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DE RUEHRL #1180/01 2661501
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
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FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5281
INFO RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 1556
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0249
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0771
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 2296
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1303
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RHMFIUU/HQ USAFE RAMSTEIN AB GE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//J5 DIRECTORATE (MC)//
RHMFISS/CDRUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
RUKAAKC/UDITDUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BERLIN 001180 
 
STATE FOR INR/R/MR, EUR/PAPD, EUR/PPA, EUR/CE, INR/EUC, INR/P, 
SECDEF FOR USDP/ISA/DSAA, DIA FOR DC-4A 
 
VIENNA FOR CSBM, CSCE, PAA 
 
"PERISHABLE INFORMATION -- DO NOT SERVICE" 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.0. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO GM AF US IS XF
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: AFGHANISTAN, G20, UN CLIMATE CHANGE, 
MIDEAST, USG PERCEPTION; BERLIN 
 
¶1. Lead Stories Summary 
¶2. Afghanistan 
¶3. UN Climate Change Summit 
¶4. Mideast Trilateral Summit 
¶5. Obama Presidency 
¶6. G20 Summit 
 
¶1. Lead Stories 
 
Primetime newscasts and several newspapers opened with President 
ObamaQs speech to the UN climate change summit.  Sueddeutsche 
Zeitung and Berliner Zeitung both headlined: QObama disappoints 
climate activists.Q  Die Welt headlined: QBarack Obama warns world 
community against climate catastrophe.Q  Other newspapers led with 
stories on Afghanistan and the German elections.  Editorials focused 
on the German elections and climate change. 
 
¶2. Afghanistan 
 
Front-page headlines:  QWhite House and military leadership disagree 
over strategy on AfghanistanQ (Frankfurter Allgemeine), QNo new U.S. 
troops for AfghanistanQObama wants to develop a strategy first 
(Tagesspiegel), QAfghan President Karzai supports the demand to 
deploy more U.S. troopsQ (Die Welt). 
 
Die Welt commented: QAt least half a dozen of times, McCrystal 
mentions in the report that the NATO mission in Afghanistan could 
fail.  For a commander, this is close to defeatism.  He must be dead 
serious about his demands.  Given the disaster of the allegations 
of election fraud, many Americans are turning away from Afghanistan. 
 Eight years at war without any attacks at home have made the goals 
hazy. 
 
Tagesspiegel remarked: QThe rift is going right through the 
administration. At the end of a reworked strategy, there will not 
be a completely new approach.  Obama will probably focus on three 
things: winning the support of the Afghan people will be more 
important than killing as many Taliban as possible.  Afghans will be 
given more responsibility and the training of the Afghan police 
forces and the army will be pushed forward.  This means for the time 
being that more must be done before the engagement can be reduced. 
 
Under the headline QThe Afghan Dilemma,Q Berliner Zeitung opined: 
QThe most senior U.S. commander in Afghanistan admitted that the 
last seven years in the country were lost yearsQfor the people in 
Afghanistan, ISAF, and the goal to stabilize the country and turn it 
into a place were terrorists can no longer find a safe haven.  The 
Afghan project is threatened with failure.  The U.S. is facing a 
second debacle on the scale of Vietnam  Withdrawal would be the 
logical result. McCrystalQs strategy offers a small exit by 
focusing on the training of Afghan police forces and soldiers. 
Theoretically, the governments of Washington and Berlin have 
understood this necessity.  The practical implementation is however 
ridiculous and worthless. 
 
¶3. UN Climate Change Summit 
 
Although media welcomed President ObamaQs speech as a Qdramatic 
callQ (Die Welt), several newspapers highlighted that he did not 
make new commitments, noting that QObama disappoints climate 
activistsQ (Sueddeutsche, Berliner Zeitung).  Spiegel Online 
headlined: QObamaQs climate speech frustrates climate activists. 
Several media focused on JapanQs determined promise: QAsians 
Outshine ObamaQ (FT Deutschland front-page headline). 
 
ARD-TVQs Tagesthemen commented:  QThere was no lack of powerful 
words of wisdom.  Also Obama drastically chastised the consequences 
of global warming and called for a common fight against the climate 
 
BERLIN 00001180  002 OF 003 
 
 
catastrophe.  However, what will America deliver?  Obama did not 
give an answer. America and China matter....  Those who cause so 
much damage must bear their responsibility to resolve the problem. 
They must take the lead and not trail behind.  We can trust Obama 
that the topic is a priority for him, but not for the rest of 
America.  AmericaQs political energy is focusing almost exclusively 
on the health care reform.    There is no time to resuce tomorrowQs 
world.  As a result, his people make the world hope Obama a lame 
duck. 
 
