VZCZCXRO1202
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHLZ
DE RUEHRL #1354/01 3001312
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271312Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5583
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 1669
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0380
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0898
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 2409
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1424
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0601
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 001354 
 
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 IZ IR AF UN GM
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ, IRAN, AFGHANISTAN, CLIMATE, UN, 
GERMANY 
 
¶1.   Lead Stories Summary 
¶2.   (Iraq)   New Violence 
¶3.   (Iran)   Nuclear Program 
¶4.   (Afghanistan)   Future Strategy 
¶5.   (Environment)   Climate Change 
¶6.   (UN)   Karadzic Trial 
¶7.   (Germany)   Murder Trial Against Man Who Stabbed Muslim Woman 
¶8.   (Germany)   New Coalition Agreement 
 
 
 
¶1.   Lead Stories Summary 
 
Primetime newscast and most newspapers opened with stories on the 
new 
coalition government, highlighting that the CDU and CSU congresses 
overwhelmingly supported the coalition agreement with the FDP. 
Frankfurter Allgemeine led with a story on the political changeover 
in 
Baden-Wrttemberg.  Editorials focused on the new coalition 
government. 
 
¶2.   (Iraq)   New Violence 
 
Under the headline "Bagdad Blues," Sddeutsche (10/27) commented on 
 
the increasing violence in Iraq underscoring that "Prime Minister 
Maliki is also to blame for the chaos..., not the Syrian state 
leader.... 
Maliki's soldiers have once more demonstrated that they cannot do 
their jobs....  With new violence spreading through the country, 
there 
will hardly be enough U.S. soldiers ready to stand by the Iraqis. 
The 
withdrawal of large units has been prepared over months and cannot 
be 
reversed in days.  Anyways, Washington needs fresh troops for 
Afghanistan.  The withdrawal from Iraq will soon be an irreversible 
 
process, regardless of the situation in the country.  The leaders of 
 
rebel groups from al Qaida to the Sunni Baathists realize this. 
Many 
of them are standing back, knowing that the U.S. army will not stay 
in 
the country forever and that the battle for power can then be fought 
 
by the Iraqis themselves.  Because Baghdad has disappointed the 
Sunni 
militia groups by not accepting them into the army, many of them may 
 
return to underground militias.  The situation in Iraq has been 
euphemized in recent months....  The Iraqi prime minister and the 
U.S. 
President must ask themselves why they are risking the security 
achieved by the U.S. army in 2007: Maliki by promising security 
without being able to guarantee it and Obama by forcing himself into 
 
such a strict timetable that he loses any political and military 
latitude." 
 
Frankfurter Rundschau (10/27) and Tagesspiegel (10/27) 
editorialized: 
"The earth is shaking in Baghdad....  Three central government 
institutions have been ruined in the last two months, more than 250 
 
people have died and thousands have been injured.  Given this 
inferno 
 
BERLIN 00001354  002 OF 007 
 
 
of death and destruction, doubts are rightly increasing in the 
United 
States, European capitals and NATO.  The devastating suicide attacks 
 
could break the back of the young post-Saddam republic before it has 
 
learned to walk on its own.   The assassinators and their 
masterminds 
want to bomb Iraq, which is rich in oil, back into a time of ethnic 
 
and religious civil war, plunge the country into chaos and decline, 
 
and demonstrate that the Shiite government under Maliki is incapable 
 
of protecting the people.  The murderous events could simultaneously 
 
thwart the White House's withdrawal plans.  There is much at stake 
for 
U.S. President Obama, not just for Maliki.   The western superpower, 
 
which invaded Iraq six years ago as the lead nation of the coalition 
 
of the willing, cannot simply leave a nation in 2010 that is 
plunging 
into bloodshed and civil war." 
 
