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Lucia A Keegan  09/11/2006 05:39:16 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Lucia A Keegan

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SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Global War on Terror - Fifth 
Anniversary of 9/11 
PARIS - Monday, September 11, 2006 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
Global War on Terror - Fifth Anniversary of 9/11 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
Le Figaro headlines "The New World Five Years Later" and Liberation 
"A More Worrisome World."  Economic Les Echos headlines "The Day 
Every Thing Changed."  Most other headlines are a variation on the 
same theme.  Commentaries run the gamut from "Hope From Under the 
Ashes" (Les Echos) to "Against the Islamic Enemy" (Le Figaro) and "A 
Bitter Taste" (Liberation). Les Echos carries an op-ed entitled "The 
Two Americas." Also in Les Echos Jacques Hubert-Rodier pens a column 
entitled "Why America Waged the Wrong War."  In Le Figaro, Alexandre 
Adler analyzes the "Metastasis of 9/11" and comments:  "Although 
Al-Qaida has been weakened, Islamism in the wide sense of the word 
has not been vanquished." 
 
Former Socialist PM Michel Rocard pens an op-ed in Les Echos 
entitled:  "In the Fight Against Terror, [We Say] No to War..." 
Mirrored by a second op-ed on the same page by Richard Haas 
entitled:  "... Yes to Political Overture." 
 
Several reports are dedicated to America's "tarnished image" and to 
a "Divided America" over Iraq and how to battle terrorism. 
 
President Bush was prominently featured on this morning's news 
programs as he took part yesterday in a memorial ceremony at Ground 
Zero.  For Le Journal du Dimanche he is "The Master of Ceremonies." 
But in Liberation, one article is entitled "Five Years Later, Bush 
Still Plying with the Fear Factor." For Le Figaro's Washington 
correspondent Philippe Gelie, "America today has even more enemies 
than it had before."  Gelie goes back over the history of the 
attacks and the way they changed "a poorly-elected and disliked 
President into a 'war President.'" 
 
Every outlet devotes several pages to special reports and interviews 
of experts and politicians.  Le Monde interviews Interior Minister 
Sarkozy, who, says Le Figaro on its front page, "is a friend of 
America."  Sarkozy was shown this morning on FR2 with New York City 
firefighters.  In his Le Monde interviews, Sarkozy says: "I like 
America's energy and ease... I know that the Messianic side of the 
Americans can be annoying at times... Still, I am not a blind 
admirer of the U.S."  Sarkozy comments on the Franco-American crisis 
over Iraq: "I my view, this was the most serious since 1966... It 
was a serious crisis because it was emotional: the Americans had the 
feeling they were being abandoned..."  TF1 covered Sarkozy's visit 
to New York, and mentioned that he is expected to meet Condoleezza 
Rice, Kofi Annan and perhaps President Bush. 
 
In Le Journal Du Dimanche Gilles Delafon interviews Richard 
Holbrooke, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN: "Iraq is the most 
serious consequence of 9/11 because Iraq had nothing to do with the 
attacks and now Iraq is a total waste..." 
 
In La Croix Remy Pautrat, former Director of France's intelligence 
services, says: "Moral fortitude is essential to fight against 
terrorism... It is undeniable that there have been no major attacks 
on U.S. soil since then... But America's answer, Afghanistan and 
then Iraq, proves it chose an immediate response rather than trying 
to understand the 'why...' Terrorism can be overcome only through 
evaluation, analysis and then action." 
 
In Liberation Nicole Bacharan says "9/11 opened our eyes to the 
gravity of a latent danger: Islamic terrorism and religious 
fanaticism... But the terrorists' aim, to destabilize America, its 
democracy and its economy, did not succeed... And while America 
elicited much compassion and solidarity, the Bush Administration has 
squandered that capital... Americans are finding out that around the 
world, America is more hated than loved." 
 
Le Monde carries an interview of Francois Heisbourg who heads the 
International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. "The threat 
of terrorism will be greater in ten years than it is today... This 
is not merely the consequence of an ideology but of technological 
and organizational advances over the last decades... That enables 
individuals to destroy on a greater scale... There has also been a 
shift in targets from authority figures to the general public." 
The written and electronic press is working on stories on the 
struggle against terrorism, cooperation between governments and the 
intensification of security measures, including at airports. FR3 
emphasized the recent collaboration between European countries and 
America, saying that the "war against terrorism is coordinated." 
Eric Denece, interviewed on FR3, said that "Al Qaida has lost 90 
percent of its strength but the terrorist threat has not disappeared 
as hundreds of terrorist groups are taking the place of Al Qaida." 
He also said that "the threat is high and permanent."  For Radio 
Europe 1, "the terrorist threat is even worst today."  FR2 mentioned 
Chirac's letter to President Bush where he says that "together, 
we'll continue our fight against this curse that nothing could ever 
justify."  TF1 noted that "175 persons linked to terrorism were 
arrested in France since 2001." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
Global War on Terror - Fifth Anniversary of 9/11 
 
"Hope From Under the Ashes" 
Francoise Crouigneau in right-of-center Les Echos (09/11):  "Out of 
the ashes of 9/11 comes hope... Of course President Bush's crusade 
against terrorism has not attained its goal yet. Of course the 
neo-cons' desire to topple regimes, such as Saddam Hussein's, and to 
impose democracy has turned into a nightmare in Iraq.  Nevertheless, 
although international terrorism continues to infuse the world with 
its poison, the world has shown an incredible capacity to adapt... 
And on the ashes of President Bush's 'unilateral doctrine' we can 
observe the birth of a more multilateral game." 
 
