VZCZCXRO6585
RR RUEHIK RUEHYG
DE RUEHFR #7813/01 3491625
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151625Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3817
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEHMRE/AMCONSUL MARSEILLE 1467
RUEHSR/AMCONSUL STRASBOURG 0273

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 007813 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/PPD, EUR/WE, INR, R 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC PREL KPAO FR
SUBJECT:  WEEKLY MEDIA WRAP-UP: PINOCHET'S DEATH; IRAN AND THE 
HOLOCAUST; ISRAEL AND THE NUCLEAR CRISIS. DECEMBER 15, 2006. 
 
 
PARIS 00007813  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (SBU) French Media coverage of ex-Chilean President Augusto 
Pinochet's death was unanimous in lamenting his "escape from 
justice" but noted that Chile had "turned a page" with the election 
of Michele Bachelet.  A few commentators argued that overall, Latin 
America was on the road to democracy.  Many roundly criticized Iran 
for its "pseudo-scientific" conference on the Holocaust.  Israel's 
"admission" about nuclear weapons, in the context of Iran's threats, 
was also widely reported.  End Summary. 
 
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AUGUSTO PINOCHET'S ESCAPE FROM JUSTICE 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Pierre Taribo, in regional L'Est Republicain, declared that 
"a remorseless dictator has just died without paying his dues." 
Left-wing Liberation regretted that "the man who, for more than four 
decades, had been the incarnation of a bastard died without 
expressing remorse or having been tried."  In the regional La 
Republique des Pyrenees, Jean-Marcel Bouguereau argued that Pinochet 
"had come close to being judged in London;  and, even if he died 
without expressing remorse, no dictator today could live in 
impunity:  in the end, like Milosevic, Pinochet contributed to the 
implementation of international justice." 
 
¶3. (SBU) Jean-Christophe Ploquin, in Catholic La Croix, 
editorialized on "justice in the making" and claimed that "Pinochet 
might be dead, but the fight against impunity continues."  Ploquin 
concluded that Pinochet, "despite himself," had contributed to 
"eradicating the notion that heads of state might be untouchable," 
and to the creation of the International Court of Justice. 
"Democracies," argued Ploquin, "have enriched their institutions 
with legislation allowing them to try former tyrants" based on the 
principle of "universal competency" derived from the Pinochet case. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Left-of-center Le Monde concluded that "many Latin American 
countries had traveled the road to democracy," and that their 
governments were the results of democratic elections.  In regional 
Ouest France, Alain Musset mused that "even the old 'guerilleros,' 
like Nicaragua's Ortega, had evolved."  Pierre Haski, in left-wing 
Liberation, proclaimed that Chile's new President, "Michele 
Bachelet, a woman, a socialist and the daughter of one of Pinochet's 
victims, stood as an optimistic symbol and the ultimate revenge on 
the dictator." 
 
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IRAN AND THE HOLOCAUST - ISRAEL AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) Left-wing Liberation, which headlined "Iran Exploits 
Holocaust Issue," asked why "a nation with such a brilliant past as 
Iran is so willing to provoke western opinion?"  Pierre Haski, in 
left-wing Liberation, argued that Ahmadinejad was "taking advantage" 
of a Middle East "exacerbated by the war in Iraq" and of "the 
Palestinians' hellish situation in Gaza" to present himself as a 
"leader" for the Arab-Muslim world.  Haski noted that Iran's 
President was "surfing on the crest of anti-western feelings 
prevalent in the Arab world." 
 
¶6. (SBU) In Catholic La Croix, editorialist Dominique Quinio 
commented that "Ahmadinejad had no qualms about tarnishing his image 
in Western opinion."  Quinio lamented that "the complications the 
Americans were facing in Iraq" would not "bring Ahmadinejad to 
reason."  Quinio concluded that because Iran was a "necessary 
interlocutor" in settling the region's conflicts, "Ahmadinejad could 
afford to be arrogant."  In right-of-center Le Parisien, Bruno 
Fanucchi argued that Ahmadinejad was "deliberately seeking the 
support of all Muslim countries who are the declared enemies of 
Israel." 
 
¶7. (SBU) FM Douste-Blazy told right-of-center Le Figaro that "if the 
aim of the conference were to disseminate revisionism, France would 
be obligated to condemn the conference with determination."  French 
professor Robert Faurisson, who has been barred from teaching at the 
University of Lyon for promoting revisionism, participated in the 
conference.  Left-wing Liberation reported FM Douste-Blazy's remarks 
at the National Assembly that he would be studying "every possible 
legal avenue" to prosecute Faurrison for his remarks.  Left-wing 
Liberation commented that, "according to French law, the fact that 
[Faurrison's] revisionist remarks were made public in France, 
although pronounced abroad, was enough to elicit a legal procedure." 
 
 
PARIS 00007813  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Right-of-center Le Parisien commented on Israel's 
"admission" that it possessed the bomb, "when no one was asking." 
Left-of-center Le Monde criticized PM Olmert for a "Freudian slip" 
that came at the "worst possible moment."  In right-of-center Le 
Parisien, Bruno Fanucchi contended that the "slip" was a "godsend" 
for the Iranian regime.  Left-of-center Le Monde argued that it 
"added fuel to the fire" and fed resentment over "double standards." 
 Right-of-center Le Figaro hinted that Olmert's "slip" might have 
been a "barely veiled warning to Tehran." 
 
¶9. (SBU) In right-of-center Le Figaro, Patrick Saint-Paul contended 
that "in the wake of Iran's revisionist conference, Olmert could not 
help showing his claws."  Right-of-center France Soir doubted that 
"Olmert's revelations might really have the effect of a bomb" when 
Israel's "nuclear question" was a "long-running story in which 
France had played a prominent role."  Charles Enderlin, the 
correspondent for FR2 television in Jerusalem, argued in an 
interview in right-of-center France Soir that "despite the 
controversy that had surrounded the arrest of Mordechai Vanunu, no 
formal proof existed to support the notion that Israel was in 
possession of nuclear capabilities."  Enderlin argued that "Israel's 
policy of ambivalence had prevailed, in apparent agreement with 
France and the U.S." 
STAPLETON