VZCZCXYZ0010
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #2033/01 2502002
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 072002Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5825
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 002033 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INR/R/MR, I/GWHA, WHA, WHA/PDA, WHA/BSC, 
WHA/EPSC 
CDR USSOCOM FOR J-2 IAD/LAMA 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO OPRC KMDR PREL MEDIA REACTION
SUBJECT: THE US AND IRAN; THE US VOTE ON AN IDB LOAN FOR ARGENTINA; 
2007 WORLD BANK DOING BUSINESS REPORT; MEXICAN PRESIDENT-ELECT 
CALDERON; US DEMOCRATS AND CHAVEZ; ARGENTINE DRUG TRAFFICKING; 
09/06/06; BUENOS AIRES 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT 
 
Local international stories include US President Bush's statements 
about Iran; the US allegedly opposing the approval of an IDB loan 
for Argentina; the World Bank's 2007 Doing Business Report on 
Argentina; Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderon; US Democrats' 
statement that Venezuelan President Chavez does not pose a threat to 
US national security; and Argentina's status in terms of drug 
trafficking. 
 
¶2. OPINION PIECES AND KEY STORIES 
 
- "As an election weapon, Bush now targets Iran" 
 
Hugo Alconada Mon, Washington-based correspondent for 
daily-of-record "La Nacion," writes (09/06) "Only nine weeks away 
from legislative elections, the White House started yesterday a new 
media campaign aimed at sustaining that its 'global war on 
terrorism' is successful, that Al Qaeda is now weakened and, 
therefore, that Americans should vote for Republicans supporting the 
Bush administration. 
 
"Controversial as it sounds, the latest election strategy has 
emerged from an updated version of the -'National Strategy to fight 
Terrorism,' which was released yesterday by US President George W. 
Bush's staff. It charges Iran with being a potential distributor of 
WMD among terrorists. 
 
"Bush said 'just like Al Qaeda and Sunni extremists, the Iranian 
regime has clear purposes - it wants to remove the US from the 
region, destroy Israel and prevail in the Middle East.' 
 
"Iran and its controversial nuclear development plan seem now the 
White House's top foreign policy priorities, well beyond the 
situation in Iraq or Afghanistan, North Korean missile threats, or 
the September 11 attacks." 
 
- "According to Bush, the Iranian president is a 'tyrant'" 
 
Leading "Clarin" reports (09/06) "US President George W. Bush said 
his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a 'tyrant' and he 
compared Tehran leaders with Al Qaeda terrorists, and that they 
should be prevented from manufacturing nuclear weapons. 
 
"US President Bush said 'the US will not subject itself to tyrants,' 
and 'the free nations of the world will not let Iran develop nuclear 
weapons.' 
 
"Bush accused Iran of having funded Hezbollah's Shiite militia 
during the war in Lebanon as well as other groups 'to indirectly 
attack the US and Israel.'" 
 
- "The US is again against the approval of an IDB loan for 
Argentina" 
 
Ana Baron, Washington-based correspondent for leading "Clarin," 
comments (09/06) "In spite of the efforts of Argentine Ambassador to 
the US Jose Octavio Bordon at the US Treasury Department, the US 
could again abstain from voting in favor of an IDB loan for 
Argentina. 
 
"It is a 100-million-dollar loan, which is aimed at financing the 
manufacture of two satellites by Comision Nacional de Actividades 
Espaciales (National Committee for Space Activities). The US 
Treasury Department believes that the IDB should give priority to 
Latin America's infrastructure projects over these types of 
projects. 
 
"Argentina believes the project called Pro-Sat is indispensable to 
monitor water surface, the humidity of the ground, vegetables, and 
the terrain movement in the country. 
 
"If there is no last-minute change, this would be the second time in 
a month that the US would vote against granting a credit to 
Argentina. 
 
"... According to all estimates, the credit would be approved 
anyway. However, if the US abstains again, as the Argentine Economy 
Minister fears, it will be a new signal. 
 
"A US financial source told 'Clarin' that the current US Treasury 
Department's attitude toward Argentina is not as positive as when 
John Taylor was the US Treasury Assistant Secretary for 
International Issues. Then, the US Treasury automatically supported 
Argentina at multinational lending agencies... 
 
 
 
 
"However, after meeting President Kirchner at the Summit of the 
Americas, (US President) Bush said that, after its successful 
economic recovery, the country no longer needed US support and that 
the US believes that judicial security, transparency and the fight 
against corruption are crucial issues for Argentina to consolidate 
its economic recovery. What we are witnessing now is a consequence 
of what Bush said at that time." 
 
- "Argentina's business atmosphere is downgraded" 
 
Leading "Clarin" reports (09/06) "The World Bank believes 
Argentina's environment will not support the launching of new 
 
businesses in 2007. This is the conclusion of the annual report of 
the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank's private 
sector, which placed Argentina at the 101st position based on the 
conditions it grants to new commercial entrepreneurs... 
 
"Simeon Djankov, one of the authors of the 2007 Doing Business 
report, 'the Argentine problem is that it is not implementing enough 
reforms as fast as other countries are doing so. And if the 
country's pace does not change, it will continue losing ground." 
 
- "A weak government looms without being legitimized by the 
opposition" 
 
Claudio Mario Aliscioni, columnist of leading "Clarin," writes 
(09/06) "What should have been a celebration for the Mexican 
democracy through a presidential change is instead a future loaded 
with bad omens. 
 
"These are the effects one should expect from a government like that 
of President-elect Felipe Calderon, who has not been legitimized by 
the opposition and is suspected to reach power through fraudulent 
practices. 
 
"... The new president's weakness will also impact on the conflict 
inside his political party, Accion Nacional. Calderon, who does not 
have control of all his party's structures, will have to deal with 
the most reactionary sector. The agitation of the country will be 
the best excuse for the enemies within his own political party to 
condition his agenda." 
 
- "US Democrats - Chavez does not pose a 'threat'" 
 
Leading "Clarin" reports (09/06) "The US Democratic opposition 
believes that Venezuela has adopted some problematic positions but 
it does not pose a threat to the US security. 
 
"According to Senator for Illinois Richard Durbin during a lecture 
on Capitol Hill, 'Chavez does not pose a threat to US national 
security.' 
 
"Democrats have submitted a document criticizing the White House's 
'shortfalls' and 'incompetence' in directing US national security. 
The document, called 'Neoconservatives - Bush's Defense record in 
figures,' which was drafted by the 'Third Way' center of studies, 
criticizes the US Pentagon's military strategy in Iraq and sustains 
that the US 'is now less able to fight and win the global war on 
terrorism.'" 
 
¶3. EDITORIALS 
 
- "Serious increase in drug trafficking" 
 
An editorial in leading "Clarin" reads (09/06) "In the '90s, the 
international and US organizations dealing with international drug 
trafficking started to point out that Argentina was no longer a 
transit country for the drug coming from Northern countries but a 
place of production and consumption. 
 
"... The increase in drug trafficking poses a serious problem 
because it is related to the deterioration in the addicts' living 
conditions and the proliferation of crimes related to the drug 
business. The drug issue is a double-sided problem that is related 
to health and security." 
 
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our 
classified website at: 
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires 
 
MATERA