can 
set an ultimatum it can stick to... Iran's tactics is to divide the 
major powers: the U.S. will call for sanctions in which no one 
believes, the Russians and Chinese will oppose them and France and 
Europe, caught in the middle, will try to balance things out and 
find a consensus which does not exist... And once again Tehran is 
about to get what it wants: more time... Meanwhile Ahmadinejad can 
threaten to use his own weapons of retaliation, i.e. oil. The recent 
Lebanese war proves Tehran's capacity for nuisance. It is 
unfortunate that the offer made before the summer, which offered a 
dialogue with Iran and which had the support of the U.S., was not 
accepted. The major powers' goal should not be to bring Iran to 
bend, but to lead this strategic nation to understand that it is in 
its own best interest to negotiate. With good diplomacy, this 
objective is not out of reach." 
 
Lebanon 
 
"France's Heavy Deployment in Lebanon" 
Arnaud de La Grange in right-of-center Le Figaro (08/30): "The 
firepower France is deploying in Lebanon has never been seen outside 
NATO... The significance of this important deployment is twofold. 
Politically, France wants to avoid being humiliated by either of the 
two forces present... But the military choices made by France's 
generals have also a tactical significance and are a response to 
Hezbollah's ability to launch missiles... As France awaits the final 
strategic rules to be set by the UN, one concern remains: deployment 
on the border with Syria. Beirut opposes it, while Israel is 
convinced that weapons continue to be delivered to Hezbollah along 
this border. This is where the highest risks of missteps exist. This 
is indeed a real time bomb." 
 
"Introspection" 
Jean-Christophe Ploquin in Catholic La Croix (08/30): "Necessity has 
pushed all parties, Olmert, Hezbollah and Hamas to admit they made 
errors... Anger among their respective constituents has pushed them 
to speak up. But anger is seldom of good council. This is why 
finding an out to the crisis is urgent... From Washington to Moscow, 
Cairo and Paris, the broad lines for resolving the crisis have the 
solid support of a consensus. Although risks for slippage exist, 
hope prevails for the Lebanese conflict. Not so for the conflict 
between Israel and the Palestinians... The goal is to set the 
negotiations back on track, for Hamas to recognize Israel, give up 
violence and offer a 'political initiative' at the UN in September. 
But Hamas's authority is too weak to be able to trigger such 
changes. This can only happen if another partner comes to recognize 
its own errors: the Bush Administration, which is not talking as 
much as it should with the Israelis about the consequences of its 
choices, and which has given up on the role of mediator which former 
President Clinton had taken on." STAPLETON