MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Global War on Terror - Fifth

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 006068 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 - Global War on Terror - Fifth Anniversary of 9/11 PARIS - Monday, September 11, 2006 (A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: Global War on Terror - Fifth Anniversary of 9/11 B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: Le Figaro headlines "The New World Five Years Later" and Liberation "A More Worrisome World." Economic Les Echos headlines "The Day Every Thing Changed." Most other headlines are a variation on the same theme. Commentaries run the gamut from "Hope From Under the Ashes" (Les Echos) to "Against the Islamic Enemy" (Le Figaro) and "A Bitter Taste" (Liberation). Les Echos carries an op-ed entitled "The Two Americas." Also in Les Echos Jacques Hubert-Rodier pens a column entitled "Why America Waged the Wrong War." In Le Figaro, Alexandre Adler analyzes the "Metastasis of 9/11" and comments: "Although Al-Qaida has been weakened, Islamism in the wide sense of the word has not been vanquished." Former Socialist PM Michel Rocard pens an op-ed in Les Echos entitled: "In the Fight Against Terror, [We Say] No to War..." Mirrored by a second op-ed on the same page by Richard Haas entitled: "... Yes to Political Overture." Several reports are dedicated to America's "tarnished image" and to a "Divided America" over Iraq and how to battle terrorism. President Bush was prominently featured on this morning's news programs as he took part yesterday in a memorial ceremony at Ground Zero. For Le Journal du Dimanche he is "The Master of Ceremonies." But in Liberation, one article is entitled "Five Years Later, Bush Still Plying with the Fear Factor." For Le Figaro's Washington correspondent Philippe Gelie, "America today has even more enemies than it had before." Gelie goes back over the history of the attacks and the way they changed "a poorly-elected and disliked President into a 'war President.'" Every outlet devotes several pages to special reports and interviews of experts and politicians. Le Monde interviews Interior Minister Sarkozy, who, says Le Figaro on its front page, "is a friend of America." Sarkozy was shown this morning on FR2 with New York City firefighters. In his Le Monde interviews, Sarkozy says: "I like America's energy and ease... I know that the Messianic side of the Americans can be annoying at times... Still, I am not a blind admirer of the U.S." Sarkozy comments on the Franco-American crisis over Iraq: "I my view, this was the most serious since 1966... It was a serious crisis because it was emotional: the Americans had the feeling they were being abandoned..." TF1 covered Sarkozy's visit to New York, and mentioned that he is expected to meet Condoleezza Rice, Kofi Annan and perhaps President Bush. In Le Journal Du Dimanche Gilles Delafon interviews Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN: "Iraq is the most serious consequence of 9/11 because Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks and now Iraq is a total waste..." In La Croix Remy Pautrat, former Director of France's intelligence services, says: "Moral fortitude is essential to fight against terrorism... It is undeniable that there have been no major attacks on U.S. soil since then... But America's answer, Afghanistan and then Iraq, proves it chose an immediate response rather than trying to understand the 'why...' Terrorism can be overcome only through evaluation, analysis and then action." In Liberation Nicole Bacharan says "9/11 opened our eyes to the gravity of a latent danger: Islamic terrorism and religious fanaticism... But the terrorists' aim, to destabilize America, its democracy and its economy, did not succeed... And while America elicited much compassion and solidarity, the Bush Administration has squandered that capital... Americans are finding out that around the world, America is more hated than loved." Le Monde carries an interview of Francois Heisbourg who heads the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. "The threat of terrorism will be greater in ten years than it is today... This is not merely the consequence of an ideology but of technological and organizational advances over the last decades... That enables individuals to destroy on a greater scale... There has also been a shift in targets from authority figures to the general public." The written and electronic press is working on stories on the struggle against terrorism, cooperation between governments and the intensification of security measures, including at airports. FR3 emphasized the recent collaboration between European countries and America, saying that the "war against terrorism is coordinated." Eric Denece, interviewed on FR3, said that "Al Qaida has lost 90 percent of its strength but the terrorist threat has not disappeared as hundreds of terrorist groups are taking the place of Al Qaida." He also said that "the threat is high and permanent." For Radio Europe 1, "the terrorist threat is even worst today." FR2 mentioned Chirac's letter to President Bush where he says that "together, we'll continue our fight against this curse that nothing could ever justify." TF1 noted that "175 persons linked to terrorism were arrested in France since 2001." (C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: Global War on Terror - Fifth Anniversary of 9/11 "Hope From Under the Ashes" Francoise Crouigneau in right-of-center Les Echos (09/11): "Out of the ashes of 9/11 comes hope... Of course President Bush's crusade against terrorism has not attained its goal yet. Of course the neo-cons' desire to topple regimes, such as Saddam Hussein's, and to impose democracy has turned into a