Cablegate: Media Reaction Report - Global War On Terror - Fifth

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Lucia A Keegan 09/11/2006 05:39:16 PM From DB/Inbox: Lucia A Keegan

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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

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