"Against The Islamic Enemy" 
Yves Threard in right-of-center Le Figaro (09/11):  "Five years 
later, has the predicted clash between civilizations come to pass? 
Were we tricked by arguments used to trigger the war against 
terrorism?  Some say that the responses used to combat terrorism are 
more dangerous than terrorism itself... President Bush has been the 
target of endless criticism...  But those who might be tempted to 
regret the former Iraqi dictator and prefer him to the resident of 
the White House are partisans of immobility and complacency... They 
are also misleading public opinion... The enemy exists... The error 
lies in having aided and abetted it... The West has toyed with 
Islam, ignoring it could turn into poison in its most radical form. 
The proper antidote has not been found.  And while the answer to 
fundamentalism cannot be global, the war against terror cannot 
suffer reservations.  It must be total." 
 
"Why the U.S Waged the Wrong War" 
Jacques Hubert-Rodier in right-of-center Les Echos (09/11): "9/11 
did not change the world, but America's perception of the world... 
What followed was America's new engagement in affairs of the 
world... and a revolution for President Bush who after his first 
election, spoke of a 'more humble America' on the international 
scene...  Today, America is mired in Iraq, faces opposition in 
Afghanistan, and is confronted with Iran's nuclear ambitions. Today, 
America is counting much more on its allies... President Bush's GMIE 
... is facing the principle of reality: that democracy cannot be 
imposed from without... Today, five years later, America can be more 
humble on the international scene... Secretary Rice has adopted a 
more multilateral approach, and better entente reigns with America's 
traditional allies, such as France." 
 
"The Two Americas" 
Favilla in right-of-center Les Echos (09/11): "September 11 revealed 
that the East Coast of the U.S. holds America's intellectual power, 
but the political power sits elsewhere... The equation according to 
which power equals military force lacks legitimacy, and legitimacy 
is what informs a strategy. We can see today that the moral disaster 
of Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and pure might is also turning into a 
military disaster.  Because might, if it is not legitimate, has a 
short life span. Intellectual America knows it. But Americans must 
still be convinced of this." 
 
"Bitter Taste" 
Pierre Haski in left-of-center Liberation (09/11): "Five years 
later, while the world remains fascinated with 9/11, the events that 
followed dramatically altered the perception of those events.  The 
Bush administration accomplished the tour de force of turning to 
ashes the compassion and solidarity which came about after 9/11... 
Bush's leadership in the war against terror has proven disastrous... 
Opinion polls underscore the low level of trust accorded America 
around the world... With his dubious speeches full of ideology, 
President Bush has contributed in turning the world into a huge 
battleground, triggering a clash between civilizations.  Iraq, which 
we know today had nothing to do with 9/11, has become a source for 
radical activism.  While no one doubts the existence of a true 
terrorist threat, President Bush's war has triggered the opposite of 
the desired effect... This anniversary is a bitter commemoration of 
a tragedy which could have led to unity against barbarity." 
 
"9/11 Continues to Haunt the World" 
Jean-Christophe Ploquin in Catholic La Croix (09/11):  "Five years 
later, Islamic terrorism in Europe is more threatening than ever.  A 
number of attacks, (Madrid, London) prove that our societies harbor, 
and may even generate in their midst, suicide bombers ready to 
sacrifice their lives for their beliefs... Slowly, governments have 
amended their legislations to be more preemptive.  Yet this battle 
against terrorism has not become 'a war' as proclaimed by President 
Bush." 
 
"President Bush, the Rhetoric of Amalgamation, and the Errors of the 
'War on Terror'" 
Arnaud de la Grange in right-of-center Le Figaro (09/11):  "The US 
has had its certainties shaken by the permanence of the terrorist 
threat... But President Bush's semantics have excessively polarized 
the fight against terror; so much so that strategically speaking, 
this approach is counterproductive." 
 
"Five Years Later, Bush Once More Playing With the Fear Factor" 
Philippe Grangereau in left-of-center Liberation (09/11): "President 
Bush is using the memorial ceremonies of 9/11 to dish out his 
arguments on the 'global war on terrorism,' which served his 
re-election... For the coming mid-term elections, the White House 
strategists have decided to brandish the theme of 'national 
security' to once again boost the Republican Party... This time the 
President will have to hide the fact that the U.S. Army is mired in 
Iraq and refrain from mentioning that five years later Bin Laden is 
still free... President Bush made an amalgamation of Shiites and 
Sunnis ... and was quick to lump together Hezbollah, Al-Qaida and 
Iran in a 'worldwide network of radicals who use terror...' This 
recalls his past insistence to link Saddam Hussein to Al-Qaida... 
Last week the U.S. President assimilated Al-Qaida to Nazism and 
communism.  A latent message has filtered from his declarations: 
that all methods are justifiable in the end:  secret prisons, lies 
about WMD, torture at Abu Ghraib...  Five years later, America is 
light years away from the patriotic solidarity that brought together 
Democrats and Republicans..." STAPLETON