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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 NEW DELHI 002749 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NP, AC, PM 
 
STATE FOR INR/MR 
 
STATE FOR SCA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO 
 
STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU 
 
STATE FOR AID/APRE-A 
 
USDOC FOR 4530/IEP/ANESA/OSA FOR BILL MURPHY 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO PGOV PREL IN
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: PAKISTAN, AFGHANISTAN, U.S. 
ELECTIONS, U.S. FOREIGN POLICY, NORTH KOREA, WORLD 
ECONOMIC CRISIS, SOUTH ASIA/SRI LANKA; NEW DELHI - 
OCTOBER 18-20, 2008. 
 
This cable reports on relevant media reaction from 
India's large non-English press. Embassy New Delhi 
reports on English-language media via email in the daily 
"Early Edition".  USG customers please write to Geeta 
Krishali (KrishaliG@state.gov) to subscribe to the "Early 
Edition." 
 
-------- 
PAKISTAN 
-------- 
 
¶1. "AMERICAN ATTACK ON PAKISTAN", editorial in October 18 
right-of-center Urdu daily "MUNSIF", Hyderabad: "For the 
last few months, Pakistan is paying the price of 
friendship and cooperation with America. America sought 
no permission from Pakistan for air attacks within its 
territory. Either America did not consider the prior 
permission necessary, or Pakistan government has no guts 
to stop America from intrusion into its own territory, 
and killing its unarmed civilians. In fact, American 
forces besides NATO forces are ruling the roost in 
Afghanistan. Perhaps, Pakistan government has a clear 
vision of horrendous consequences of stopping America 
from any military action. America is continuously 
intervening into internal affairs and geographical 
integrity of Pakistan, while the latter seems helpless 
vis-`-vis America. It is irony of fate that, in Pakistan, 
there are neither potential democratic institutions nor 
political leaders who have enough wisdom to, effectively, 
intervene in matters of national interest. Until and 
unless these democratic institutions become strong and 
the political parties rise over their petty interests, no 
transparency will surface in Pakistan. 
 
----------- 
AFGHANISTAN 
----------- 
 
¶2. "JIRGAH OF PAK-AFGAH TRIBALS", editorial in October 17 
right-of-center Urdu daily "HAMARA SAMAJ", New Delhi: 
"Recently, several American military generals opined that 
they are losing the war in Afghanistan and the day is not 
far off when they will have to escape from Afghanistan as 
the Russians did. Being an Afghan, Hamid Karzai, in the 
know of the Afghan psyche and situation, also brought 
President George Bush abreast of the fact that he cannot 
run the government for long with the support of American 
and NATO forces, because Afghan Taliban leaders and 
military experts are giving a tough fight to American and 
NATO forces. Jirgah (Tribal Jury) of Pakistan and 
Afghanistan can not be beneficial unless people of both 
the countries including the USA support it sincerely. In 
Afghanistan, America is fighting a lost battle, a battle 
that shattered the American economy. The only way out to 
get out of the prevailing financial crisis and recession 
is that America retreats from Afghanistan. Without that, 
the proposed Jirgah cannot be successful and the whole 
region will become a hub of terrorism. It will be better 
if America, Pakistan and Afghanistan resolve to make 
their joint efforts on the basis of justice and 
 
NEW DELHI 00002749  002 OF 004 
 
 
principles." 
 
¶3. "AL-QAEDA, UNO AND INDIA", editorial in October 18 
right-of-center Urdu daily "RASHTRIYA SAHARA", New Delhi: 
"Ever-increasing influence of Al-Qaeda and Taliban and 
losses suffered by allied forces in Afghanistan has 
disturbed the sleep of America and its allies. America, 
which initiated war on terrorism with great hullabaloo, 
is in dire straits in Afghanistan. Afghan citizens are 
being annihilated by NATO forces, in the name of anti- 
terrorism measures. Moon's report vindicates the fact. 
That is why, pro-Taliban forces, once again, regained 
strength. Such a situation is grim, and a big challenge 
for the allied forces. This is the reason why America is 
negotiating with Taliban tacitly. This way, American 
forces made common Afghan people target of their tyranny 
and oppression, gave rise to Afghan resurgence once 
again." 
 
-------------- 
U.S. ELECTIONS 
-------------- 
 
¶4. "EYE ON AMERICA" first in the series of front-page 
reports on U.S. Elections written by editor Kumar Ketkar 
from Washington in the October 19, 2008, multi-edition 
LOKSATTA.  "Contrary to the popular opinion in India, 
there are a lot blue-collar Indians in the U.S. Of the 
total 25 lakh Indians migrated to the U.S., a small 
minority belong to the higher income group, but a large 
majority are semi-skilled daily wage earners. The 
Gujaratis and Punjabis of course own some small-scale 
businesses, especially in the motel industry. The reason 
for underlining this demographic divide is because all 
these Indians form a `vote bank' in the U.S. Former U.S. 
President Bill Clinton had enjoyed the support of the 
Indian motel owners. Indians have become a recognizable 
force, socially, politically as well as electorally. 
Presidential nominee Barack Obama's open anti-Pakistan 
stance during the campaign therefore needs to be 
perceived in the context of the growing political weight 
of Indians in the U.S.... Going by the voting patterns in 
the past presidential elections in America, Indians are 
voting for the Republicans after 1988, although the party 
was earlier identified as conservative and retrogressive 
by Indians... This year many Indians show a definite tilt 
towards Obama. Indians who are taxi drivers, hotel 
waiters, restaurant workers, identify themselves with a 
candidate like Obama. However, this identification may 
not help Obama in terms of votes, precisely because they 
are unauthorized - illegal immigrants who are trying to 
build their lives in the land of opportunities. Living on 
the periphery of a superpower, they are certainly 
supportive of Obama, but they are not voters..." 
 