Under the headline "Misery and Chaos in Iraq," Berliner Zeitung 
(10/27) remarked:  "The counterterrorism campaign has shifted in 
recent months from Iraq to Afghanistan.  Americans believed that 
this 
was the success of their surge strategy... and because this strategy 
was 
successful, it was to be repeated in Afghanistan.  However, there 
were 
devastating attacks in Bagdad over the weekend.  They did not just 
kill 150 people but also shocked Washington, because stability in 
Iraq 
turned out to be an illusion.  Which strategy would be right to 
rescue 
the stabilization project in Afghanistan? ...  The situation might 
have 
improved for the Iraqi government elite and the U.S. occupiers, who 
 
today suffer fewer and fewer casualties.  However, ordinary Iraqis 
barely have any electricity and clean water.  Unemployment is about 
50 
percent.  The healthcare and education system is rotten.  Criminals 
 
kidnap dozens of children every day.  In addition, there is an 
escalating level of corruption.... Social misery and chaos, the 
ongoing 
foreign occupation and selfish politicians are the reasons why the 
situation is instable and everything will remain as it is-in Iraq 
and 
Afghanistan." 
 
¶3.   (Iran)   Nuclear Program 
 
Mass-tabloid Bild (10/27) headlined "Erdogan praises the madman of 
Tehran" and added: "Diplomatic ice age between Israel and Turkey. 
In 
an interview with the British newspaper Guardian, Turkish PM Erdogan 
 
stood by Israel's enemy Iran and described the Holocaust denier 
Ahmadinejad as a 'friend.'...  Erdogan also defended the Iranian 
nuclear 
program although Ahmadinejad has threatened to wipe Israel off the 
map." 
 
BERLIN 00001354  003 OF 007 
 
 
 
¶4.   (Afghanistan)   Future Strategy 
 
Under the headline "Obama takes his time on Afghanistan," Berliner 
Zeitung (10/27) reported: "Obama keeps the NATO commander in 
Afghanistan, General McChrystal waiting for the increase in troops 
he 
requested weeks ago."  The paper quoted Obama as saying: "I will 
never 
rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm's way.  I won't 
risk 
your lives unless it is absolutely necessary."   The paper noted: 
"There are increasing doubts among Democrats whether the conflict 
can 
be resolved in this way," adding: "The U.S. troops in Afghanistan 
had 
a black day yesterday: eleven U.S. soldiers and three 
counternarcotics 
agents died in helicopter crashes." 
 
¶5.   (Environment)   Climate Change 
 
Only a few papers dealt with the upcoming UN climate summit in 
Copenhagen.   Handelsblatt (10/27) reported on the problems new 
German 
environment Minister Norbert RQttgen is faced with under the 
headline: 
"At the Beginning of his Term, RQttgen must climb a Summit," while 
Frankfurter Rundschau (10/27) dealt with reports that President 
Obama 
might not attend the Copenhagen summit.  The daily reported under 
the 
headline: "The Hesitant Climate Protector," and wrote under the 
sub- 
title: "The U.S. President Does not have Great Hopes of a Trip to 
Denmark," and added that "Barack Obama does not have good memories 
of 
Copenhagen.  His last trip to the Danish capital...turned into a 
total 
embarrassment.  Obama has good reason to think twice about another 
trip to Copenhagen.  Obama was criticized for winning the Nobel 
Peace 
Prize and for being a big mouth, not able to match his words with 
deeds.  His speech at the UN summit could intensify this impression 
 
and continue to weaken his position at home.  Despite Obama's 
election 
campaign promise that the United States would assume a leading role 
in 
the fight for climate protection, his bill on the reduction of 
carbon 
dioxide emissions is still far from being ratified by Congress.  The 
 
arguments are demonstrating the deep ideological trenches that tear 
 
apart the Untied States and that make Obama's work so tough." 
 
Tagesspiegel (10/27) carried an editorial, saying: "The President 
has 
certainly more pleasant things to do than coming empty-handed, 
leaving 
empty-handed, and being pilloried in between because the United 
States 
does not want to make its hoped-for contribution. He will 
furthermore 
have to withstand the Republican volleys of abuse as to why he flew 
to 
Copenhagen instead of taking care of his country.  But there is one 
 
BERLIN 00001354  004 OF 007 
 
 
 
argument that speaks against his absence: "Those who want to lead 
the 
world must show up." 
 
¶6.   (UN)   Karadzic Trial 
 
In a lengthy editorial, Sddeutsche (10/27) remarked: "This probably 
 
last large-scale trial for war crimes in the Balkans is once more 
about the complex historical dimension of the war and its suspect. 
 
