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RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHLZ
DE RUEHRL #1274/01 2861502
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R 131502Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5462
INFO RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
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RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0846
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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 07 BERLIN 001274 
 
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 PK AF RS XF US AM EU
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: PAKISTAN, AFGHANISTAN, RUSSIA-U.S., 
MIDEAST, 
U.S., TURKEY-ARMENIA, EU 
 
¶1.   Lead Stories Summary 
¶2.   (Pakistan)   Bomb Attack 
¶3.   (Afghanistan)   New U.S. Strategy 
¶4.   (Russia-U.S.)   Clinton Visit 
¶5.   (Mideast)   Aftermath of Goldstone Report 
¶6.   (U.S.)   Nobel Peace Prize for Obama 
¶7.   (Turkey-Armenia)   Rapprochement 
¶8.   (EU)   Future of Lisbon Treaty 
 
 
¶1.   Lead Stories Summary 
 
There is only one lead story in the print and electronic media: the 
 
plan of Brandenburg's SPD leader Platzeck to form a coalition 
government with the Left Party.  Editorials focused on the same 
issue 
and on the state of the coalition talks between the CDU/CSU and the 
 
FDP in Berlin. 
 
¶2.   (Pakistan)   Bomb Attack 
 
Many papers (10/13) carried wire service reports on the Taliban 
attacks on the Pakistani armed forces headquarters in Rawalpindi. 
"New Wave of Violence in Pakistan - Taliban creating Endurance Test 
 
for Nuclear State," headlined Sueddeutsche Zeitung, reporting that 
"following a period of relative calm, the Taliban and its allies are 
 
covering the country with a new wave of violence.  The United States 
 
has secretly helped Pakistan develop security measures which prevent 
 
unauthorized people from blowing up nuclear warheads.  Nevertheless, 
 
rumors are spreading that the U.S. has developed emergency plans to 
 
take over control of Pakistani nuclear warheads in the case that 
Islamists were to take control of the country." 
 
Handelsblatt (10/13) judged under the headline, "Wake-Up Call For 
the 
Armed Forces," that: "Since last year, there has been a civilian 
government in Pakistan, but the real center of power continues to be 
 
the headquarters of the armed forces.  An attack on this 
high-security 
headquarters is therefore the greatest possible challenge to the 
Pakistani state.  The Taliban's hostage-taking in the military 
headquarters is a signal in two respects.  It destroys the illusion 
 
that Islamic extremism in Pakistan is on the retreat since the death 
 
of notorious Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.  And it makes clear 
that 
the government and the armed forces will lose the fight for 
Afghanistan sooner or later if they continue their usual halfhearted 
 
approach against the Islamic threat.  [Following the weekend 
attack], 
the army must realize that controlling South Waziristan is not only 
a 
question of doing the disliked United States a favor, but also a 
question of survival.  And now that the Taliban have attacked the 
heart of the armed forces, the chances are better than ever that the 
 
 
BERLIN 00001274  002 OF 007 
 
 
situation will change." 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (10/13) editorialized: "The Pakistani armed 
forces celebrated their spring offensive as a success, but this was 
 
premature.  The attack on the military headquarters in Rawalpindi is 
 
politically and morally the most serious one: this army is even 
unable 
to defend its own security.  Of course, the question must be raised 
as 
to what extent the army has been undermined. Even if the governments 
 
in London and Washington express their confidence that the Pakistani 
 
government is still in full control of its nuclear arsenal, we would 
 
not bet on it.  There is no doubt that Pakistan is faced with a 
murderous danger - a danger to which we have closed our eyes for 
much 
too long." 
 
"Pakistan under Taliban Fire," headlined Die Welt (10/12) and 
opined: 
"[Following the attack on the military headquarter,] the countries 
of 
the world are raising the question of how safe the red button, which 
 
ignites the Pakistani nuclear weapons, is.  Could the attack happen 
 
without the knowledge of informants from the powerful military 
intelligence service, which has cultivated close relations with the 
 
Taliban and sees Afghanistan as a strategic hinterland against 
India? 
Following this attack, the message to the Pakistani is: Who can 
protect you if the armed forces are even unable to protect 
themselves. 
The international community must interpret the attack as what it is: 
a 
warning." 
 
