VZCZCXYZ0006
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVI #2738/01 3061215
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021215Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8912
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/WHITEHOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS VIENNA 002738 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/AGS, INR/EU, AND EUR/PPD FOR YVETTE SAINT-ANDRE 
 
OSD FOR COMMANDER CHAFFEE 
 
WHITEHOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: November 2, 2007 
 
 
Contentment among Austrians on the Rise 
 
¶1. According to a study issued by the Imas Institute, Austrians are 
ever more satisfied with the general political situation. 
Contentment with the standard of living, the freedom of opinion and 
the health care situation are highest. Also, despite the constant 
quarrels in the coalition, the approval rates of Chancellor 
Gusenbauer are improving. The only issues that yielded negative 
results on the contentment scale are care for the sick and elderly 
and living together with foreigners. According to Imas boss Andreas 
Kirschhofer, the assessment of the economic situation has a great 
influence on the citizens' general attitude towards life and the 
evaluation of other problems. [Die Presse, p. 1] 
Centrist daily "Die Presse" reports that generally, contentment is 
highest with workers and employees and among people residing in 
rural areas and small towns. Also, the Social Democratic voters are 
very satisfied, while OeVP supporters have a relatively low degree 
of satisfaction. Among FPOe and BZOe voters, discontent is higher 
than in July, when the last study was compiled. The Greens had 
slightly reduced contentment rates. 
 
Has Russia Issued an Ultimatum to Iran? 
 
¶2. Speculations are rife that Russia is trying to persuade Iran to 
halt its uranium enrichment program for the time being. That was 
supposedly the background of an Iran trip of Russian Foreign 
Minister Lawrow last Tuesday. In the meantime, Nicolas Burns, Under 
Secretary of Sate for Political Affairs, has complained that Russia 
 
SIPDIS 
and China have been blocking further sanctions against Iran since 
March. On Thursday, Burns arrived in Vienna for talks with IAEA boss 
Mohammed ElBaradei. [Die Presse, p. 6] 
According to APA online, the US is striving to achieve a closer 
cooperation between the Security Council of the United Nations and 
the IAEA in the conflict around the Iranian nuclear program. That is 
the content of the talks between Nicolas Burns and Mohammed 
ElBaradei. Burns argued for further sanctions against the Islamic 
Republic of Iran refuses to halt the uranium enrichment program, 
stating that "Iran chose to take the sanction route." Questioned 
about irritations between the US and ElBaradei, who recently 
criticized he US administration for its Iran policy and statements 
about the possibility of a Third World War,  Burns stressed the fact 
that both the UN Security Council and the IAEA were important in 
resolving the conflict. With regard to the Turkish threat of an 
invasion into northern Iraq in order to proceed against Kurdish 
rebels operating from there, Burns referred to the upcoming visit of 
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Turkey. The US could 
sympathize with the Turkish government and the Turkish population's 
attitude towards the "ill-natured attacks of the PKK," said Burns. 
 
EU:  Turkey Lax on Reforms 
 
¶3. The latest progress report of the EU Commission on Turkey is 
largely negative. Especially with regard to human rights and 
protection of minorities, there are clear deficits - as there are 
with the civilian control of the politically powerful military. 
Meanwhile, experts warn of the possibility that a massive 
intervention of Turkish troops in northern Iraq could have a 
negative impact on the EU membership process. Another bone of 
contention is the still unresolved Cyprus issue. [Kleine Zeitung, p. 
4, Wiener Zeitung, p. 1 and 7] 
According to semi-official daily "Wiener Zeitung," on the positive 
side is the fact that the country overcame a constitutional crisis, 
and has continued its democratization course despite intervention on 
the part of the generals. Also, the new government has begun working 
on a comprehensive constitutional reform. The Commission's report 
states that it is now for Ankara to create the necessary 
pre-conditions for the opening of no less than 13 negotiation 
chapters. While this is relatively simple in some cases, the 
conflict with Cyprus, however blocks 8 central chapters of the 
altogether 35 negotiation chapters, writes the daily. Mass 
circulation provincial daily "Kleine Zeitung" concludes that, on the 
whole, the report constitutes a severe setback for the Turkish EU 
ambitions, and that a possible invasion in northern Iraq would close 
the Turkish EU membership chapter. 
 
We Could Still Fight Another War 
 
¶4. ...says Lieutenant General Jack Stultz, head of the US reserve 
army since May 2006, in an interview with centrist daily "Die 
Presse." According to his assessment, the capacity of the US reserve 
army is not yet exhausted and it could well fight another war. "I 
have 200,000 soldiers ready on call,' he asserts. While he concedes 
that the situation in Iraq is difficult and the US has not yet found 
an answer to the question of how to gain the trust of the Iraqi 
citizens, he also shows himself convinced that the US is facing a 
long war in the country. With regard to the standard of his own 
troops, he maintains that the fact that the reserve army's equipment 
is partially outdated is no obstacle to its mission. "In the 
meantime, we have the best-trained soldiers, because we have learned 
a lot with every month in Iraq and have adapted our training." 
In his interview with "Die Presse," Jack Stultz emphasizes the fact 
that the reserve army does not only undertake the military training 
of the soldiers, but also educates them with regard to Muslim 
culture. "One does not simply give people a job to do and tell them: 
 You'll learn this." The soldiers are aware that they may land 
themselves in Baghdad or Falluja when they commit themselves to 
service in the reserve army. "They understand that. The reservations 
are more on the part of the parents that fear for their son. That 
means that we also have to persuade the parents when we recruit." 
Questioned about whether the ranks of the reserve army have thinned 
out, Stultz denies this, saying that this impression was due to the 
rotation system. "When the active soldiers returned at the end of 
2004, the reservists took over. Now, many have returned home and 
were replaced by active troops. This is a constant up and down. We 
are working to full capacity. Are we stretched beyond our capacity? 
No, we are not. We still have capacity." 
 
"Snowflakes" from the Pentagon 
 
¶5. Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's weakness for memos, 
also called "snowflakes" by Pentagon insiders, is now proving an 
embarrassment for the administration. More than one year after 
Rumsfeld's resignation as Secretary of Defense, the "Washington 
Post" has made public some of Rumsfeld's internal instructions. Some 
of them denounce Muslims as not being willing to engage in hard 
physical labor. Due to their oil wealth, they preferred to hire 
Pakistanis and Koreans instead while their own youth remained 
unemployed. Muslims "often have no concept of the kind of work, 
effort and the investments that bring prosperity to the rest of the 
world," Rumsfeld wrote. The White House immediately distanced itself 
from Rumsfeld's statements.  [ORF online] 
 
US Congress against Missile Defense Shield 
 
¶6. For the time being, Congress has refused to give its consent to 
financing US President George W. Bush's controversial missile 
defense project. In the current fiscal year, no funds are 
appropriated to the program. However, that does not kill the project 
per se:  As soon as the US has concluded agreements with Poland and 
the Czech Republic about the project, Bush can ask for additional 
funds - as he has repeatedly done in the past to get additional 
budgetary means for the US military engagement in Iraq. [Der 
Standard, p. 3, Die Presse, p. 6] 
Kilner