MEDIA REACTION REPORT - PRESIDENT BUSH INAUGURATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000368

SIPDIS


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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR FR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - PRESIDENT BUSH INAUGURATION
AND SECOND BUSH ADMINISTRATION
PARIS - THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2005


(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:

PRESIDENT BUSH INAUGURATION AND SECOND BUSH ADMINISTRATION

B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

THE INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT BUSH IS ONE OF TODAY'S MAJOR
FRONT PAGE AND EDITORIAL STORIES. WHILE SOME FRONT PAGES
REMAIN NEUTRAL, "GEORGE W. BUSH, ACT II" (LE FIGARO); "BUSH'S
CHALLENGES" (LES ECHOS); OTHERS TAKE A STAND: "BUSH'S SECOND
TERM WILL BE MORE LIBERAL" (LA TRIBUNE); OTHERS STILL ARE MORE
AGGRESSIVE: "WILL BUSH GO TO WAR AGAINST IRAN?" (FRANCE SOIR)
AND "OFF TO A BAD START" (COMMUNIST L'HUMANITE)

LE FIGARO'S EDITORIAL CONTENDS THAT "BUSH II WILL BE A
CONTINUATION OF BUSH I" AND LIBERATION THAT "BUSH MAY SPEND
HIS SECOND TERM TRYING TO FIND A WAY OUT OF IRAQ." FOR BRUNO
FRAPPAT IN CATHOLIC LA CROIX "WE HAVE NO CHOICE, LIKE THE
FIRST TIME AROUND, BUT TO WAIT AND HOPE."

COMMENTING ON CONDOLEEZZA RICE'S REMARKS ABOUT THE "WONDERFUL
OPPORTUNITY" PRESENTED BY THE TSUNAMI, JACQUES AMALRIC WRITES
IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION: "HER BLUNDER COULD EITHER MAKE
ONE CRINGE OR SMILE. BUT AT LEAST IT HAS THE ADVANTAGE OF
BEING SINCERE IN AN OCEAN OF HYPOCRISY AND FALSE GOOD
SENTIMENTS..."

(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

BUSH II

"A TIME FOR DIPLOMACY"
PIERRE ROUSSELIN IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO (01/20): "SINCE
IN WASHINGTON IT IS `TIME FOR DIPLOMACY,' ON THIS SIDE OF THE
ATLANTIC WE MUST FULLY SEIZE THIS OPPORTUNITY. IT WOULD INDEED
BE A WASTE OF TIME TO EXPECT ANY ADDITIONAL SIGNAL FROM THE
U.S. OTHER THAN THE ONE MADE BY CONDOLEEZZA RICE. WHY NOT TAKE
PART IN THIS DESIRE FOR CHANGE? THIS IS WHAT FRANCE HAS BEEN
TRYING TO DO LATELY: `REVITALIZING THE TRANSATLANTIC
RELATIONSHIP' HAS BECOME A PRIORITY FOR THE ELYSEE. EVERYONE
IS SHOWING ITS GOOD INTENTIONS. BUT LET'S NOT BE TOO NAIVE:
PRESIDENT BUSH IS NOT GOING TO CHANGE. IN HIS VIEW, HIS
REELECTION IS PROOF THAT HIS CHOICES WERE THE RIGHT CHOICES,
ALTHOUGH THEY ARE UNPOPULAR ABROAD. BUSH II WILL BE A
CONTINUATION OF BUSH I, WITH AN EFFORT MADE IN THE DIRECTION
OF PUBLIC RELATIONS. IF HE HAS CHANGED HIS TONE, IT IS BECAUSE
HE IS TRYING TO FIND AN EXIT TO HIS MISADVENTURES IN IRAQ. OUR
OFFICIALS UNDERSTAND IT WOULD BE UNSEEMLY TO REMIND HIM OF
THIS. AND SO THEY SUPPORT THE ELECTIONS IN IRAQ, ALTHOUGH THEY
DOUBT THEY WILL CHANGE ANYTHING. BUT THIS GESTURE HAS NOT GONE
UNNOTICED IN WASHINGTON. NEVERTHELESS, SOME TOPICS OF
DISSENSION WILL REMAIN, SUCH AS THE KYOTO PROTOCOL, THE
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE OR MORE GENERALLY
MULTILATERALISM. BUT BECAUSE SOME MISUNDERSTANDINGS STEM FROM
A CHOICE OF WORDS, AND SINCE THE TIME FOR DIPLOMACY HAS COME,
WHY NOT GO WITH THE FLOW AND FIND NEW WORDS TO SAY THE SAME
THING. WE, LIKE THE U.S., NEED TO BE BETTER UNDERSTOOD."