Under the headline QForget Copenhagen,Q FT Deutschland editorialized 
on its front page: QThe UN summit on climate change produced on 
specific result.  However, it has nothing to do reduction goals and 
greenhouse gases, but the political realization that we should 
forget Copenhagen.  The long-expected speech by President Obama and 
his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao to the UN showed that the 
Copenhagen climate conference cannot be rescued even with the 
greatest negotiating skills.  Neither the U.S. nor China will make 
sufficient moves by then to make an agreement possible that defines 
carbon dioxide reduction goals by 2050 or even 2020.  However, the 
success of the talks between the 192 countries depends primarily on 
the U.S. and China.  It is unfortunate that Obama wants to get the 
climate change bill through the Congress only next year, if at all. 
This reduces the opportunities of the developed countries to 
negotiate and force developing countries to make concessions.  In 
addition, he gives China a reason not to make another move.  The 
chances that we will get more than a non-binding framework agreement 
faded further yesterday.  They are now about zero. It would 
therefore be best to postpone the conference until the U.S. is ready 
for making real progress in the negotiations.  Otherwise, a 
compromise in Copenhagen could make real progress impossible for 
years because the climate sinners can hide behind it. 
 
Die Welt commented on its front page: QPresident Obama also used 
that killer argument of the end of the world in his speech to the 
UNQhe made a commitment to reach a post-Kyoto agreement although he 
knows that his parliamentarians will not approval of it. 
 
¶4. Mideast Trilateral Summit 
 
Media noted that Qon the margins of the UN summit, the U.S. tried to 
restart the deadlocked Mideast peace processQ (ZDF-TVQs Heute). 
Sueddeutsche carried a front-page photo of Obama and the Israeli 
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian President Abbas, 
highlighting that he told them: QIt is past time to talk about 
starting negotiations. It is time to move forward.Q  Berliner 
Zeitung headlined: QThe summit of modest expectations. 
 
Spiegel Online headlined QU.S. gets lost in the Mideast mazeQ and 
wrote in its intro: QBarack Obama is at risk of getting sidetracked 
in the Mideast conflict.  His meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu 
and Palestinian President Abbas was not more than a photo 
opportunity.  No U.S. President before him has dared to hold such a 
summit without a common statement. 
 
Sueddeutsche comments: QThe American sunny boy is being caught up by 
realties in the Middle East.  In the trilateral meeting with 
Netanyahu and Abbas, Obama was standing there with empty hands.  For 
months, his envoy was engaged in a shuttle diplomacy.  The result is 
sobering: A UN photo opportunity. 
 
¶5. Obama Presidency 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine commented: QDuring his visit to Europe in 
April, ObamaQs message of change and hope still captivated many 
people.  Half year later, most Americans and many people throughout 
the world have all returned to earth.  Concerning the Afghanistan 
war, ObamaQs leadership in recent weeks was everything else but 
 
BERLIN 00001180  003 OF 003 
 
 
impressive.   Nobody in Washington is apparently concerned that, in 
addition to the Canadians, important European allies might withdraw 
their troops from Afghanistan in 2011.  It is time for Obama to 
deliver a great speech on the necessity to succeed in Afghanistan. 
Whether his calculation to reset relations with Moscow will work by 
renouncing the deployment of a missile defense shield in Central 
Europe will be seen only in a few months.  In the Mideast policy, 
Obama and his envoy Mitchell only got a photo opportunity in New 
York.   There is no sign of democratization or economic 
liberalization in Cuba, although some American sanctions were 
lifted.   Also in Pyongyang, ObamaQs message of change and readiness 
to talk without preconditions has not had any impact yet  [With his 
trade policy on China and Mexico], Obama is continuing the bad 
examples of his predecessors Reagan, Clinton and Bush, although 
neither of them were protectionists.  This is not the change we can 
believe in.  How does Obama want to credibly restart negotiations on 
free trade at the G20 summit?  As the host of the world in New York 
and Pittsburgh, Obama will certainly find nice words.  He has 
already found them for the topic of climate change on Tuesday. 
However, they are at best a promise. 
 
¶6. G20 
 
FT Deutschland commented that Qoptimists see the G20 as a global 
leadership forum.  However, there is much evidence indicating that 
the group has surpassed the hill and that the summit in Pittsburgh 
will bring us down to earth again.Q  The paper added: QEurope is 
probably the greatest obstacle to turning the G20 into a permanent 
leadership forum.  In the long run, regular meetings of the 20 most 
powerful countries make no sense if they are not talking about 
currency issues.  For the euro zone, euro chairman Jean-Claude 
Juncker would be the right representative, not Merkel, Sarkozy and 
Berlusconi.   As a representative for the increasingly less 
important pound, Brown would have to give up his seat.  Both things 
are not conceivable in the foreseeable future. 
 
  MURPHY