MEDIA REACTION REPORT - New Chilean President - Iran

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000296 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; USVIENNA FOR USDEL OSCE. E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR FR SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - New Chilean President - Iran PARIS - Tuesday, January 17, 2006 (A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: New Chilean President Iran (B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: Headlines and editorials are dominated by Prime Minister Villepin's plans to promote employment for young people and those over the age of 57. Today's major international story in the national and regional press is the "Triumph of Women in Liberia and Chile" (right-of- center Le Figaro's headline). Le Monde's front page also hails the victories of Bachelet and Johnson-Sirleaf and adds Tarja Halonen who won the first round of the presidential election in Finland. (See Part C) Iran continued to elicit reports and commentaries over the weekend particularly in light of Russia's proposal that Teheran enrich uranium on Russian soil. Le Figaro's headline in the Saturday-Sunday edition of the paper: "The U.S. and Europe Together Against Iran." (See Part C) The American raid in the Bajaur tribal zone on January 13 was widely noted in the print and electronic press on Monday. Le Figaro's New York correspondent commented on "The U.S.'s Embarrassed Silence." "From the White House to the Pentagon to the State Department or the CIA, the instructions with regard to the press appeared to be `no comment.'" The Sunday weekly paper le Journal du Dimanche carries a full- page report entitled: "A Prisoner of the CIA in Baghdad." The article tells the story of Abdul Jabbar al-Kubaysi, former head of the Iraqi Patriotic Alliance who today lives in France and who was arrested in 2004. Of his time in jail al-Kubaysi says: "the only thing that it taught me is the true nature of American democracy." In the Monday edition of economic right-of-center Les Echos foreign affairs specialist Jacques Hubert-Rodier pens an op-ed entitled: "New Strategy for the Middle East." "The American president is going to have to reformulate his strategy for the Middle East with Ariel Sharon's successors. This redefinition is going to be necessary within a broad context because beyond the Middle East, Iraq after Saddam is far from being the model of democracy for the rest of the region that President Bush had hoped for." Le Figaro's Washington correspondent Philippe Gelie comments on First Lady Laura Bush's position within the Administration: "The First Lady is increasingly on the front line to defend the President or represent him abroad. During George Bush's first term she would leave the White House only to inaugurate libraries and to visit kindergartens. Yesterday she was the U.S.'s official representative at the swearing in ceremony of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Liberia. In the galaxy of political women who surround the American President, the First Lady is winning back her place, the first." (C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: New Chilean President "Moving to the Left" In regional La Nouvelle Republique du Centre Ouest editorialist Herve Cannet writes (01/17): "From Santiago to Brasilia, form La Paz to Caracas the South American continent is veering left. A moderate left maybe. that has nothing to do with the `barbudos' who called for armed revolution against the Yankees in the 1960s. But after decades of exaggerated conservatism encouraged by the Pentagon that was implementing to the letter the Monroe Doctrine making South America Washington's own backyard, the rise to power of a number of progressive leaders marks a definite change." "The New Map of the World" Pierre Rousselin's editorial in right-of-center Le Figaro (01/14): "Iraq is no longer dictating the map of the world. Today, one counts one's allies vis--vis the danger Iran's nuclear program presents. Angela Merkel's meeting at the White House unofficially designates her as reunited Europe's voice in the U.S. with regard to Iran. This marks a radical shift from the Europe's position during the Iraqi crisis. The transatlantic reconciliation is rather spectacular. It is not the fruit of chance but the result of hard work on both sides over the last few months. In Iran, President Ahmanidejad is counting on Europe's weakness and on George W. Bush's difficulties in Iraq. This calculation could be wrong and because of his repeated provocations he is only isolating himself further." "Iran's Well Thought Out Nuclear Strategy" Renaud Girard, a senior reporter for right-of-center Le Figaro, wrote an analysis in Saturday's edition of the daily. He argues that (01/14): "The U.S. is not a concern for Iran because it is bogged down in Iraq. The Mullahs know that Washington's priority is troop withdrawal in the region. The Europeans are not much of a concern either because the Mullahs know that the Europeans, frozen by repentance and pacifism, are morally weak. They are also militarily weak, having drastically reduced their armed forces since the fall of the Berlin wall. As for the Israelis, they will think twice before striking nuclear sites in Iran, if only to avoid re-igniting the battle on the Lebanese border, held by force by the Hezbollah, a militia that is pledged to Teheran. The Board of Governors of the AIEA is going to have to deal with this issue, which it will then pass on to the UNSC that will in turn take its time to reflect on the possibility of economic sanctions. Nothing to worry about..." STAPLETON