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FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6036
INFO RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
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RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//J5 DIRECTORATE (MC)//
RHMFISS/CDRUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
RUKAAKC/UDITDUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BERLIN 001571 
 
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 AF NO KGHG IZ GR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: CLIMATE CHANGE, NOBEL PEACE PRIZE, 
AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ, GREECE;BERLIN 
 
¶1.   Lead Stories Summary 
¶2.   Climate Change 
¶3.   Nobel Peace Prize 
¶4.   Afghanistan 
¶5.   Iraq Terror Attacks 
¶6.   Greek Financial Crisis 
 
¶1.   Lead Stories 
 
ZDF-TVQs primetime newscast Heute opened with a story on German 
carmaker VWQs new stake in Japanese carmaker Suzuki.  ARDTVQs 
primetime Tagesschau opened with a report saying that statutory 
health insurance programs would face a deficit of four billion euros 
next year. Newspapers led with diverse stories, including the 
dispute over climate protection measures in Copenhagen, the British 
governmentQs move against bonuses, and Defense Minister zu 
GuttenbergQs problems.  Stern magazineQs cover showed President 
Obama under the headlined QA rescuer in need.Q  Editorials focused 
on many topics, including VW and climate change. 
 
¶2.   Climate Change 
 
All German media highlighted the dispute between industrialized and 
developing nations at the climate conference in Copenhagen. 
Tagesspiegel led with the headline: QClimate: poor vs. rich, north 
vs. southQDispute over greenhouse gases and money in Copenhagen, 
criticism of the Danish negotiations.Q  Frankfurter Rundschau 
fronted: QDispute in Copenhagen,Q adding: QDeveloping countries are 
outraged about the draft agreement of the industrial countries. 
 
Sueddeutsche Zeitung editorialized: QIt would be a great mistake to 
believe that individual abstention could replace collective 
abstention, which is a compelling condition for an effective fight 
against the worst consequences of global warming in the rich world. 
A society that only believes in voluntary efforts in this huge task 
is unfair and will ultimately fail.  Forcing people to give up some 
things in our affluent society does not automatically pave the way 
into a miserable life.  Once a certain level of prosperity is 
reached, happiness and satisfaction can no longer be increased, 
unlike the number of depressed people.  Refraining from certain 
things will be easier if all carry the burden collectively and 
fairly. 
 
TagesspiegelQs front-page editorial remarked: QParticularly the U.S. 
must be blamed if there will not be a binding agreementQbut only 
promisesQon greenhouse gases in Copenhagen.  Obama does not want to 
do more than the U.S. Congress allows him.  Kyoto has made clear 
that an agreement the President approves is worth nothing as long as 
it is not implemented at home.  Obama will therefore offer a CO2 
reduction of 17 percent compared with 2005.  This means a reduction 
of only four percent compared with 1990   However, he is fighting 
for more, telling Americans that their environmental consciousness 
is two decades behind the times. 
 
Die Welt analyzed: QEven Democrats from states with high 
unemployment see climate protection as a luxury one cannot afford. 
In Copenhagen, Barack Obama might embrace the world, but in the 
Congress only a few follow him to support his promises.  Global 
warming and climate protection have become a matter of belief. 
Opponents claim that enough oil for generations lies off AmericaQs 
coast.  They see themselves as godQs warriors and Copenhagen and 
its allies in the UN as those who want to weaken America to 
establish a socialist world government.  For those Americans, 
ObamaQs post-imperial posture is more than a sell-out of AmericaQs 
interests: it is high treason and the Nobel Peace Prize the 
traitorQs reward  In addition, Obama is chained by a Congress that 
is hardly capable of taking action  The Senate is destructive and 
anachronistic.  Everyone, apart from the 100 Senators, knows that. 
 
BERLIN 00001571  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
 
Thueringer Allgemeine commented: QThe rift between the 
industrialized countries and the developing countries is also so 
wide because of hundreds of years of exploitation and oppression by 
Europe and America.  Generous support of poor countries does not 
just have the purpose of guaranteeing its growth in an 
environment-friendly way.  It would also be a kind of compensation. 
Against this background, the U.S. offer of ten billion dollars 
sounds in fact like a joke.  The outcry of the 135 developing 
countries is therefore understandable. 
 