The goal of the trial is to prove that Karadzic was the mastermind 
of 
the bloodshed and that he agreed with others to ethnic cleansing and 
 
implemented the plan.  The atrocities and the complexity of the wars 
 
in Bosnia are once more to be documented to prevent the 
falsification 
of history and myth-making so common in the Balkans.   This trial is 
 
asking for a lot of patience from the victims, who have been waiting 
 
for this trial for a long time.  They will have to accept Karadzic's 
 
dodging to thwart the timetable - as seen right at the opening of 
the 
trial.  This rogue will not confess or show remorse.....  Victims 
will 
find consolation only in the fact that Karadzic's name will be 
cursed 
in history." 
 
¶7.   (Germany)   Murder Trial Against Man Who Stabbed Muslim Woman 
 
Many papers carry reports on the opening of a trial of a 
Russian-born 
German who stabbed a Muslim woman in a courtroom in Dresden. 
Tagesspiegel (10/27) headlined: "Prosecutor: Murder of Egyptian 
Woman 
out of 'Pure Hatred.'"  Sueddeutsche (10/27) headlined: "Pure 
Hatred," 
and reported that "never before has the regional court in Dresden 
seen 
such tough security measures as during this trial. There are tough 
controls and even the lawyers of the accused must accept to be 
frisked.  Whether the presiding judge likes to it or not, this case 
is 
a special political affair.  The Egyptian ambassador to Germany is 
attending the opening of the trial but also the head of the Central 
 
Council of Muslims in Germany, Ayub KQhler. 
 
Sueddeutsche Zeitung (10/270 judged: "We can only be surprised by 
the 
political sensation which this trial and this crime have caused. 
The 
chancellor has apologized and even the Egyptian ambassador is 
observing the trial.  But we would do well to remember that 
previously 
an asylum seeker from Ghana burned in a police cell in Dessau and no 
 
ambassador attended the trial and the responsible police director 
did 
not even apologize. Why are we only now beginning to ponder the 
public 
reaction to xenophobic crimes in this country?    The regional Court 
 
BERLIN 00001354  005 OF 007 
 
 
 
in Dresden is trying a man of whom we do not know anything.  He 
alone 
will stand trial, not the Federal Republic of Germany." 
 
Under the headline: "Law Instead of Revenge," Die Welt (10/27) 
argued 
on its front- page: "The killing of Marwa el-Sherbini was assessed 
as 
evidence of racism and hostility towards Islam in Germany.  That is 
 
why the opening of the trial has met with the corresponding 
reactions...but the court was well-advised to point out that it 
cannot 
and will not meet all expectations.  In the courtroom in Dresden, 
the 
issue is not a political trial but criminal proceedings.  It is 
necessary to clearly separate these two spheres.  It is not a matter 
 
for the judges to determine whether there is a growing Islamophobia 
in 
the western world.  They have to put together the pieces of the 
crime 
and sentence the perpetrator.  The yardstick for the verdict should 
 
not be based on calls from politicians and Muslim lobbyists from 
Egypt, Iran or Germany for tougher sentences.  And the yardstick 
should by no means be based on the calls for revenge from preachers 
of 
hatred; the yardstick is German law and thus far it has mastered all 
 
challenges." 
 
Regional daily Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten (10/270 editorialized: 
"The case of Marwa el-Sherbini cannot be considered a normal case. 
 
The circumstances of the killing of the Egyptian woman are 
shocking...but the Marwa trial cannot be considered a normal trial 
because parts of the Muslim community are turning it into a 
settlement 
of old accounts [with the West] because of the West's alleged 
suppression of Muslims.  But those who are arguing in this way are 
not 
interested in a trial that is based on the rule of law....  They 
want a 
show trial for their own interests and they have made their judgment 
 
in a phase of unhallowed anger long ago." 
 
Neue Presse of Hannover (10/27) had this to say: "The responsibility 
 
of all sides involved is great, because the issue is also to restore 
 
confidence in German justice authorities.  This confidence has also 
 
suffered because a police officer considered an injured Egyptian to 
be 
the perpetrator and fired at an innocent man.  The basis for the 
verdict must remain German criminal law.  Irrespective of calls from 
 
politicians and [Muslim] organizations for tougher sentences, the 
fact 
remains that the trial is widely observed, but not a political 
trial." 
 
Regional daily SchwQbische Zeitung of Leutkirch (10/27) 
editorialized: 
"A fanatic individual perpetrator does not represent German society. 
 
