MEDIA REACTION REPORT - U.S. - EU Summit

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 004305 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 - U.S. - EU Summit Iraq North Korea PARIS - Thursday, June 22, 2006 (A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: U.S. - EU Summit Iraq North Korea B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: La Croix carries an op-ed by Ambassador Stapleton entitled "A Modern Day Fight to Abolish Slavery" in which he calls for an end "once and for all" to the blight of trafficking in persons. France's growth rate for the first half of 2006, a steady 2%, is a major front-page story. Commentators attribute this growth to worldwide economic dynamism, but also to increased consumption in French households. Domestic politics continue to dominate headlines and editorials, with Liberation headlining: "Why Chirac Puts Up With Villepin" "despite the PM's missteps and blunders..." International stories are dominated by Iraq and the fact that "The White House is on the Defensive" according to Le Figaro, after the discovery of the bodies of the two soldiers killed after having been abducted. A separate story is entitled "U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad Loses Confidence." (See Part C) The U.S.-EU Summit is today's second major international story. For Le Figaro, "Bush Justifies His War on Terror" while Liberation emphasizes the "Cordial Entente" between the two powers. Both quote President Bush: "I would like to close Guantanamo..." (See Part C) Pyongyang's stance is reported in Le Figaro: "Kim Jong Il has his finger on the trigger, but is ready to negotiate..." (See Part C) While Somalia's "risk of contagion" is analyzed in Liberation: "The irresistible rise in power of Somalia's Islamists, many of whom are members of Al-Qeda, is transforming the Horn of Africa into a powder keg and Somalia into the most sought after campground in the battle against terrorism." Left-of-center weekly Le Nouvel Observateur devotes its editorial to the controversy triggered by the attack on Israeli lobbies in the U.S. by John Mearshimer and Stephen Walt. Jean Daniel raises the question of the Aipac's, (the lobby in question) role in triggering the war in Iraq: "For the first time the question is raised about the role of the four men at the helm of Aipac in starting the war in 
Iraq with the objective not only of defending Israel, but of helping Israel occupy all of the Palestinian territories," and poses the question of Olmert's "true intentions regarding a Palestinian state. Because in Washington no one believes sincerely that Olmert will contribute to the building of a Palestinian state. This is allegedly already the opinion of Condoleezza Rice and of most of the State Department." Liberation carries an op-ed entitled "Hillary C's Resistible Ascension." Jacques Amalric analyzes her positioning to "the center, where elections are won..." which he says is "a strategy for a run off, which presupposes having won the first round, in this instance having been chosen by the Democrats: an uncertain outcome at this point... Despite her efforts, Hillary C. remains a very controversial figure... Even heavy Republican losses next November will not stand as a test of the Hillary Clinton effect." The World Cup Championship and this afternoon's match between the U.S. and Ghana leads Le Figaro correspondent Philippe Gelie to pen an analysis explaining why "On the Soccer Planet, the U.S. Remain A 'Hypopower.'" "How is it possible that the military, political, economic and cultural hyperpower turns into a dwarf in the world of soccer? Why is the champion of globalization always behind when every four years the rest of world participates in this celebration?" Gelie is of the opinion that for the Americans, "socialist and European soccer falls short of the democratic and capitalistic American football." And concludes: "Indeed, the other European invention which has never been adopted by the U.S. is socialism..." (C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: U.S. - EU Summit "Bush Justifies His War on Terror" Pierre Avril in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/22): "Because for President Bush, the best defense is offense, he did not wait to be questioned on Guanatanamo to justify, at least temporarily, the existence of the detention camp, while promising to set everything in motion to close it... The American President beat the Austrian President to the draw when he announced: 'I would like to close Guantanamo...' But the American President made no gesture of contrition... What President Bush did not appreciate were the results of a European poll indicating that the U.S. represented a threat to world peace... The U.S. President explained that for Americans, 9/11 changed their way of thinking. And his explanations seemed to satisfy his audience." "The Newly-Found Entente" Andre Schlecht in regional L'Alsace (06/22): "Upon looking at it closely, the U.S.- EU summit has resulted in only one agreement being signed. Although signed on the 'margins' of the summit, this agreement must not be ignored because it has to do with the important sector of education and training... As for disagreements, the summit's objective was to show that they had been overcome. That goal has been achieved. Not a word of disagreement filtered out to the press... This Viennese ball of velvet strokes is not just an exercise of fagade. It is the expression of a reality. Although chaos continues in Iraq and Afghanistan's ephemeral stability is threatened, and although the Middle East is stalled on the roadmap, the U.S. may have learned that it is best to lead its policy with Europe than despite it." "Bush and Europe Stake Out Trade Positions" Right-of-center Les Echos (06/22): "While President Bush's statement on the Doha Round was that 'we cannot let this round fail,' he did not make any concessions to the Europeans... The EU believes the U.S. needs to further reduce internal subsidies to agriculture... On the big diplomatic issues, however, the two powers showed their unity, illustrating the thawing of their relations after the long breach related to Iraq... Regarding Guantanamo, however George Bush limited himself to re-stating his desire to close it but that it was first necessary to know where to transfer the detainees." Iraq "The White House on the Defensive" Philippe Gelie in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/22): "After the good news of Zarqawi's elimination, harsh news from Iraq have taken over, with the discovery of the mutilated bodies of two U.S. soldiers and ... the old but embarrassing episode involving two American soldiers killed by Iraqi troops... For President Bush, who hoped for a 'reversal of the trend,' this week has marked a return to a defensive stance, with Japan announcing its troop pullout and Italy's previous similar announcement." "U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad Loses Confidence" Delphine Minoui in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/22): "President Bush could have done without this new slap in the face... The letter from Ambassador Khalizad to Secretary Rice depicts a dark picture of the everyday situation in Iraq, which contrasts with the habitual optimistic speeches coming from the Bush administration... The 'sensitive' cable, which landed mysteriously on a Washington Post desk... bases its conclusions on the daily experiences of the U.S. Embassy in Iraq..." North Korea "Pyongyang Has Its Finger on the Trigger" Jean-Jacques Mevel in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/22): "Kim Jong Il has his finger on the trigger, but is ready to negotiate... For North Korea's Stalin-style regime, the opening of direct talks with Washington is an obsession and a matter of prestige. It would also mean recognition. Kim Jong Il is worried about his regime since President Bush put North Korea in the 'axis of evil.' Since then he keeps asking for guarantees for his country's security. But the Bush administration's response has never varied: Pyongyang cannot expect military or political dividends from the U.S. until it has unequivocally given up on the atomic bomb... But once again, the White House is facing an impossible choice: it cannot give in to slightest bit of blackmail and see its already diminished authority fall further. Yet intransigence towards Pyongyang invariably leads to the same diplomatic stalemate as with Iran: paralysis with temporary outbreaks of feverish skirmishes, leaving the adversary with plenty of time to build up his nuclear arsenal." STAPLETON