¶3.   Nobel Peace Prize 
 
 
Left-wing Tageszeitung editorialized: QDoes Barack Obama deserve the 
Nobel Peace Prize he will get in Oslo today?  The simple answer is 
no, because the President is at war in Afghanistan and announced an 
escalation of the conflict last week by sending in 30,000 additional 
soldiers.  Many who have celebrated him as the new messiah during 
his speeches in Berlin and other capitals are therefore 
disappointed.  However, already during his elections campaign, Obama 
justified the war in Afghanistan and called for more soldiers from 
Germany and other countries.  One cannot accuse Obama of having 
lied to his people and the world.Q The paper adds: QHis course in 
Afghanistan makes Obama a war president.  However, he is the best 
that could have happened to the U.S. and the world. 
 
Berliner ZeitungQs editorial stated: QObama will not be honored for 
something he has done, but something the world hopes he will do. 
The President can hardly meet the expectations the Nobel Prize 
committee is raising.  What a burden for a man who rules a 
superpower!  At the end of his first year, Obama is back to earth. 
The President has three more years to go.   To achieve something he 
will need not just more fortune than in the past, but also 
cleverness, determination and persistence.  His masterpiece could be 
the reconciliation of cultures.  If he succeeds, he would have 
earned the Nobel Prize. 
 
¶4.    Afghanistan 
 
Under the headline QEuropeans without influence,Q Sueddeutsche 
editorializes: QWithin NATO, it is often said that the influence of 
a member on the strategy in Afghanistan increases with every 
additional soldier the country sends into the war.  This is 
self-deception.  Every nation that now increases troop levels as 
part of the U.S. effort cherishes this illusion.  They will not get 
a greater say, because the decisions have been made a long time 
agoQin Washington and without consulting the allies.  This will also 
be the case in the future.  In his own brutal way, AfPak envoy 
Holbrooke made this clear with his recent statements.  He only 
laughed about the London conference on Afghanistan in January. 
European allies now know what it is about.  Some of the allies, 
particularly the Germans, hope that London would reach an 
international consensus on the approach towards Afghanistan, and 
with it, a justification for deploying additional soldiers and 
providing more civilian aid.  Nobody will do them this favor. 
Instead of waiting for the London conference, Berlin should quickly 
make its decision on whether it believes the U.S. strategy on 
Afghanistan is promising.  One should then send more troops or 
withdraw. 
 
¶5.    Iraq Terror Attacks 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine carried an editorial on its front page 
saying: QAs cynical as it may sound, the coordinated major attacks 
that killed more than hundred people every two months in Bagdad show 
that the process of normalization has made much progress.  In 2006 
 
BERLIN 00001571  003 OF 003 
 
 
74 were killed every day; in 2007, 65.  Politics hardly mattered at 
all, surviving mattered.  Today, terrorism does not threaten the 
parliamentary elections on March 7, nor does it threaten the broad 
consensus among the people that there is no other option for their 
country besides democracy.  However, Iraq is a maltreated country. 
Terrorism is part of everydayQs life.  And despite the second 
largest oil resources in the world, Iraq remains a poorhouse.  The 
infrastructure is run down, and shortcomings are everywhere.  As a 
result, corruption is the quickest way for many for a better life, 
at the expense of the country.  Most Iraqis are still a long way 
away from a life in prosperity and security. 
 
¶6.   Greek Financial Crisis 
 
SueddeutscheQs front-page headlined: QGreek national debt makes EU 
nervous,Q and added in an editorial: QThose who believe the world is 
slowly about to overcome the global economic crisis, is corrected 
these days.  Greece, a country that is part of the European 
currency union, is now staggering.  There is talk of a debt that is 
going through the roof, nervous debtors and the threat of a national 
bankruptcy.  Greece is a ticking time bomb.  That this now poses a 
danger to the whole of Europe has to do with the economic crisis. 
But this is not the only reason, because the Greek have never taken 
debt seriously.  By giving wrong figures, they sneaked into the Euro 
zone.  For the euro zone, a number of national bankruptcies would 
be a great threat.  This would not just be about a few billion 
euros.  This would be about whether the currency union can deal with 
such problems and whether the euro will survive. 
 
Under the headline QSanctions if necessary,Q Tagesspiegel 
editorialized: QIf necessary, sanctions must force the government in 
Athens to finally change its course.  The Greek finance ministerQs 
statement that they will not wait for somebody to rescue the country 
but take action themselves is an encouraging signal.  Far-reaching 
measures to save money must follow swiftly. If the debt accelerates 
further, this would threaten the euro. 
 
MURPHY