MEDIA REACTION REPORT - BUSH ADMINISTRATION - SECOND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000306

SIPDIS


DEPT FOR INR/R/MR; IIP/RW; IIP/RNY (FRANK); BBG/VOA; IIP/WEU;
AF/PA; EUR/WE (DEBORAH MENNUTI)/P/SP; D/C (MCCOO); EUR/PA
(BERBENA); INR/P; INR/EUC; PM; OSC ISA FOR ILN; NEA; WHITE
HOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE; DOC FOR ITA/EUR/FR AND PASS USTR/PA
(ANN LUZZATO); USINCEUR FOR PAO; NATO/PA; MOSCOW/PA; ROME/PA;
BRUSSELS/PA; USVIENNA FOR USDEL OSCE.

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR FR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - BUSH ADMINISTRATION - SECOND
TERM PROSPECTS AIRBUS VERSUS BOEING
PARIS - TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2005

(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:


1. BUSH ADMINISTRATION - SECOND TERM PROSPECTS

2. AIRBUS VERSUS BOEING

B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

ONE WORD, AIRBUS, SUMMARIZES TODAY'S FRONT PAGES AND
EDITORIALS. AS THE EUROPEAN CONSORTIUM GETS READY TO UNVEIL
THE A380, HEADLINES COMPETE FOR WORDS TO ILLUSTRATE THE
GRANDEUR OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT. FOR LE
FIGARO, IT IS A "FLYING AIRSHIP," WHILE LIBERATION TITLES
"XXL" AND FRANCE SOIR "EVERYTHING ABOUT THE LARGEST AIRCRAFT
IN THE WORLD." LE PARISIEN NOTES ABOUT THE A380 FEATURED ON
ITS FRONT PAGE: "THIS, ALSO, IS EUROPE." COMMENTATORS FOR THE
MOST PART HAIL THIS TECHNOLOGICAL ACCOMPLISHMENT, WHILE SOME,
LIKE LIBERATION'S JEAN-MICHEL THENARD, CONTEND THAT "BIGGER IS
NOT NECESSARILY BETTER." (SEE PART C)

THE SITUATION IN THE BROADER MIDDLE EAST LEADS COMMENTATOR
BERNARD GUETTA IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER WEEKLY L'EXPRESS TO DEVOTE
HIS COLUMN TO THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEACE "BUT NOT WITHOUT THE
U.S. AND EUROPE." IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS COMMENTATOR
JACQUES HUBERT-RODIER WRITES AN OP-ED ON PRESIDENT BUSH'S
SECOND TERM, WHICH HE SEES AS LESS ISOLATIONIST AND MORE PRO-
ATLANTICIST. (SEE PART C)