nightmare in Iraq. Nevertheless, although international terrorism continues to infuse the world with its poison, the world has shown an incredible capacity to adapt... And on the ashes of President Bush's 'unilateral doctrine' we can observe the birth of a more multilateral game." "Against The Islamic Enemy" Yves Threard in right-of-center Le Figaro (09/11): "Five years later, has the predicted clash between civilizations come to pass? Were we tricked by arguments used to trigger the war against terrorism? Some say that the responses used to combat terrorism are more dangerous than terrorism itself... President Bush has been the target of endless criticism... But those who might be tempted to regret the former Iraqi dictator and prefer him to the resident of the White House are partisans of immobility and complacency... They are also misleading public opinion... The enemy exists... The error lies in having aided and abetted it... The West has toyed with Islam, ignoring it could turn into poison in its most radical form. The proper antidote has not been found. And while the answer to fundamentalism cannot be global, the war against terror cannot suffer reservations. It must be total." "Why the U.S Waged the Wrong War" Jacques Hubert-Rodier in right-of-center Les Echos (09/11): "9/11 did not change the world, but America's perception of the world... What followed was America's new engagement in affairs of the world... and a revolution for President Bush who after his first election, spoke of a 'more humble America' on the international scene... Today, America is mired in Iraq, faces opposition in Afghanistan, and is confronted with Iran's nuclear ambitions. Today, America is counting much more on its allies... President Bush's GMIE ... is facing the principle of reality: that democracy cannot be imposed from without... Today, five years later, America can be more humble on the international scene... Secretary Rice has adopted a more multilateral approach, and better entente reigns with America's traditional allies, such as France." "The Two Americas" Favilla in right-of-center Les Echos (09/11): "September 11 revealed that the East Coast of the U.S. holds America's intellectual power, but the political power sits elsewhere... The equation according to which power equals military force lacks legitimacy, and legitimacy is what informs a strategy. We can see today that the moral disaster of Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and pure might is also turning into a military disaster. Because might, if it is not legitimate, has a short life span. Intellectual America knows it. But Americans must still be convinced of this." "Bitter Taste" Pierre Haski in left-of-center Liberation (09/11): "Five years later, while the world remains fascinated with 9/11, the events that followed dramatically altered the perception of those events. The Bush administration accomplished the tour de force of turning to ashes the compassion and solidarity which came about after 9/11... Bush's leadership in the war against terror has proven disastrous... Opinion polls underscore the low level of trust accorded America around the world... With his dubious speeches full of ideology, President Bush has contributed in turning the world into a huge battleground, triggering a clash between civilizations. Iraq, which we know today had nothing to do with 9/11, has become a source for radical activism. While no one doubts the existence of a true terrorist threat, President Bush's war has triggered the opposite of the desired effect... This anniversary is a bitter commemoration of a tragedy which could have led to unity against barbarity." "9/11 Continues to Haunt the World" Jean-Christophe Ploquin in Catholic La Croix (09/11): "Five years later, Islamic terrorism in Europe is more threatening than ever. A number of attacks, (Madrid, London) prove that our societies harbor, and may even generate in their midst, suicide bombers ready to sacrifice their lives for their beliefs... Slowly, governments have amended their legislations to be more preemptive. Yet this battle against terrorism has not become 'a war' as proclaimed by President Bush." "President Bush, the Rhetoric of Amalgamation, and the Errors of the 'War on Terror'" Arnaud de la Grange in right-of-center Le Figaro (09/11): "The US has had its certainties shaken by the permanence of the terrorist threat... But President Bush's semantics have excessively polarized the fight against terror; so much so that strategically speaking, this approach is counterproductive." "Five Years Later, Bush Once More Playing With the Fear Factor" Philippe Grangereau in left-of-center Liberation (09/11): "President Bush is using the memorial ceremonies of 9/11 to dish out his arguments on the 'global war on terrorism,' which served his re-election... For the coming mid-term elections, the White House strategists have decided to brandish the theme of 'national security' to once again boost the Republican Party... This time the President will have to hide the fact that the U.S. Army is mired in Iraq and refrain from mentioning that five years later Bin Laden is still free... President Bush made an amalgamation of Shiites and Sunnis ... and was quick to lump together Hezbollah, Al-Qaida and Iran in a 'worldwide network of radicals who use terror...' This recalls his past insistence to link Saddam Hussein to Al-Qaida... Last week the U.S. President assimilated Al-Qaida to Nazism and communism. A latent message has filtered from his declarations: that all methods are justifiable in the end: secret prisons, lies about WMD, torture at Abu Ghraib... Five years later, America is light years away from the patriotic solidarity that brought together Democrats and Republicans..." STAPLETON