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Viewing cable 06PARIS3631, MEDIA REACTION REPORT -

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06PARIS3631 2006-06-01 11:53 2011-08-24 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Paris
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 003631 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR INR/R/MR; IIP/RW; IIP/RNY; BBG/VOA; IIP/WEU; 
AF/PA; EUR/WE /P/SP; D/C (MCCOO); EUR/PA; INR/P; INR/EUC; 
PM; OSC ISA FOR ILN; NEA; WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE; DOC FOR 
ITA/EUR/FR AND PASS USTR/PA; USINCEUR FOR PAO; NATO/PA; MOSCOW/PA; 
ROME/PA. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR FR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - 
PARIS - Thursday, June 01, 2006 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
Iran - U.S. Offer for Dialogue 
Afghanistan 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
"America's First Gesture Towards Iran" is Le Figaro's headline above 
a half-page photograph of Secretary Rice, captioned: "The U.S. wants 
to open a 'new and positive relationship with Iran.'" A sub heading 
reads: "Washington softens its position spectacularly as it invokes 
a direct dialogue with Tehran." The front-page article begins: "In 
the Iranian nuclear crisis, Washington is choosing diplomacy." 
Inside, a half-page article carries the following header: 
"Washington's spectacular change of direction towards Iran... was 
made on the eve of a meeting in Vienna and after an agreement with 
China and Russia to demand sanctions if Iran did not agree to the 
offer." Liberation's article begins: "Iran is not Iraq; the U.S. is 
giving diplomacy a chance." (See Part C) 
 
The Taliban's progress in southern Afghanistan is another major 
international story reported in Le Figaro, while Liberation carries 
an op-ed by senior editorialist Jacques Amalric entitled 
"Afghanistan's Second War." (See Part C) The state of emergency 
imposed in Basra is reported in Le Figaro. 
 
Le Monde notes President Bush's "hasty tribute to John Snow before 
expounding on the qualities of his successor." The daily says that 
the Bush Administration is on its third Secretary of the Treasury, 
after Paul O'Neill the "blunderer" and John Snow the "invisible 
man..." The White House "finally realized that not having an 
acknowledged figure in economic circles was a serious handicap, 
especially when the financial situation is excellent but the 
President's approval ratings are at their lowest..." La Croix's 
Gilles Biassette comments on the White House's need to help America 
"forget Iraq" by creating more jobs. 
 
Le Monde's correspondents Eric Leser and Corine Lesnes pen a special 
report entitled "The National Security Agency: America's Big Ears." 
"After 9/11, George W. Bush simply did away, without telling anyone, 
with the laws that control the American intelligence services' 
activities on US soil. One has to go back to the Vietnam War era to 
find a program of domestic espionage of this scope." 
 
The unsigned editorial in Le Monde congratulates the EU Parliament 
members who worked to overturn the decision requiring European 
airlines to hand over passenger data to American authorities: "a 
practice that did not comply with the balance that is sought between 
the fight against terrorism and the protection of civil liberties." 
 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
Iran 
 
"The U.S. Ready to Resume Ties with Iran" 
Francois Hauter in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/01): "With this 
gesture, the U.S. is aligning with the European position... The 
proposal includes a sufficiently attractive package to incite Iran 
to stop its uranium enrichment, and threats of sanctions if it does 
not... Secretary Rice's announcement was a spectacular surprise... 
For the first time the U.S. is ready to negotiate directly with 
Tehran... Today in Vienna the meeting will help put together the 
'positive package' as well as the 'negative package' of sanctions... 
As Sean McCormack said last night, 'we feel we are going to Vienna 
well prepared.' Everyone from Tel-Aviv to Beijing agrees that Tehran 
must not acquire the bomb and that it must be kept from getting it 
by peaceful means... But this consensus could fall apart over 
several issues: first, Tehran's intransigence... And as always the 
entire equation is dependent on Iran's contradictions. But the 
Americans and their allies will also have to resolve certain issues, 
first among them the suspension of the U.S. embargo. Washington's 
gesture for a dialogue is a strong signal that it is going in the 
right direction... Last but not least, the UN-5 plus Germany needs 
to agree on the sanctions package. Washington's major first 
concession was this offer for a direct dialogue. The question now is 
whether the Russians and the Chinese will be able to make the 
Iranians listen to reason." 
"Washington Ready to Negotiate" 
Pascal Riche in left-of-center Liberation (06/01): "Iran is not 
Iraq. The U.S. is, this time, fully ready to give diplomacy a 
chance: dialogue in exchange for Iran's agreement to suspend its 
uranium enrichment... In the arm wrestling match between Iran and 
the West, Washington's gesture is a means to clarify the situation. 
According to Secretary Rice, this is an attempt to give 'new energy' 
to the European initiative... Until now the roles had been 
distributed in such a way that the U.S. wielded the stick while the 
Europeans waved a few carrots. In the new configuration, as 
described by Secretary Rice, this distinction in the roles 
disappears. Iran is asked to choose between European-American 
carrots, and blows to be stricken by both the Europeans and the 
Americans. But the threat of isolation will only be taken seriously 
by Iran if Russia and China join in. It appears that before they 
made their announcement, the Americans tried to convince Moscow to 
soften its stance. But Secretary Rice did not elaborate on the 
result. On the domestic front, the White House needs to prove it has 
retained the lead on the Iranian crisis and prove Hilary Clinton 
wrong when she said that by 'externalizing' the management of the 
crisis and giving it to the Europeans, the U.S. was giving up its 
leadership." 
 
Afghanistan 
 
"The Taliban Make Progress in Southern Afghanistan" 
Adrien Jaulmes in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/01): "The renewed 
violence in provinces with a Pashtun majority is a direct threat to 
the Kabul government... NATO forces are deploying to try to 
stabilize the situation. But the incidents that erupted in Kabul two 
days ago are triggering concern that the deterioration will spread 
throughout Afghanistan. An investigation has been called for by the 
American President into the shots fired by American soldiers on 
civilian demonstrators. But the entire affair is indicative of the 
coalition troops' popularity in Kabul, four and a half years after 
the fall of the Taliban regime." 
 
"Afghanistan's Second War" 
Jacques Amalric in left-of-center Liberation (06/01): "Is 
Afghanistan on its way to Iraqization? In Europe and Washington, the 
question was being avoided and it was in good taste to oppose the 
Afghan example to the Iraqi imbroglio... For the past several weeks 
the positive and optimistic picture of Afghanistan's democratization 
and reconstruction has been slowly falling apart. Another completely 
different reality is emerging, forcing the Pentagon to revise its 
plans to reduce its troops... The reinforcement of the Taliban 
forces goes hand in hand with an 'iraqization' of the fighting 
methods being used. Another issue for concern is the paradoxical 
alliance between the Islamic combatants and their enemies of 
yesterday, the drug lords... This context is undermining Karzai, who 
has been nicknamed 'Kabul's mayor,' and his regime." STAPLETON