BERLIN 00001354  006 OF 007 
 
 
 
His victim is not the victim of an Islam-hostile world.  And the 
rule 
of law will treat this man as it has other murderers.  The rule of 
law 
is a civilizing achievement, and in this respect, the majority of 
Islamic countries still have a long way to go." 
 
Regional daily SQchsische Zeitung of Dresden opined; "The verdict, 
whatever it will be, cannot be considered evidence in favor or 
against 
xenophobia in Germany.  The verdict will be based on the repulsive 
crime and xenophobic motives of the individual who must personally 
be 
held accountable." 
 
¶8.   (Germany)   New Coalition Agreement 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (10/27) had this to say: "We do not 
fault the three party leaders Merkel, Westerwelle, and Seehofer for 
 
their delight at the almost unanimous approval by their party 
congresses of the coalition agreement.  But measured against 
previous 
German history, the real  sensation in the course of the formation 
of 
this new government is  not attracting any attention: Angela Merkel 
 
has achieved something no one else has ever achieved: she is the 
first 
chancellor to change coalition partners without  jeopardizing her 
job 
but apparently she has even strengthened her position. 
 
In another editorial, Frankfurter Allgemeine (10/27) dealt with the 
 
government's future tax policy and argued: "The new coalition 
government is reducing the [tax] burden on those people who already 
 
pay the least taxes:  low income groups and families.  But political 
 
calculations are impeding the things that are actually necessary. 
As 
international comparisons have demonstrated, the German state treats 
 
parents relatively well, but the situation for singles is totally 
different.   They are squeezed out like no other group.  This is 
true 
for the average income group and particularly for those who earn 
more 
than that.  This group is being taken hostage for the banking 
crisis. 
The CDU/CSU and the FDP are making no move to address this problem. 
 
If this coalition is speaking of a reduction of the tax burden for 
top 
performers, then it is thinking of someone else.  For Germans who 
are 
especially squeezed out by the state, there is a mounting stimulus 
to 
emigrate or to reduce spending.  And this is something no one 
wants." 
 
According to Sueddeutsche Zeitung (10/27), "the tax system should be 
 
revised and reorganized.  But all previous governments have lacked 
two 
things, and the new government is no exception: courage and money. 
 
BERLIN 00001354  007 OF 007 
 
 
These are essentials because a reform that deserves its name will 
also 
result in less revenue for the state. And a simplification of the 
tax 
system means cutting benefits for many groups, irrespective of 
whether 
they are employees or employers.  But such cuts result in a lot of 
trouble.  That is why the dream of a simpler tax system will remain 
 
one thing: a dream, no more." 
 
Financial Times Deutschland (10/27) opined: "A coalition agreement 
that offers more than a rough direction for the coming four years, 
looks different than expected.  Instead we get the impression that 
the 
CDU/CSU and FDP negotiators have merely written down what will allow 
 
the public to view them as positively as possible.  Of course, a 
coalition agreement cannot be a detailed script for the coming four 
 
years.  The weak point of the coalition agreement is something else: 
 
if even the central aspects can be interpreted differently and if 
all 
projects are put under the proviso that enough money is available, 
then both sides could have spared themselves the negotiations." 
 
According to die tageszeitung (10/27), "Never before has a new 
government talked a coalition agreement to death before it was even 
 
signed.  But never before has any government made such an open 
commitment to continue an uninhibited debt policy.  Chancellor 
Merkel 
told the CDU delegates at the party congress that 'savings, savings, 
 
savings' would not open new opportunities.  She could also have put 
it 
differently: debts, debts, debts." 
 
Regional daily Westdeutsche Zeitung of Dsseldorf (10/27) observed: 
 
"In these 130 pages of the coalition agreement, you will not find a 
 
single decision on how to make savings, not a single idea of how to 
 
reduce spending.  There is no doubt that it is right to withdraw 
money 
from an economy that is standing on shaky ground.  But it would also 
 
be right to give up plans to spend money on things for which the 
funds 
are not available.  There is no compelling reason to reduce taxes. 
 
Even those who treat the government with benevolence are shaking 
their 
heads.  Maybe the new government will soon realize that a sound 
economy needs sound state finances." 
 MURPHY