MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Bush Immigration Policy

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SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Bush Immigration Policy
War on Terror Rehabilitation of Kadhafi - Venezuela Weapons
Ban
PARIS - Wednesday, May 17, 2006


(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:

Bush Immigration Policy
War on Terror
Rehabilitation of Kadhafi - Venezuela Weapons Ban

B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

Le Figaro leads with several balanced articles and its
editorial on President Bush and his "Attempts to Close the
Mexican Border" while Liberation and Les Echos both title
their reports: "Bush Between the Carrot and the Stick." Le
Figaro devotes three major articles announced on the front
page: "The President's Counter Offensive," "A Global
Reform" and "Mexico Disappointed." The editorial is
entitled "Bush as Border Guard." (See Part C)

Most front pages continue to focus on domestic issues: the
no-confidence vote at the National Assembly, which failed
yesterday for lack of support, leaves PM Villepin weak. Le
Figaro headlines: "The UMP Does the Minimum for Villepin,'
while Liberation titles "The Right Censures Itself."

The economic press leads with the hostile takeover of
Arcelor by Mittal to be played out today on the stock
exchange. Le Figaro Economie devotes a major report to
Airbus and its A350 "which will need to be revised, its
launch postponed, and cost double the initial price."

La Tribune devotes wide coverage to the Cannes Film
Festival, which opens today, to the world premiere of the
Da Vinci Code and to the "hegemony of mega film budgets
which are being threatened by smaller productions and by
pirated copies." The editorial entitled "Hollywood in
Cannes" comments: "The gap resides between the myth the
Festival organizers want to promote, and the place of honor
granted to a commercial super production which would never
have been chosen to run among the official contenders.
There are those who will wonder what would become of the
Cannes Festival if it stopped getting high on Hollywood
super productions. The irony lies in that, just when Cannes
is beginning to accept films for what they are, pure
entertainment, American movie studios are beginning to have
doubts about the effectiveness of their films as models."
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

Bush Immigration Policy

"Pierre Rousselin in right-of-center Le Figaro (05/17):
"The fact that the U.S., a nation of immigrants, has
reverted to using its National Guard in order to stop its
illegal immigration shows that we, the Europeans, are not
the only ones to still grapple with the problem. President
Bush knows that 6,000 soldiers will not stop illegal
immigration: if he chose to make the announcement it was to
make an impact and prove that the U.S. wants to change a
system that works no better than ours. The issue of
assimilating such a large number of immigrants has become a
political time bomb, here as there. But in the U.S., the
vast majority of immigrants are Hispanics who have espoused
the nation's values: they are not a cultural problem,
except maybe when it comes to the issue of language. The
'melting pot' is threatened. The law that will ultimately
be adopted will have to be a synthesis of two diametrically
opposed texts. President Bush is very attached to
immigration and its values. And while he favors the
Senate's more liberal approach, he is facing opposition
from his own party. The impact of the National Guard
announcement is meant to reassure his own party.
Immigration could well become a major political platform in
the November elections."

"Bush Between the Carrot and the Stick"
Laurent Mauriac in left-of-center Liberation (05/17): "As
he proposes to send 6,000 National Guards to the Mexican
border, President Bush is also proposing to grant legal
status to illegal immigrants on U.S. soil. This is a highly
sensitive issue for the President: his position on
immigration is perceived as a major reason for his recent
drop in popularity. His televised speech was the first one
on a national issue. It was also an opportunity to divert
attention from the latest revelations about the NSA taps.
The first reactions show that the U.S. President was not
able to alter the divisions in his own party. But according
to a CNN poll, the American people reacted positively to
the speech: 67% says they have a good opinion of his
immigration policy."

"Bush Between the Carrot and the Stick"
David Barroux in right-of-center Les Echos (05/17): "With
the mid-term elections looking extremely close, President
Bush is trying to wield both the carrot and the stick. But
once again he has failed. He is too soft for some, too
harsh for others. The President did not find the words to
bring together his Republican majority or to charm the
Democrats. Yet in the President's first speech on a
domestic issue he did try to give tokens to both camps."

"Mexico Disappointed by a 'Sovereign Decision'"
Frederic Faux in right-of-center Le Figaro (05/17): "For
Vincente Fox, the American immigration plan is a major
failure, two months from a presidential election. Worried
over a measure that in his eyes will not resolve the
problem of illegal immigration, Fox had to bow to a'
sovereign decision.'"

War on Terrorism

"'War' Against Terror Supercedes Civil Liberties"
Corinne Lesnes in left-of-center Le Monde (05/17):
"Washington's pretext of national security to legitimize
unconstitutional practices compares to other periods in
history, like the two world wars and the Cold War. These
practices are in keeping with the Enemy Alien Act of 1798,
which has never been repealed. But in 2003 the Supreme
Court gave a ruling on Guantanamo detainees that went
against the administration, because, as Sandra Day O'Connor
said, 'a state of war is not a blank check.' David Cole, a
staunch critic of the Bush administration regrets the use
of 'Commander in Chief as a magic word.' even if with
terrorism, the challenge is prevention, which led to John
Ashcroft's 'preemptive paradigm.' But, says Cole, 'the
government has sacrificed certain constitutional
principles. The administration is offering a strange deal:
we sacrifice the freedom of some other individual in the
name of security for all.' The Heritage Foundation sees
nothing wrong in this attitude: says the Foundation's James
Carafano: 'Let's give 5000 terrorists to the Europeans, and
see what they do.'"

Rehabilitation of Kadhafi - Venezuela Weapons Ban

"Chavez Visits Kadhafi"
Lamia Oualalou in right-of-center Le Figaro (05/17): "The
U.S. could not have chosen a better time to annoy Chavez
and upset his relations with some of his most fiendish
friends. As he was about to land in Tripoli, Washington
upset the deck of cards and distributed good and bad marks.
As the State Department announced normalization with Libya,
it also announced a ban on weapons sales to Venezuela
accused of not cooperating on the war against terror. The
decision is symbolic, since Chavez's prior decision to
shift suppliers. It was also predictable, considering
Washington's attitude towards Spain and Brazil. But the
decision also marks a new escalation and the increasing
isolation of Chavez on the international scene." STAPLETON