¶3.   (Afghanistan)   New U.S. Strategy 
 
Under the headline: "New U.S. Strategy Fails in Afghanistan - 
Project 
for Farmers Cannot Be Begun - Helpers Stranded in Kabul,' 
Frankfurter 
Rundschau (10/13) reported: "The U.S. is exerting increasing 
pressure 
on the Afghan leadership.  According to Secretary Clinton, 
Washington 
is expecting much more from President Karzai than before.  Clinton 
said in London: 'If the vote results in his re-election, then there 
 
must be a new relationship between him and the people.'  Due to the 
 
investigation of election fraud, there has been no official result 
of 
the August 20 presidential elections.  Efforts for reconstruction 
are 
increasingly lagging behind the U.S. proposed schedule.  The New 
York 
Times reported that U.S. efforts threaten to fail in the fight 
against 
corruption, the establishment of government and legal structures and 
 
 
BERLIN 00001274  003 OF 007 
 
 
the training of an able police force." 
 
¶4.   (Russia-U.S.)   Clinton Visit 
 
All major broadcast media (10/12) carried factual reports on 
Secretary 
Clinton's arrival in Moscow to hold talks with her Russian 
counterpart, Lavrov, and Russian President Medevev on a new 
disarmament accord and Iran.  "The talks are also about whether 
Russia 
will support new sanctions on Iran if it does not comply in the 
dispute over its nuclear program.  Other topics will be the 
situation 
in Afghanistan, Georgia and arms control," Deutschlandfunk radio 
noted 
this morning.   Under the headline "Clinton calls on conflicting 
parties in Northern Ireland," Frankfurter Allgemeine reported that 
"Clinton tried to restart the autonomy process in Northern Ireland 
through personal calls.  She said that the U.S. government wants to 
 
continue to promote and support the northern Irish path to peace... 
 
However, the parties in Belfast must walk the remaining steps 
alone." 
 
¶5.   (Mideast)   Aftermath of Goldstone Report 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (10/12) commented: "It is easy to guess that 
 
Palestinian President Abbas only supported the idea of freezing the 
 
Goldstone report because Israel has promised him something.  What 
could that be? Despite intensive efforts by Mideast Envoy Mitchell, 
 
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has been inflexible-he does not 
even 
want to stop the further building of settlements in the West 
Bank.... 
Palestinians now accuse their President of unnecessarily giving way 
to 
Israel.  Their annoyance is understandable; many of them already see 
 
Abbas as too weak.  Israel is critical of the UN, and it is partly 
right, but making Abbas their accomplice will only further 
strengthen 
the radicals among the Palestinians." 
 
¶6.   (U.S.)   Nobel Peace Prize for Obama 
 
All papers (10/10) carried reports on President Obama being awarded 
 
the Nobel Peace Prize.  Der Spiegel carried a front-page picture of 
 
the President's face and the caption: "Mission: Global Peace - The 
Impossible mission of Barack Obama."  Frankfurter Rundschau showed 
the 
President with a laurel wreath around his head, saying: "Advance 
Payment for Obama.  The U.S. president gets the Nobel Peace Prize, 
not 
for his achievements but for his visions.  The award is an 
expression 
of the high expectations, people have for Obama.  Obama himself, 
however, doubts that he deserves the prize."  Die Welt opened with 
the 
president's remarks and headlined: "'I have not deserved it.'  Nobel 
 
Peace Prize: U.S. President Barack Obama is Demonstrating Modesty - 
 
BERLIN 00001274  004 OF 007 
 
 
 
Critics Consider the Honor to be Premature."  Many other papers 
carried the same headline: "Nobel Peace Prize for Barack Obama." 
 
