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Lucia A Keegan  09/13/2006 03:19:31 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Lucia A Keegan

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SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - GWOT - 9/11 
Middle East - Attack in Damascus - Lebanon - Hamas Franco-American 
Relations: Interior Minister Sarkozy Meets With President Bush 
PARIS - Wednesday, September 13, 2006 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
GWOT - 9/11 
Middle East - Attack in Damascus - Lebanon - Hamas 
Franco-American Relations: Interior Minister Sarkozy Meets With 
President Bush 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
Domestic stories dominate front pages, except for Le Monde which 
headlines:  "Hamas and Fatah Form Government of National Unity" and 
adds:  "the agreement would make it possible for international aid 
to resume."  Le Figaro headlines below the fold:  "Attack Against 
U.S. Embassy in Damascus."  The report indicates that no one had 
claimed responsibility for the attack and that it took place "just 
when relations between Washington and Syria were at their lowest." 
Secretary Rice's expressions of gratitude to the Syrian security 
 
SIPDIS 
forces is noted, as well as the Syrian embassy's accusations in 
Washington that the U.S.  "is encouraging extremism and terrorism in 
the Middle East."  Liberation states on its front page:  "America 
Targeted in Damascus."  One inside report wonders whether Syria 
"might not be behind the attack."   (See Part C) 
 
Le Figaro interviews Kuwait's PM who is on a visit to Paris and who 
indicated he was "surprised by the attack in Damascus," but asserted 
"he had full confidence in Syria's security forces." Georges 
Malbrunot indicates in his report that "Kuwait's alliance with the 
U.S. leaves it particularly open to terrorist threats." 
 
Le Figaro carries the French version of a Project Syndicate column 
by Ted Garanson, Research Director at the Sirius Beta Corp, entitled 
"Against Al-Qaida's 'Business Model' Traditional War Is 
Ineffective."  This is the second installment of a post-9/11 series. 
 Le Parisien devotes a full page to 9/11, and interviews philosopher 
Bernard-Henri Levy:  "We have entered a new political age, where 
democracies must battle a new adversary in a new form of war...  We 
all want to reconcile East and West, the question is how?  A real 
reconciliation means not giving up our principles... and rejecting 
blackmail...  And while I have repeatedly said since 9/11 that 
Muslims are my brothers, I have also said that not those who preach 
Islamism and hate...  We must combat them and help secular 
democracies.  In Iran we must develop our discussions with civil 
society...  America is fighting terrorism, but badly.  The war in 
Iraq is a tragic mistake, an absolute strategic error.  Two mistakes 
are being made:  in Europe, believing one can appease the enemy with 
words; in the U.S., applying old war methods to a new situation." 
 
Other international stories include France's mission in Lebanon in 
UNIFIL. Liberation's editorial is entitled "Explosive" and 
underscores the "concerns" of the contingent.  (See Part C)  TF1 
commented it was "the first time France's Leclerc tanks were used 
for a UN mission and it is the pride of the French contingent."  The 
French Ambassador in Beirut, interviewed on TF1 noted that "it is a 
sign of the strong involvement of our country."  A FR2 journalist 
said that "France may not have the largest contingent in UNIFIL but 
these tanks are a major asset for the international force." 
 
President Musharraf's visit to Brussels and his position on fighting 
terrorism, and Interior Minister Sarkozy's visit to the U.S., 
including his meeting with President Bush make up the rest off 
today's international stories.  Liberation contends that as the UMP 
candidate for the presidential elections, "Sarkozy's visit and 
meeting with the U.S. President indicate a mixing of the genres." 
For Le Parisien, Sarkozy's meeting with President Bush is his 
"American Dream" come true.  (See Part C) 
 
French television reported widely on President Bush's speech, 
particularly on France 3, with senior correspondent Christian Malar 
saying:  "President Bush's foreign policy is a failure, in 
Afghanistan, in Iraq and in all of the countries where the U.S. has 
intervened."  He added that "there is nothing to be optimistic 
about...  President Bush is in a bad position...  If the Republicans 
lose, President Bush will be a 'lame duck president' for two years 
and he will have to change his foreign policy." 
 
Le Figaro carries a column by economic writer Jean-Pierre Robin on 
reforms for the WTO and the IMF.  According to Robin, "globalization 
is going through a dangerous period."  Robin contends that the 
reforms being considered are more than just technical, and they are 
fundamental...  Robin notes China's "conquest of Africa based on a 
credit system which goes against the code of good conduct."  He 
concludes:  "The stalled WTO talks are leading to a plethora of 
inextricable bilateral agreements.  Similarly, failure of the IMF 
would sound the death knell for multilateralism in the financial 
sector." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
GWOT - 9/11 
 
"A World Less Secure" 
The front page editorial in regional La Provence (09/12):  "Five 
years after these murderous and spectacular attacks and in spite of 
an international mobilization against Islamic terrorism, the world 
has become less secure...  After the fall of the Soviet Union and 
the end of the unjust balance of the 'Cold War,' the world hoped to 
create a more peaceful and equitable way of functioning.  Alas, it 
fell into an imbalance of terror, fed by the tensions between rich 
and poor, excited by Islamic fanaticism and exacerbated by the 
arrogance of the United States...  It is more than ever necessary to 
remove the terrorist cloud that is Al-Qaida and, above all, render 
illegitimate for Muslims their so-called 'holy war.'  But the way 
taken by George Bush is a dangerous impasse in which the camp of 
liberty and modernity risk to lose its values:  in other words, to 
lose everything." 
 
