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R 040614Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 2724
INFO AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
IRAN COLLECTIVE
NATO EU COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY BEIJING 
AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 
AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 
AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 
AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 
AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO 
AMEMBASSY SKOPJE 
AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 
WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000228 
 
 
INFO EUR PPD;  MARK TONER, ANGELA CERVETTI, SHAI KORMAN, LEA PEREZ 
INFO EUR/WE  TIM SMITH, JON BERGER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OVIP PREL EAID AF PK IR KPAO NL
SUBJECT: Media Reporting: Secretary Clinton's at the Afghanistan 
Conference, March 30-31, 2009. 
 
¶1.  The visit of Secretary Clinton to the Netherlands to attend the 
Afghanistan Conference was headline news days before her arrival. 
Questions about whether the Dutch offered to host the conference or 
whether the U.S. asked them to had died down before the conference 
actually began. All media carried extensive coverage of the 
Conference and of Secretary Clinton's participation in particular. 
The Secretary answered two Dutch questions at her press events at 
the Conference and did a one-on-one Television interview with RTL 
News. Both were universally well received. 
 
¶2.  Print Media: All dailies led 3/31 and 4/1 with the Afghanistan 
Conference and the visit of Secretary Clinton.  Reports were 
accompanied by numerous photos.  The overall tone of coverage was 
very positive and noted the Secretary's praise for the Dutch effort 
to organize such a large conference in such a short period of time. 
All papers reported that when asked whether the U.S. would request 
that the Netherlands extend its mission in Afghanistan, the 
Secretary responded that this was a matter for the Dutch government 
and the Dutch people, but that she emphasized her deep appreciation 
for the Dutch contribution and sacrifices in Afghanistan.  Reports 
also noted that the Secretary said the Netherlands has always been 
an important ally of the U.S., referring to 400 years of friendship 
and collaboration between the two countries. 
 
¶3.  The Secretary announcing U.S. contact with a member of the 
Iranian delegation was reported and caused a great deal of chatter 
but did not make banner headlines. 
 
¶4.  Sample headlines read: "Clinton and Holbrooke Hopeful About 
Future Cooperation - Even Iran Thinks With the U.S." - Influential 
liberal De Volkskrant (4/1 fp) 
"Afghans Get Support from 72 Countries in The Hague" 
- Influential liberal De Volkskrant (4/1 f p) 
"Less Battle, More Construction" 
- Left-of-Center Trouw (4/1 fp) 
"World Signs 'New Contract' With Afghanistan" 
- Influential liberal NRC Handelsblad (3/31-fp) 
"International Praise For Successful Conference" 
- Conservative mass-circulation De Telegraaf (4/1-fp) 
 
¶5. Electronic Media: All television news programs covered the 
Secretary's visit from her arrival through her press availabilities 
at the Afghanistan Conference.  The Secretary's one-on-one 
television interview with RTL was well received, with even 
competitors acknowledging that  it was an extremely good interview. 
RTL carried clips in its 3/31 main news show and aired the entire 
interview as a special. The broadcaster's daytime news program RTLZ 
repeated the entire interview on 4/1 in the morning and the 
afternoon.  With clips also shown on several talk shows, the 
interview reached approximately 4 million viewers. 
 
 
¶6. Commentary: "More Than Words Only under The Hague Big Tent" 
Influential liberal De Volkskrant editorializes (4/1): "Huge 
conferences offer an excellent stage for announcing noble intentions 
and speaking lofty words.  That was also true at the Afghanistan 
Qand speaking lofty words.  That was also true at the Afghanistan 
Conference in The Hague, where representatives from almost eighty 
countries and international organizations promised renewed efforts 
to rid the country of evil.  It is not difficult to look at the 
reality in Afghanistan and see that there is a huge gap between 
dream and deed...  even though the U.S. is sending 21,000 additional 
troops to Afghanistan, the size of the NATO troops remains 
insufficient...  Yet it would be wrong to just simply talk about the 
many problems... for the so-called Big Tent, organized at an 
admirable pace, was exactly what its name implicates: it was 
unprecedentedly huge.  Despite the discord that accumulated during 
the Bush administration, almost all the invited countries were 
prepared to give this initiative of the new U.S. government a 
chance... the situation in Afghanistan will not immediately improve. 
There are still major concerns.  The unity displayed at the 
conference is fragile, but if the core of the Taliban thought the 
international community had given up on Afghanistan and that it 
could easily seize power, then now they know better." 
 
Conservative mass-circulation De Telegraaf states in its editorial 
(3/31): "The Afghanistan Conference today in The Hague confirms that 
the Netherlands and particularly The Hague, is the center of 
international justice.... However, that doesn't mean that the Dutch 
hospitality implies that the Netherlands would expand its efforts in 
Afghanistan... extending the Dutch military mission in its current 
format is a non-starter for the Netherlands has more than met its 
international commitments.  The United States and other friendly 
nations would certainly understand.  The new strategy President 
Obama presented does raise hope.  For despite successes that have 
been booked, it is very clear that the criminal Taliban should be 
defeated..." 
 
"Less Battle, More Construction" Left-of-Center Trouw analyzes 
(4/1): "At the beginning of the conference, U.S. Secretary of State 
Clinton said it officially: the war on terror no longer exists... 
the Obama Administration is clearly dropping the policy of his 
predecessor.... This is more than a semantic issue.... They all sat 
at the table in the Big Tent and the Obama Administration received 
the desired applause. But the Afghanistan policy can only work if 
the neighboring countries cooperate in curbing down extremists.  The 
War on Terror might no longer exist but the fight is far from 
over...." 
 
"Sum with Variables"  Influential liberal NRC Handelsblad states in 
its editorial (4/1): "The issue in the Big Tent in The Hague was a 
regional strategy to safe Afghanistan from further disintegration. 
One of the most important instruments is a different attitude toward 
the Taliban.  America, too, no longer sees the Taliban as one 
movement.  In addition to al-Qaida supporters, the Taliban also 
includes rebels who take to violence out of desperation.  According 
to Secretary Clinton dialogue with them is no longer a taboo... 
Eventually, the Afghanistan Conference was actually a Pakistan 
Conference.  This crumbling nuclear power has been defined as the 
key state in the region.  Secretary Clinton said, 'Afghanistan and 
Pakistan: one common enemy, one common threat, one common task.' 
.... Regionalization, however, means spreading responsibilities. 
That might be the intention of the U.S. and NATO but this dilution 
also means that other countries will also demand their own spot... 
that is not only true for India but Iran has also acquired a new 
position which the U.S. in particular, will have to take into 
account...  China's Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Russia, and 
the former Central Asian Soviet republics are all emerging.  That 
would make this Euro-Asian counterpart of NATO more important that 
the alliance probably would like it to be...  Pacification of the 
region does become an equation with increasingly more variables... 
that also means that the sum in The Hague has become more 
complex..." 
 
Gallagher