Norddeutscher Rundfunk radio of Hamburg (10/9) broadcast the 
following 
commentary: "The speaker and visionary Barack Obama indeed deserves 
 
the Nobel Peace Prize - but he deserved it six years ago when he, as 
 
the only Democrat, clearly raised his voice against George Bush's 
Iraq 
War.  But now Obama will not be awarded as a speaker at the 
Democratic 
Party Congress, not as a peace-loving election campaigner and not as 
a 
visionary but as president of the United States.  And as U.S. 
president he cannot present any peace successes.  On the contrary. 
Obama's increase in forces in Afghanistan is provoking an increase 
in 
victims....  The Afghanistan war is his war at least that is what 
Obama 
says over and over again, as if he wanted to prove that not only his 
 
predecessor but he, too, knows how to wage the right war. 
Unfortunately, he is fighting the right war in the wrong way." 
 
Sdwestrundfunk of Stuttgart (10/9) aired the following commentary: 
 
"There is no doubt that Barack Obama has many good and correct ideas 
 
and he is working hard to implement his vision of a better world. 
But 
the Nobel Peace Prize now?  Obama has only just begun to work on his 
 
ambitious plans.  And time will tell whether he will succeed.  Thus 
 
far, measurable successes are scarce.  It addition, it would have a 
 
pale aftertaste if the Nobel Peace Prize goes to a man who as 
supreme 
commander is responsible for two wars, who has presented the highest 
 
defense budget ever, and whose Defense Department has now reported 
that it is using all available means to make the most destructive 
conventional bomb operational.  Much will now depend on how the U.S. 
 
President deals with this award, how he himself defines his role as 
 
Nobel Peace laureate.  Obama has won the Nobel peace prize; now he 
must earn it." 
 
DeutschlandRadio Kultur (10/9) commented: "If the Nobel Committee 
has 
really taken the prize seriously, then it has at least mixed up the 
 
most necessary criteria for assessing political achievements.  Words 
 
have replaced deeds, and hopes have replaced successes....  Nothing 
can 
currently be more detrimental to Barack Obama, who has been 
confronted 
with sober realities in domestic and foreign policies over the past 
 
few weeks.  The premature Nobel Peace Prize is now threatening to 
suffocate this great carrier of hope under excessive expectations." 
 
 
BERLIN 00001274  005 OF 007 
 
 
 
Under the headline: "The Prize As a Burden," Sueddeutsche (10/10) 
argued: "The Nobel Prize Committee has imposed a heavy burden on the 
 
President.  It has even deprived him somewhat of his political 
clout, 
for this award is upsetting the world.  What will happen to the 
presidential office and the prize if Obama has to wage a war?  Obama 
 
cannot want to shoulder this prize on his own. This prize is a trust 
 
bonus and only the coming three years will tell whether it was 
justified. The Committee does not say anything else but that it 
wants 
to thank Obama for giving up the policy of his predecessor George W. 
 
Bush....  The Nobel Committee wasted the opportunity to award the 
prize 
to someone who really needed it, such as Chinese dissidents, Russian 
 
human rights activists, or Father Fhrer from Leipzig on behalf of 
all 
the people who took part in the Monday demonstrations in the former 
 
GDR.  Barack Obama does not need this prize.  The prize needs 
Obama." 
 
Stuttgarter Zeitung (10/10) editorialized: "Today, Obama's view that 
 
the countries of the world sit in the same boat and will succeed 
together or go down together, has become self-evident.  But Barack 
Obama stands for much more.  We are witnessing the end of a period 
which has lasted five centuries.  During all these centuries, 
Europeans, but also Americans, conquered the rest of the world, 
looted 
and exploited it.  Obama stands for the end of the supremacy of the 
 
white man on earth. Many did not believe the Americans capable of 
shedding old skins and electing Obama.  They did it.  That is why 
Oslo 
did not only honor Obama, but America." 
 
Tabloid Bild (10/10) asked above the fold, "Does Obama really 
deserve 
the Nobel Prize" and concluded in a page-two editorial:  "Barack 
Obama 
has been in office nine months.  His record so far: much ado about 
nothing.  The Nobel Committee has shown that it rewards not only 
outstanding achievements but also nice plans and daydreams.  It 
awards 
the prize...for nothing at all." 
 
