MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Iran CIA Renditions

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 003872 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 - Iran CIA Renditions Afghanistan - NATO U.S. Policy - Principle of Intervention - Realpolitik: Hanoi, America Returns PARIS - Thursday, June 08, 2006 (A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: Iran CIA Renditions Afghanistan - NATO U.S. Policy - Principle of Intervention - Realpolitik: Hanoi, America Returns B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: Le Figaro devotes major coverage to Iran and "detente in the nuclear crisis." The editorial stresses that "the ball is now in the Iranian camp" but also that if a "compromise is reached opening the way to negotiations, these will be long and full of surprises..." A separate report comments that "while one cannot yet speak of a honeymoon, it is seriously beginning to look like one..." (See Part C) Le Figaro interviews the Shah's son, Reza Pahlavi, who calls on the west to establish a democracy in Iran. The latest conclusions of the European Council on CIA renditions and alleged collusion by 14 states are a major story in Liberation. The editorial says "the report is a strong signal to the U.S. government and the Americans" and calls for Europe as whole to "put a stop to such arbitrary conduct and abuse of human rights." Le Figaro speaks of a "gigantic spider web spun by the CIA around the world." (See Part C) Le Parisien Henri Vernet interviews Gordon Thomas, whose book "The CIA's Secret Weapons" is published today in its French version. "The CIA has violated all the rules of human rights... Short of being able to act on U.S. soil, it established Guantanamo and clandestine prisons in Europe and elsewhere... The CIA built its own air fleet to transport suspects: on board it was hell... French airspace was violated on several occasions... The information obtained under torture was sent to Washington... The best way to get rid of a suspect, as reported to me by a CIA agent, 'was to send him to Uzbekistan or Egypt...' These decisions were taken at the highest level... President Bush approves all this while saying that America does not practice torture... The White House has convinced other governments to cooperate in the name of the war against terror. The CIA has a license to kill. It always has." Le Figaro reports on NATO's deployment in Southern Afghanistan (See Part C) La Croix carries an op-ed by Political Science Professor Bertrand Badie on the "principle of intervention" and its "sad agony." "Time and again we see the mighty arrive instead of the just, NATO instead of the expected UN, manipulation when we expect regulation. There is a great risk of seeing intervention lead to tragedy, from Kabul to Abidjan..." and Liberation carries an op-ed on the Bush administration's awakening to realpolitik. (See Part C) (C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: Iran "The Ball is in the Iranian Camp" Pierre Rousselin in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/08): "Negotiations on possible negotiations with Teheran have begun. While this does not mean the end of the crisis, it means at least that real diplomacy is at work... Iran cannot, as it has done in the past, reject proposals which have been ratified by the world's leading nations... Washington's decision to change its seventeen-year stance (sic) and offer to speak with the Iranians has opened the way to a united front. Although no resolution on sanctions was agreed to for lack of a consensus with China and Russia, the joint proposals presented by Solana offer real hope of seeing Iran bend... Iran is taking time to think things over. It has already gotten the assurance that Washington will participate in future talks. But the Iranians also consider the proposals, which have its 'positive aspects' to also present some 'ambiguities.' If they refuse the offer, it is back to the UNSC, sanctions and a new escalation. If on the other hand a compromise is reached in view of negotiations, these will certainly be long and full of surprises." CIA Renditions "Warning" Antoine de Gaudemar in left-of-center Liberation (06/07): "The EU Council report on the CIA's anti-terrorism war contains an astounding array of information which is difficult to prove, but the report is of symbolic importance. In the name of that war, many serious breaches of human rights have been tolerated since 9/11, the most serious being Guantanamo and the renditions of suspects, by way of a sophisticated and clandestine system of kidnappings, special flights and 'outsourced' prisons... Many European nations have colluded in the system and may be held accountable for torture. The fact that Europe is finally reacting officially to such abuses is a strong signal being sent to the U.S. government and the Americans. While the American