This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 000135 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR, EUR/UBI, EUR/PPD, EUR/RPM, PA/PR/FPCW 
CENTCOM FOR BG KIMMET 
KABUL FOR PAO, POL 
 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO PREL MARR PGOV NL AF
SUBJECT: MEDIA COVERAGE OF PDAS KURT VOLKER VISIT 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  PA organized a TV interview and  a  roundtable 
with  journalists for PDAS Kurt Volker on January 17 in  The 
Hague.   All  media emphasized Volker's "moderate"  approach 
and  reported positively his statement that the  US  is  not 
pressuring  the Dutch. They noted his assertion that  former 
Ambassador  Paul  Bremer's comments  about  "punishing"  the 
Netherlands  do  not reflect U.S. policy.  Media  also  took 
note  of his comment that the ISAF III mission would proceed 
without  the  Dutch if necessary, with another  NATO  member 
filling the proposed Dutch role.  End summary. 
 
¶2. TV COVERAGE 
-------------- 
 
January 17, 10:00 p.m. NOS news (813,000 viewers) report 
opens with the interviewer's voiceover that senior US 
official Kurt Volker said that if the Netherlands does not 
want to participate in ISAF III, NATO would have to look for 
another partner to do the job.  He adds that Volker is the 
umpteenth senior US official visiting the Netherlands to 
brief MPs on the mission to southern Afghanistan. 
 
Voiceover continues: D66 opposes the mission, but D66 MP 
Bert Bakker happily raised a glass at the residence of the 
American Embassy. The commentator noted that MPs and 
military experts were invited for a briefing on Afghanistan 
and the possible Dutch mission. 
 
On camera Volker says the mission in Afghanistan is a 
terrific opportunity for assisting the Afghan people. "We're 
contributing to this and we hope to increase our 
contribution to it.  I know Dutch parliament is considering 
this now but it is a decision for the members of parliament 
to make." 
 
Asked what would happen if the Netherlands does not 
participate, Volker explains that ISAF is a NATO mission and 
that they are determined to make the mission succeed.  "I'm 
sure they will look for another partner if the Dutch are not 
able to participate." 
 
Confronted with Paul Bremer's recent statements that there 
would be economic consequences if the Netherlands did not 
participate, Volker says Bremer was speaking for himself and 
not for the US government.  "This is about helping the 
Afghan people and how we as allies can work together to do 
this." 
 
They report Volker says the situation [in Uruzgan] is not 
too dangerous to start reconstruction, though he noted you 
can not draw a clean line between reconstruction and 
security missions because there are terrorists in the area. 
 
News program NOVA (640,000 viewers) intersperses Volker's 
remarks with those of politicians in a story on the broader 
political debate.  Politicians comment favorably on Volker's 
statement that Paul Bremer was not speaking for the U.S. 
government. 
 
¶3.  PRINT COVERAGE 
------------------ 
 
National dailies (DE VOLKSKRANT, ALGEMEEN DAGBLAD, TROUW, 
and NRC HANDELSBLAD), fifty regional papers (through the 
news service GPD or ANP), and news agencies ANP and AP 
reported the roundtable. 
 
Sample headlines: 
 
DE VOLKSKRANT: "Senior Diplomat Came to Mainly Listen" 
(1/18) 
ANP: "No American Pressure on Dutch Decision" (1/18) 
TROUW: "Americans Say They're Not Applying Pressure" (1/18) 
NRC HANDELSBLAD: "US Diplomats on Uruzgan Mission: 
Netherlands Should Also Fight Terrorism" (1/18) 
 
Following are excerpts from print media reports: 
 
ANP notes, "Volker now says there is no pressure at all.  If 
the Netherlands would not participate then NATO would be 
looking for another country to fill that gap.  Volker said 
about Bremer: `He wrote a book and he has to promote that. 
He is now a private citizen and is not speaking on behalf of 
the American government.'  Volker also indicated that the 
Netherlands should take into account the possibility of 
casualties in the province of Uruzgan.  `If there were no 
risks there, the troops would not be necessary.'  He also 
said that in Operation Enduring Freedom, the American hunt 
for al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters, `does not have any 
geographical borders.'  That means that the Americans could 
operate in areas where the Dutch are working on a 
reconstruction mission.  A mix-up of these two missions is 
the big fear of parties in the Second Chamber such as the 
PvdA, D66, Green Left, and SP." 
 
DE VOLKSKRANT headlines, "Senior Diplomat Came to Mainly 
Listen" and writes, "To provide further information and 
mainly listen: that was the slogan for the lightning visit 
that Kurt Volker, American Principal Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of State, paid to The Hague.  The US `does not 
 
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want to put any pressure' on the Dutch debate about the 
planned mission to Afghanistan, said the American diplomat. 
Volker met with officials of the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs.  In the evening he had dinner with Members of 
Parliament and military experts.  Volker's direct chief, 
Assistant Secretary Daniel Fried, said last week in DE 
VOLKSKRANT that he was amazed by the "overheated" debate in 
the Netherlands.  Volker did not use such words.  He clearly 
distanced himself from the clear warning issued by Paul 
Bremer, former administrator in Iraq (and former US 
Ambassador to the Netherlands).  Bremer talked about 
possible damage to the Dutch interests should the 
Netherlands not participate in the Uruzgan mission.  Volker 
said, "Bremer is a private citizen now and certainly does 
not speak on behalf of the American government.  We do not 
spend our time punishing allies."  Volker said he does not 
see any tension between the mainly American Operation 
Enduring Freedom, which is aimed at hunting for terrorists, 
and the NATO stabilization mission.  "Security and 
reconstruction go hand in hand." 
 
NRC HANDELSBLAD carries a front-page January 18 report, "US 
Diplomats on Uruzgan Mission: Netherlands Should Also Fight 
Terrorism," which combines Volker's comments with those of 
US Ambassador to NATO Victoria Nuland.  NRC reports PDAS 
Volker said in a meeting with journalists that there should 
be a "synergy" between Operation Enduring Freedom and the 
ISAF mission in the province of Uruzgan.  It includes 
Ambassador Nuland's comment in a BBC radio program that she 
expects a contribution from the Dutch "in fighting 
insurgents." 
 
PvdA MP Koenders says in the article that separation of the 
two missions is essential to his party.  Koenders also says 
that Volker did not repeat the "synergy statement" during a 
dinner with MPs.  Fighting insurgents, according to the 
Dutch government, is absolutely not the ISAF task.  But the 
Cabinet does leave room for the possibility of Dutch 
participation in preventive attacks at armed groups.