Regional daily Nrnberger Nachrichten (10/10) opined: "Obama must 
earn 
this prize first and in his remaining years in office he will prove 
 
whether he deserves it.  Such was the case with Willy Brandt, we can 
 
expect this honor to help Obama in his efforts to achieve the 
foreign 
policy goals he has outlined.  The Nobel Peace Prize is an 
encouragement to continue a policy that stands for cooperation, not 
 
confrontation or ill-fated U.S. unilateral action as we knew from 
Bush." 
 
Regional daily Ostsee-Zeitung of Rostock (10/10) judged: "The fact 
 
BERLIN 00001274  006 OF 007 
 
 
that 48-year-old Barack Obama was awarded this globally prestigious 
 
prize after only nine month in office is a brazen but also 
controversial and surprising decision.  But if we take a closer 
look, 
the star in the political skies is about to burn out.  Many 
Americans 
are disappointed that Obama is refusing to legally prosecute members 
 
of the Bush administration, that CIA torturers are getting off 
scot- 
free, that massive electoral fraud is being tolerated in 
Afghanistan, 
that the international financial ''is still open , and that climate 
 
protection is turning into a policy of the 'smallest common 
denominator.'" 
 
¶7.   (Turkey-Armenia)   Rapprochement 
 
Sddeutsche (10/12) editorialized: "It is courageous what the two 
governments have planned- we can only hope they have the political 
momentum to achieve it.  The resistance to rapprochement is great 
inside both countries.  However, those who are irreconcilable are 
wrong.  This also includes Armenians who believe that there must not 
 
be rapprochement before Turkey acknowledges the genocide of 1915. 
The 
opposite is true:  Taking up diplomatic relations and opening 
borders 
will further undermine the genocide taboo in Turkey....  Those who 
are 
denying past events are beginning to sway.  Years of democratization 
 
in Turkey are erasing one taboo after another." 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (10/12) analyzed: "Armenians at home and 
abroad 
are accusing Armenian President Sarkisjan of making the 
acknowledgement of the genocide part of negotiations and of giving 
up 
legitimate territorial claims by recognizing the Turkish-Armenian 
border.  However, the criticism has nothing at all to do with 
reality. 
It would serve Armenia's interests better to come to terms with 
history together [with Turkey]." 
 
¶8.   (EU)   Future of Lisbon Treaty 
 
Deutschlandfunk radio (10/11) opined: "The righteous criticism of 
the 
Lisbon Treaty does not justify Czech President Klaus's blockade.... 
He 
believes he can ignore the will of all European parliamentarians. 
This attitude is worse than anything he accuses the European 
enterprise of." 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (10/12) editorialized: "Some European state 
leaders still don't know what it means to be a member of the 
European 
Union.  In no club in the world can you enjoy the privileges of 
membership without paying your dues.  British conservatives as well 
as 
Czech President Klaus should remember this." 
 
Frankfurter Rundschau (10/12) commented: "The Polish president has 
ratified the EU Lisbon Treaty.  That's good news.  It ended a 
 
BERLIN 00001274  007 OF 007 
 
 
bizarre 
theater....  However, nobody knows when and if the treaty will clear 
the 
last hurdle.  This hurdle was set even higher as Czech President 
Klaus 
not only wants to hear the outcome of a court trial, but also 
demands 
a footnote to the treaty that guarantees German expellees cannot 
reclaim property in the Czech Republic.  This desire is completely 
unreasonable and impudent.  Changing the treaty would make a 
completely new ratification process necessary in all EU 
countries.... 
Klaus has obviously got a screw loose.  A single man is currently on 
a 
wild ride with 27 nations and their governments.  He ignores 
democratic decisions, also those of his own parliament.  Prague is 
already discussing an impeachment of Klaus.  Let's do it.  Klaus is 
an 
imposition - for his country and Europe." 
 
 MURPHY