------------------- 
U.S. FOREIGN POLICY 
------------------- 
 
¶5. "IRAQ:  WHAT WILL BE THE APPROACH OF AMERICA'S NEW 
 
NEW DELHI 00002749  003 OF 004 
 
 
GOVERNMENT?"  Op-Ed article by columnist Muzaffar Hussein 
in the October 18, 2008 Mumbai-based centrist Gujarati 
daily evening newspaper JANAMABHOOMI.  "The world's 
superpower, America will witness two significant changes 
on its political horizon in the next two months. 
Firstly, it will be clear whether America's new President 
will be Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain. 
Irrespective of which candidate wins the contest, the 
incumbent in office will face an enormous challenge to 
resurrect the economy from the current recession....  On 
the other hand, surveys reveal that Obama is quite ahead 
of his rival McCain in popularity ratings.  Going by 
Obama's speeches, it is clear that an Obama victory would 
result in the new administration focusing more on 
healthcare rather than on military spending....  As far as 
Obama is concerned, he is clear in his views on 
Afghanistan, i.e.  continuing the fight against 
terrorism.  McCain on the other hand has stated he will 
not settle for anything less than final victory in 
Iraq....  Whatever both candidates say, the one pertinent 
question here is:  Will America be able to sustain such 
expensive wars when its own economy is in the 
doldrums?...  The American economic recession is a 
blessing in disguise for Iraq.  It is possible that this 
might trigger the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition forces 
from Iraq...." 
 
----------- 
NORTH KOREA 
----------- 
 
¶6. "GOOD-EVIL," editorial in the October 20 independent 
Kolkata Bengali daily, ANANDABAZAR PATRIKA. "Pyongyang is 
happy. For, a name has been deleted from the 'Axis of 
evil'. America too is happy since North Korea has 
initiated...shutting down its main reactor... The stage is 
set for unveiling an iron curtain. The rest of the world 
is watching keenly how the task of uprooting terrorism is 
pursued henceforth... However; the existence of yet another 
uranium enrichment plant in North Korea is suspected... The 
current situation indicates that North Korea's economy 
will virtually stumble without direct support from South 
Korea... It will be difficult to run the country merely 
with foreign aid... It is an interesting situation." 
 
--------------------- 
WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS 
--------------------- 
 
¶7. "WORLD IN CHANGING MODE," op-ed in October 19 DAINIK 
JAGRAN Hindi daily by security expert K. Subrahmanyam: 
"The US financial crisis has now spread worldwide. The 
crisis will bring widespread changes in the global 
economy and will affect the balance of power. No nation 
will be untouched. Even countries like Russia and China 
are struggling with the effect of the stock market-crash. 
Indian exports will certainly be affected.... Since the 
U.S. is the topmost country in terms of economy, 
technology and military power, it is natural that the 
changes will affect America's position in the world. It 
 
NEW DELHI 00002749  004 OF 004 
 
 
is also likely that the recovering process from the 
recession will be based on new technologies." 
 
¶8. "GLOBAL RECESSION," editorial in October 17 DAINIK 
BHASKAR Hindi daily: "Although the government says that 
the foundation of our economy is strong the global 
financial meltdown is beginning to have visible 
consequences in Indian aviation industry... The global 
recession, which has created terrible destruction in the 
U.S. and Europe, has slowly taken several countries of 
Asia in its grip. A high-level committee is carefully 
investigating all the aspects of the crisis. The 
government should also take the initiative to find a 
solution to this problem otherwise it can also take other 
industries related to aviation in its grip. The 
government should plan the entire strategy to deal with 
the effects of the slowdown and should take the people 
into confidence before the situation goes out of hand." 
 
---------------------- 
SOUTH ASIA / SRI LANKA 
---------------------- 
 
¶9. "THE FIRE IN SRI LANKA," editorial in October 18 
HINDUSTAN Hindi daily: "The UPA government's key ally DMK 
is demanding India's intervention to halt the Sri Lankan 
armed forces' military offensive to crush the Tamil 
militant group-- LTTE. Political parties like DMK should 
understand that they putting the Indian government in a 
difficult situation by making such demands and playing 
opportunistic politics.... Interference in a nation's (Sri 
Lanka's) internal affairs is not just inappropriate, but 
impractical. On the other hand, it is really difficult to 
understand how a militant group like LTTE can be 
favored!" 
WHITE