(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

BUSH ADMINISTRATION - SECOND TERM PROSPECTS

"THE `BUSH DOCTRINE' TESTED DURING SECOND TERM"
JACQUES HUBERT-RODIER IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS (01/18):
"IRAQ, IRAN, ISRAEL-PALESTINE, THREE `IS' THAT WILL DOMINATE
PRESIDENT BUSH'S SECOND TERM. A SECOND TERM THAT IS BEGINNING
UNDER VERY DIFFERENT AUSPICES FROM THE FIRST, ESPECIALLY IN
TERMS OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. FOUR YEARS LATER, AMERICA
FINDS ITSELF MUCH MORE COMMITTED TO THE AFFAIRS OF THE WORLD.
PRESIDENT BUSH'S SECOND TERM WILL BE COLORED BY FOREIGN POLICY
AND ITS SOCIAL AND BUDGETARY CONSEQUENCES FOR THE U.S. . THE
PRESENT CONTEXT IS OFFERING WHAT THE AMERICANS LIKE TO CALL
`WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY' IN THE BROADER MIDDLE EAST. EVEN IF
IN IRAQ AND FOR THE TIME BEING, THE 135,000 SOLDIERS ARE HARD-
PRESSED TO ESTABLISH A MINIMUM AMOUNT OF SECURITY. STILL, THE
ELECTIONS ARE CRUCIAL., OPENING AN ERA FOR THE RETURN OF FULL
SOVEREIGNTY TO IRAQ. THAT MOMENT IS STILL FAR OFF INTO THE
FUTURE BECAUSE THE IRAQI ARMY AND POLICE CANNOT AT THIS TIME
TAKE OVER FROM THE AMERICANS AND THE ALLIES TO GUARANTEE THE
COUNTRY'S SECURITY. PARADOXICALLY, IT IS IN THE ISRAELI-
PALESTINE CONFLICT THAT, DIPLOMATICALLY SPEAKING, THE U.S. CAN
CARRY THE MOST WEIGHT. CALLS ARE COMING FROM EVERYWHERE FOR
WASHINGTON TO TAKE OVER AN ACTIVE ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
DOES THE U.S. PRESIDENT WANT THE EXISTENCE OF A PALESTINIAN
STATE `COEXISTING IN PEACE' NEXT TO THE ISRAELI STATE? IT IS
WITH IRAN THAT THE EXERCISE WILL BE THE HARDEST. WHAT TO DO
WITH TEHERAN, WHICH IS OPENLY SUSPECTED BY WASHINGTON, AND
MORE DISCREETLY BY THE EUROPEANS, OF WANTING TO DEVELOP THE
ATOMIC BOMB? THE PRESIDENT WILL HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THE
`SOFT APPROACH' OF THE EUROPEAN TROIKA AND THE HARD LINE
PREFERRED BY MANY OF HIS ADVISORS. THESE THREE ISSUES WILL
DETERMINE TO A LARGE EXTENT THE STATUS OF TRANSATLANTIC
RELATIONS, WHICH SUFFERED FROM THE WAR IN IRAQ. THE U.S.
PRESIDENT HAS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO ACHIEVE A RECONCILIATION
WITH MANY OF HIS EUROPEAN ALLIES AND TO DEMONSTRATE THAT
AMERICA IS NOT AT WAR WITH ISLAM. PRESIDENT BUSH IS COMING TO
EUROPE, AND PROBABLY LATER PRESIDENT CHIRAC WILL TRAVEL TO
WASHINGTON: SIGNS OF A NEW ERA? AT ANY RATE THESE ARE SIGNS OF
A MORE BENEVOLENT AMERICA TRYING TO CONVINCE THE WORLD THAT
ITS GOALS ARE JUST. A DIFFICULT TASK."
"EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE POINTING TO PEACE, BUT."
BERNARD GUETTA IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER WEEKLY L'EXPRESS (01/18):
"PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST COULD BE ACHIEVED IN THE NEXT TWO
YEARS. THE CHANCES FOR THIS TO HAPPEN HAVE NEVER BEEN SO
TANGIBLE. BUT WITHOUT THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE U.S. AND EUROPE,
IF NEITHER GRASPS THE OPPORTUNITY, EVERYTHING COULD FALL
APART. THE PALESTINIANS ARE FEELING IMPATIENT. THEY NEED TO
BELIEVE THAT PEACE IS POSSIBLE. AND ONLY THE U.S. AND EUROPE
CAN DO THIS. THEIR COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY IS GREAT. THEY
MUST REAFFIRM THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE `ROADMAP.'
CAUGHT IN THE IRAQI QUAGMIRE, THE U.S. HAS NO CHOICE BUT TO
BOUNCE BACK IN JERUSALEM. EVERYTHING POINTS TO PEACE, BUT NOT
WITHOUT THE U.S. AND EUROPE."

AIRBUS VERSUS BOEING

"KING SIZE"
JEAN-MICHEL THENARD IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (01/18): "THE
CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE A380 SEEM TO BE SAYING THAT BIG IS
BEAUTIFUL. TO COMPETE WITH THE AMERICANS, OLD EUROPE IS
LAUNCHING A KING SIZE AIRCRAFT. IF AIRBUS'S BET TURNS OUT TO
BE A WINNING BET, WHICH IS NOT GUARANTEED, EUROPE'S AEROSPACE
INDUSTRY WILL BE THE WORLD'S NUMBER ONE LEADER. THROUGH THE
AIRBUS-BOEING RACE, EUROPEANS AND AMERICANS ARE FIGHTING FOR
THE LEAD IN WORLD TRADE. BUT AIRBUS STILL NEEDS TO WIN ITS
WAGER. AT A TIME WHEN THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY IS BESIEGED BY
TERRORISM AND NATURAL DISASTERS."

"THE CHALLENGE"
GILLES SENGES IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS (01/18): "THE
CHALLENGE OF THE A380 IS NO MORE AND NO LESS THAN AN ATTEMPT
TO INSURE THE PREDOMINANCE OF THE EUROPEAN CONSORTIUM IN THE
SKIES, AND THE ACQUISITION OF LARGE PROFITS, EQUAL TO THOSE
ACHIEVED BY BOEING WITH THE 747." LEACH