population appears to be concerned by the Iraqi conflict because every day it is counting its dead, it seems to be oblivious to the consequences of the war on terror where human rights are concerned. But a certain awareness is beginning to take hold in the U.S. and with it an opposition to the Iraq war. The Marty report is also forcing the fingered EU nations to explain themselves and the entire continent to denounce tacitly accepted CIA practices. These are the stakes: does the war on terror justify the violation of the foundations of the rule of law? The Council of Europe says 'no.' This is a healthy warning." "New Accusations of CIA Renditions in Europe" Arnaud de la Grange in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/08): "It is supposedly a huge 'spider web' spun by the CIA around the world to catch, transfer and detain presumed terrorists. So says the European Council report. A web that spread throughout large parts of Europe... The most serious accusations are directed at Romania and Poland... but refuted by their governments... The U.S. for its part considers the report to be 'full of allegations but few facts...' The report's drafter, Dick Marty is urging the nations fingered to open fully transparent investigations: the war against terrorism, he says 'cannot be left to the arbitrariness of intelligence services...' According to Gordon Thomas, 'the CIA continues to transfer presumed members of Al-Qaeda towards detention centers which lie outside U.S. jurisdiction and where torture is routine.' This despite Washington's denials." Afghanistan - NATO "NATO Ready to Double its Troops in Afghanistan" Alexandrine Bouihlet in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/08): "For the first time since its deployment in Afghanistan, NATO is going to travel south to the more dangerous parts of Afghanistan which have been manned by U.S. special forces. 'This is a test for the Alliance, its means and its will,' says Brussels... The U.S. is encouraging this new mission as a way to compensate for its missteps in Iraq... This deployment will allow the U.S. to pull troops from its Enduring Freedom mission... But the warning from the Afghan Defense Minister is clear: 'The troops must be irreproachable in their approach. The Afghans are hostile to all foreign presence. They make no distinction between the Americans and the Europeans...' This transfer between the coalition and NATO has elicited new tension in the Taliban and Afghan drug lords, with a surge in violent attacks." U.S. Policy - Principle of Intervention - Realpolitik "The Desperate Agony of the Principle of Intervention" Bertrand Badie in Catholic La Croix (06/08): "The exercise in tempered self-criticism by President Bush and Tony Blair some three years after the intervention in Iraq is joined by the growing criticism which observers of the Afghan situation are expressing. It is similarly impossible not to think about France's mired involvement in Cote d'Ivoire or America's failure in Somalia during Clinton's first term... One of the paradoxes of interventionism is that military interventions throw into war those who claim to be soldiers of peace... Prevention is better than military action: but is this still possible when the mediator is all at once gladiator, as is the case with the U.S. in the Middle East and Iran? Faced with the uncertainties of intervention, multilateral debate could reduce the dangers... But is this option still possible when bypassing the UN is proportional to the gravity of the issue at hand? Intervention was a noble cause, which is slowly sinking in the moving sands of confusion and thoughtlessness. Time and again we see the mighty arrive instead of the just, NATO instead of the expected UN, manipulation when we expect regulation. There is a great risk of seeing intervention lead to tragedy, from Kabul to Abidjan..." "Hanoi, America Returns" Jacques Amalric in left-of-center Liberation (06/08): "In Washington, the time has come to take into account certain international realities, leaving the neo-cons with a bitter taste in their mouth. They have been kindly asked to swallow one bitter pill after another. The most bitter has been the Iranian pill: the U.S. administration's return to diplomacy under pressure from Secretary Rice is at the least a failure for the proponents of a military solution... Other bitter if less visible pills have been swallowed: renewed ties with Libya... despite the lack of democratic progress... Another concession made to realpolitik is the rapprochement with Hanoi - despite the humiliation inflicted on the U.S. - signaled by Rumsfeld's recent visit, the military agreements signed..., and the coming Presidential visit... Like the rapprochement with Libya, this one with Hanoi is contrary to the neo-cons' policy which calls for democratization of oppressive regimes instead of their acceptance." STAPLETON