VZCZCXYZ0021
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0797/01 1141807
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 241807Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7939
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000797 
 
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: MEDIA REACTION; IRAQ; CRISTINA KIRCHNER'S TRIP TO MEXICO; 
VERMONT ASKING FOR THE IMPEACHMENT OF US PRESIDENT BUSH AND VP 
CHENEY; 2007 INDEX OF ECONOMIC FREEDOM; 04/23/07; BUENOS AIRES 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT 
 
Weekend international stories include the war in Iraq; Argentine 
First Lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's upcoming trip to Mexico; 
the State of Vermont asking for the impeachment of US President Bush 
and VP Cheney; and the 2007 Heritage Foundation Index of Economic 
Freedom. 
 
¶2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS 
 
- "Sad, solitary end final" 
 
Jorge Elias, international columnist of daily-of-record "La Nacion," 
wrote (04/22) "... If Americans should abandon their oil addiction, 
as Bush said in his State-of-the Union address, what is the purpose 
of conquering a country (Iraq) that, according to IHS consulting 
corporation, is reportedly the second largest oil reservoir in the 
world (instead of Iran) after Saudi Arabia. It would not make 
sense. 
 
"Following the downfall of Saddam, Iraq turned from an authoritarian 
State into a anarchic country. It went from one extreme to the other 
without any transition whatsoever. Ever since the invasion, it has 
always been far from democracy and freedom, harassed as it was by 
the confrontation between Shiites and Sunnis and, on top of 
everything, by the action of its own version of Al Qaeda, led by Abu 
Musab al-Zarqawi... 
 
"... They are waging a civil war (in Iraq), although Bush refuses to 
acknowledge it... If the USG concluded that Iraq is waging a civil 
war, public opinion would not hesitate to wonder... what the hell 
American buddies are doing there. 
 
"... The war that the most powerful army in the world could have 
swiftly won turned into a civil war that no army on earth can win. 
In the history of international conflicts, there have been only a 
few times such a powerful country invested so much in war to obtain 
so little." 
 
- "Cristina arrives in Mexico with the purpose of approaching the US 
through its partner" 
 
Diego Genoud, columnist of centrist "Perfil" newspaper, writes 
(04/22) "Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will arrive today in Mexico 
to take one more step in her busy world agenda... In Mexico, 
representatives of the two governments will start working on what 
they have called a strategic alliance... 
 
"This will be the fourth country the senator visits this year... 
 
"In addition to the election campaign, Cristina's meeting with 
Felipe Calderon has two purposes for the Kirchner administration. An 
Argentine Governmental source summarized it in this way for 'Perfil' 
- 'Mexico will contribute balance. Economically speaking, if we 
increase our bilateral trade, our dependence on Brazil gets smaller. 
And politically speaking, it allows us to distance ourselves from 
Chavez and get closer to the US though its main ally.'" 
 
- "For the first time in history, the US asks for Bush's 
impeachment" 
 
Ana Baron, Washington-based correspondent for leading "Clarin," 
comments (04/23) "... Ever since yesterday, Vermont will become the 
first US state that dares formally to ask for the impeachment of US 
President George W. Bush and VP Dick Cheney. 
 
"A non binding resolution of great symbolic nature was approved 16 
to 9... 
 
"The Vermont resolution sets a precedent for all the countries in 
which similar resolutions are being debated, such as California, 
Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico and the State of Washington. It also 
reinforces the action of several organizations like 'Impeach Bush,' 
which already has 850,000 members... 
 
"Important jurists and academics... have also supported the 
pro-impeach Bush movement. 
 
"Among the arguments mentioned to legally justify these kinds of 
resolutions are: the manipulation of information to justify the war 
in Iraq; Bush's order to monitor international calls, which goes 
against the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution...; illegal 
detentions in Guantanamo...; torture and power abuse... 
 
"According to a Newsweek opinion survey, 51 percent of Americans 
support impeachment against George W. Bush while only 44 percent are 
 
 
against it." 
 
- "Economic freedom and development" 
 
An editorial in daily-of-record "La Nacion" reads (04/23) "The 
Heritage Foundation center of studies has made public its 2007 Index 
of Economic Freedom for 157 countries. 
 
"... Argentina is in the 95th position with only 57 points. Its 
major weak point lies on corruption, price controls and lack of 
respect for the property right. This is related to the confiscation 
of bank deposits, compulsory pesification and strong write-offs in 
the country's default public securities. 
 
"The work performed by the Index of Economic Freedom reveals what is 
known, although disregarded or rebutted by political discourse. 
Successful countries are those who most honor economic freedom... 
The worst social standards are seen in the countries that most 
restrict economic freedom..., such as the two Germanys until 1989 
and the two Koreas until today. 
 
"Argentina has gone through profound and recurring crises. There is 
a prevailing belief today that its latest crisis was the consequence 
of the neo-liberal economic policy implemented in the '90s... 
However, international evidence shows this is a fallacy. A thorough 
analysis of what happened in our country unveils that the crisis 
occurred by defect and not excess of economic freedom parameters and 
that it was particularly due to public debt accumulation, which led 
to default and the destruction of all possible economic structure." 
 
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our 
classified website at: 
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires 
 
WAYNE