MEDIA REACTION REPORT -

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