"IRAQ'S CONSEQUENCES"
PATRICK SABATIER IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (01/20):
"PRESIDENT BUSH HAS NO GUARANTEES THAT HE WILL BE ABLE TO
IMPOSE HIS VERY CONSERVATIVE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROGRAM.
IDEOLOGICAL INFLEXIBILITY, THE ARROGANCE OF POWER AND
INCOMPETENCE IN THE EXECUTION COULD HAVE THE SAME EFFECTS IN
DOMESTIC PROGRAMS AS IN IRAQ. BUSH HAS ACCUMULATED A NUMBER OF
MISTAKES IN THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM. HE COULD SPEND HIS
SECOND TERM TRYING TO FIND A WAY OUT OF IRAQ'S MOVING SANDS TO
AVOID A DEFEAT CARRYING DAUNTING CONSEQUENCES FOR THE ENTIRE
DEMOCRATIC WORLD."
"BUSH, SECOND CHANCE"
BRUNO FRAPPAT IN CATHOLIC LA CROIX (01/20): "SECOND TERM,
SECOND CHANCE. AFTER 9/11, THERE WAS THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
AND THE `PREEMPTIVE' WAR IN IRAQ, BUT ALSO THE NEGLIGENCE OF
FORGETTING ABOUT THE MIDDLE EAST. AND OF COURSE THERE WAS THAT
UNFORTUNATE WORD: `CRUSADE.' INSTEAD OF TRYING TO BE A BUILDER
OF PEACE, LIKE HIS PREDECESSOR, PRESIDENT BUSH BECAME `A
PRESIDENT OF WAR.' IGNORING THE BOOMERANG EFFECT OF THE
MASSIVE LIE ON WMD. BUSH IS ON FOR ANOTHER FOUR YEARS AND THE
WORLD WITH HIM. HAS HE CHANGED? . WHAT IS CERTAIN IS THAT HE
IS BEGINNING TO SEE THAT DEMOCRATIZING THE WORLD WITH WEAPONS
IS NOT SO EASY. BUT HE HAS ALSO MADE A SIGNIFICANT GESTURE
TOWARDS MUULTILATERLISM WITH THE TSUNAMI AND THE UN. EVEN IN
THE MIDDLE EAST THERE ARE SIGNS THAT THE CLOUDS ARE LIFTING.
AND SO, LIKE FOUR YEARS AGO, AND BECAUSE WE HAVE NO CHOICE,
LET'S WAIT AND HOPE."

"BUSH II AND THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES"
FRANCOISE CROUIGNEAU IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS (01/20):
"NO, FUNDAMENTALLY, PRESIDENT BUSH HAS NOT REALLY CHANGED. HIS
RE-ELECTION HAS ELICITED A CONFUSING MIX OF CONCERN AND HOPE
IN THE U.S. AND ABROAD. EVERYONE IS WONDERING WHETHER HE CAN
DEAL WITH THE CHALLENGES HE IS FACING. THIS IS PARTICULARLY
TRUE ABOUT THE U.S. ECONOMY: FOUR YEARS AGO WHEN PRESIDENT
BUSH ARRIVED THE COFFERS WERE FULL, TODAY THE BUDGET DEFICIT
HAS HIT A RECORD AND THE DOLLAR IS FLAILING. HAVING
EXPERIENCED FIRST HAND THE FLAWS OF UNILATERALISM IN IRAQ,
WILL PRESIDENT BUSH BE MORE FORTHCOMING WITH HIS ALLIES? THIS
IS FAR FROM CERTAIN. TYING NEW RELATIONS WITH INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE UN, ALBEIT WITH RETICENCE, DOES NOT
EXCLUDE TRYING TO IMPOSE REFORMS ON THEM. TALKING WITH THE
EUROPEAN UNION ABOUT THE THORNY ISSUE OF BOEING AND AIRBUS IS
IN NO WAY A SIGN OF WEAKNESS. AMERICA'S PRAGMATISM HAS ALWAYS
BEEN DICTATED BY THE INTERESTS OF A NATION WHICH HAS BECOME A
SUPERPOWER THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED. WE MUST WAIT AND SEE
WHETHER THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES ARE HIS SIZE OR A BIT TOO
BIG FOR HIM." WOLFF