MEDIA REACTION: PAKISTAN; PRESIDENT SARKOZY'S VISIT TO

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000916 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD DEPT PASS USTR USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: PAKISTAN; PRESIDENT SARKOZY'S VISIT TO WASHINGTON, MIDEAST; WESTERN HEMISPHERE: VENEZUELA, CHAVEZ; SAO PAULO ¶1. "Self Coup In Pakistan" Center-right national circulation daily O Estado de S. Paulo's editorial remarked (11/10): "The US and its allies are facing an extremely difficult situation in Pakistan. They cannot support the violent abandonment of democratic appearances, nor can they impose sanctions on a secular government formally engaged in the 'war on terror' - which may be replaced by a fundamentalist theocratic regime. Such an impasse contains all the elements of a disastrous outcome for Western interests. Actually, such a situation has only become possible because the West has treated the Pakistani military regime with excessive leniency. In order to have a base near Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, the US ignored Pakistan's internal situation, thereby making possible the creation of a paradoxical situation: Pakistan, which is ruled by an ally in the 'war on terror,' is also a safe shelter for Al Qaeda's leadership and an important center of Islamic radicalism. But what is most serious is that the Western powers tolerated that Pakistan developed its own nuclear capability and missile technology and delayed in preventing its exportation to North Korea and Iran. Now, the West cannot 'miss' Pakistan." ¶2. "US Relies On Sarkozy To Calm Down the@QVKTpask such an extraordinary guy to help George W. Bush to calm down the very complicated Middle East.... Bush wants to convince Iran to give up nuclear power through diplomacy. Maybe this is due to French influence. Sarkozy has proclaimed negotiation, not bombings.... France can help the US [in its relations] with moderate Arab nations. Paris may act to convince them to stand back from Iran and its insanity. But, everything is connected in the Middle East, a fact that makes very difficult to undo such a knot. Tehran backs Hezbollah and Hamas to oppose Washington and Paris efforts to keep Iran away from moderate Arab nations because the Palestinian cause has the support of even the West's allies.... Ahmadinejad says that he wants to 'eliminate Israel.' It is a tactic to attract respectable Arab nations, once hatred against ISRAEL is the cement that unites Tehran's crazy leaders and rational Arabs." ¶3. "'Why Don't You Shut Up?'" Center-right national circulation daily O Estado de S. Paulo (11/13) editorialized: "Hugo Chvez has never followed the elementary norm of civilized political coexistence. He is violent by nature and deprived from common sense.... Chvez's behavior, which is typical of megalomaniacs, helped make more spectacular the enormous fiasco of the 17th Iberian American Summit... Of course it was not expected that the meeting would produce any positive result, given the increasing evidence that the continental unity continues to be just a Simon Bolivar's dream." White