VZCZCXRO7772
OO RUEHRG
DE RUEHSO #0704 3381356
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 041353Z DEC 09
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0237
INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA IMMEDIATE
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 0049
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000704 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE INR/R/MR 
IIP/R/MR 
WHA/PD 
DEPT PASS USTR 
4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC OIIP BR XM XR KMDR AF
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: OBAMA'S AFGHAN STRATEGY 
 
"Obama's Afghan Target" 
 
Editorial in center-right O Estado de S. Paulo (12-3) states: 
"....It remains unclear, for example, whether the main target is to 
defeat the Taliban or to eradicate the cancer of Al Qaeda in the 
region....[The U.S. mission] is tied to a strategy that Obama, his 
generals and civilian advisors may draw, but whose control escapes 
from their hands.  Because it depends on the Afghan government, 
army and security forces.....Obama's strategy to transfer 
responsibility to the local population is based on the strategy 
Bush used in Iraq in 2007, with reasonable success and called the 
'surge'.....But none of these will be possible while Afghans remain 
convinced that the U.S. is there only to protect President Karzai." 
 
 
 
"Obama imitates Bush" 
 
Editorial in liberal Folha de S. Paulo (12-3) notes: "Different 
from the invasion of Iraq, the Afghan war cannot be questioned 
about its legitimacy. ...[Even though Obama] fears that people will 
make associations between his government's and George W. 
Bush's...., the decision to increase the military presence in 
Afghanistan was indeed very close to Bush's 'surge' 
strategy.....[Nevertheless] it is a fact that the differences 
between the two countries [Iraq and Afghanistan] cannot be 
neglected, and that a fragmented Afghanistan imposes greater 
difficulties.  It would not be by [simply] watching the Taliban's 
advance that Obama would meet his target, in the near future, of 
withdrawing the majority of U.S. troops from that country." 
White