Middle East - Attack in Damascus - Lebanon - Hamas 
 
"Foiled Anti-American Attack in Damascus" 
Pierre Prier in right-of-center Le Figaro (09/13): "Who is really 
behind this and other similar attacks in Damascus?  Despite the 
possibility raised by Syria that the Islamic group 'Jound el-Sham' 
is responsible, experts say that Syria has not been suffering 
politically from these attacks... and has used them to play the 
'victim.'  These attacks, just when the U.S. is accusing Syria of 
aiding Iraq's Jihaddists, gives the regime the appearance of helping 
the West in ' its war against terrorism.'  Secretary Rice's thanks 
are a small victory for Damascus...  But yesterday's attack is sure 
to ignite the Syrian population which is already furious against the 
U.S. for the war in Lebanon." 
 
"Syria, Victim or Manipulator" 
Jean-Pierre Perrin in left-of-center Liberation (09/13):  "Like all 
attacks perpetrated in Syria, this is an ambiguous one.  Because 
Syria's secret service is able to infiltrate terrorist cells and to 
manipulate them, it is always difficult to identify the perpetrators 
and their motives...  Because all assailants have been gunned down, 
Damascus will be able to paint whatever picture it wants...  Just 
when relations between Washington and Damascus are at their lowest, 
it is entirely conceivable to imagine Damascus wanted to prove that 
Syria can also be the victim of Islamic destabilization...  Some 
suggest Syria's secret service is behind the attack, but the motive 
remains unclear...   Possibly the intent was to limit Washington's 
pressure on the Syrian capital...  And while Iran was hoping the war 
between Hezbollah and Israel would distract the international 
community, Damascus had the same hopes because of the investigation 
into Hariri's assassination..." 
 
"Explosive" 
Pierre Haski in left-of-center Liberation (09/13): "An unfortunate 
coincidence marked the arrival of the French Leclerc tanks on 
Lebanese soil:  a strange attack on the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, 
reminding everyone that in this region, the enemy is not clearly 
identifiable and that traditional rules of war may not apply...  The 
scenario was also darkened by Nasrallah's attacks on the Lebanese 
PM, accused of 'immorality' and 'inhumanity...'  This is enough to 
prove that there is no basis for an agreement for disarming 
Hezbollah...  Yet France relied on such an agreement when it agreed 
to send its soldiers to Lebanon...  In an aside in Helsinki, 
President Chirac indicated he believed the fate of UNIFIL's mission 
would depend on Iran...  This explosive context has boosted the 
stakes for the mission:  diplomacy, more than the Leclerc tanks will 
determine whether the mission succeeds or fails." 
 
"An Opportune Gesture" 
Left-of-center Le Monde in its editorial (09/13):  "The government 
for national unity formed by Hamas and Fatah is a way for the 
Palestinian Authority to get out of the impasse in which it finds 
itself.  The aim is to prevent the Palestinian people from plunging 
further into the economic and humanitarian rut it is in since the 
freezing of aid from the international community, particularly the 
EU.  The reconciliation of these enemy factions has no other 
objective.  It is a way to present a more respectable face to the 
donors than that of a government dominated by Hamas...  This 
agreement is a gesture that the international community, as well as 
Israel, must seize upon if Ehoud Olmert truly wants to renew 
discussions with Mahmoud Abbas as he as indicated." 
 
Franco-American Relations: Interior Minister Sarkozy Meets With 
President Bush 
 
"Sarkozy's Franco-American Summit" 
Jacques Camus in regional La Republique du Centre (09/13): 
"Yesterday, Interior Minister Sarkozy granted himself a 'mini 
Franco-American summit.'  He was not mandated to expound on France's 
foreign policy.  And when he said that he wanted to rebuild the 
relationship between France and the U.S., deploring 'too much 
incomprehension for lack of a dialogue' Sarkozy was trying to make 
history outside the limits of his mission.  At the Elysee and the 
Quai there are those who are probably castigating themselves for 
giving Sarkozy too much leeway." 
 
"Sarkozy Meets President Bush" 
Judith Waintraub in right-of-center Le Figaro (09/13):  "Sarkozy the 
'American' is convinced that France can oppose the U.S. on certain 
issues.  He proved this when he criticized the U.S. attitude towards 
the environment, but he also insisted that the 'friendship' linking 
both sides of the Atlantic has a long history and is 'here to stay.' 
 The visit of the French presidential hopeful did not go unnoticed 
in Washington:  the President of the UMP was surprised when George 
¶W. Bush in person walked into his meeting with Steve Hadley.  The 
two had a most unexpected half-hour meeting." 
 
"The Many Hats of Presidential Hopeful Sarkozy" 
Laurent Mauriac in left-of-center Liberation (09/13):  "Two Sarkozys 
went to Washington, the President of the UMP and the future 
presidential candidate...  The point of his meeting with President 
Bush was especially to prove that Sarkozy has the required 
international stature, something he demonstrated when he spoke about 
Iraq, the crisis with Iran and the transatlantic relationship." 
 
"Sarkozy's American Dream" 
Ludovic Vigogne in right-of-center Le Parisien (09/13):  "President 
Bush is accustomed to meeting only with his counterparts.  Hence his 
meeting with Interior Minister Sarkozy is of great importance to the 
French Minister, considering that his number one objective during 
his U.S. visit was to paint himself as a potential presidential 
candidate." STAPLETON