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RUKAAKC/UDITDUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 BERLIN 000002 
 
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 AF IR ZP PK
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: AFGHANISTAN, IRAN, ANTI-TERROR, PAKISTAN, 
Islam, 2009/2010;BERLIN 
 
¶1.    Lead Stories Summary 
¶2.   (Afghanistan)   Governance, Cabinet Selection 
¶3.   (Iran)   Nuclear Conflict 
¶4.   (Anti-Terror Fight)   Yemen, Guant namo, Security Measures 
¶5.   (Pakistan)   Attack on Volleyball Game 
¶6.   (Islam in European Society)   Westergaard Attack 
¶7.    Look Back at 2009, Look Ahead at 2010 
 
 
¶1.   Leads Stories Summary 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine covered the debate over the Bundeswehr 
mission 
in Afghanistan, while Sueddeutsche Zeitung headlined: "Closure of 
Guant namo in Danger."  Tagesspiegel dealt with the discussion over 
 
the introduction of full body scanners.  Several other dailies led 
with reports on U.S. and UK efforts to fight the Taliban in Yemen. 
 
Editorials focused on the atmosphere between the coalition parties 
and 
on an extension of the anti-terror fight against Yemen.  ZDF-TV's 
early evening newscast heute and ARD-TV's early evening newscast 
Tagesschau opened with a report on intensified U.S. efforts to fight 
 
terrorism in Yemen. 
 
¶2.   (Afghanistan)   Governance, Cabinet Selection 
 
Several papers (01/04) carried reports on President Karzai's failure 
 
to have the Afghan parliament confirm his list of new Cabinet 
members. 
While Sueddeutsche Zeitung spoke of a" Brush-off for Karzai's 
Cabinet," Frankfurter Allgemeine headlined: "Karzai Discovers Beauty 
 
of Democracy." 
 
Under the headline: "The Farce Continues," Frankfurter Allgemeine 
(01/04) editorialized: "It is almost impossible for Hamid Karzai to 
 
present a Cabinet that will meet expectations, either those of the 
West, which wants a new beginning, and those of the Afghan 
parliamentarians, who understand under the term 'new beginning' this 
 
and that....  But Karzai's list of Cabinet members did not include 
the 
name of one member of his opponent Abdullah's camp.  That is why the 
 
election farce, which was concluded in November by Abdullah giving 
up 
his demand for a run-off election, had to go on with a Cabinet 
farce. 
In countries that call themselves democracies, the result of such a 
 
vote of no-confidence would have been clear." 
 
Frankfurter Rundschau (01/04) editorialized under the headline: 
"Ugly 
Mirror Image" that "Hamid Karzai does not have a Cabinet and this is 
 
especially embarrassing a few weeks before the London conference on 
 
Afghanistan.  It is by no means a coincidence that Karzai has now 
become the victim of the parliamentarians' retaliation.  Karzai will 
 
now have great difficulty presenting a functioning Cabinet before 
the 
 
BERLIN 00000002  002 OF 008 
 
 
donors' conference in London on January 28." 
 
According to die tageszeitung (01/04), "the rejection of two-thirds 
of 
his Cabinet members is by no means a defeat but a success for Hamid 
 
Karzai.  He again demonstrated who is the boss in the house.  He 
confused commentators, misguided politicians, evaded the pressure 
from 
his most important allies and gained time and latitude.  Karzai's 
partners are, on the one side, the warlords.  He can now say he was 
 
not lucky with his selection and that he would have liked to get 
their 
representatives in his cabinet but the parliament did not go along 
with his proposals.  On the other side, we have the international 
community which declared his Cabinet selection a yardstick for his 
willingness to implement reforms...but after the vote in parliament 
the 
government leaders at the donors conference in London will now sit 
around a big table but have no addressee.  Karzai can now await this 
 
conference with great calm.  Will Americans and the British 
understand 
what is going on and criticize Karzai's governmental style of 
deliberate confusion?  We need not expect this because the two most 
 
important ministers will stay in office:  Defense Minster Warak and 
 
Interior Minister Atmar.  Karzai has now enough time to install a 
Cabinet that fits his policies.  His spokesman demonstrated that 
Karzai is not worried by saying that the vote of the parliament 
reflected 'the beauty of democracy.'" 
 
¶3.   (Iran)   Nuclear Conflict 
 
Under the headline "Iran delivers an ultimatum to the West," 
Handelsblatt (1/4) reported that "Iran turned the tables in the 
nuclear dispute with the West.  The government set a deadline of one 
 
month for the West to accept its proposal for the enrichment of 
uranium." 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (1/4) editorialized: "The Iranian leadership 
 
has difficulties.  Mottaki apparently believes that being more 
critical of the West might be a worthwhile strategy in such a 
situation....  The Iranian leadership is splitting hairs.  The 
regime is 
apparently interested in an escalation.  It hopes that a foreign 
political 'threat' might calm the situation in the country.  The 
nuclear question will be really interesting once there is a new 
leadership in Iran.  Is the program in the nation's interest or is 
it 
just the project of an increasingly irrational leadership?" 
 
Berliner Zeitung (1/4) analyzed: "The legitimacy of the regime has 
been seriously damaged in Iran.   However, it has not yet lost all 
support throughout the country.  Since Ahmadinejad stayed in power 
in 
June only by election fraud, it has become clear that broad parts of 
 
the Iranian people as well as parts of the political and religious 
elite, who once made the success of the revolution possible, are 
disappointed about the idea of the Islamic state.  However, 
important 
groups, particularly the Bassij, still stand by the regime and 
Ayatollah Khamenei." 
 
BERLIN 00000002  003 OF 008 
 
 
 
¶4.   (Anti-Terror Fight)   Yemen, Guant namo, Security Measures 
 
Yemen: 
 
Die Welt (1/4) led with the headline "Yemen and Somalia--the 
breeding 
ground of terrorism.  U.S. and Britain close Embassies in fear of al 
 
Qaida attacks."  The paper noted in a front-page editorial on the 
U.S. 
efforts in Yemen: "The American public is shocked that its media, 
intelligence services and former President Bush ignored the growing 
 
terror network in Yemen for almost one decade.  On October 12, 2000, 
 
when a speed boat loaded with explosives hit the battleship USS Cole 
 
and killed 17 sailors, America focused on Yemen.  At the time, 
Washington and Sana'a could have nipped terrorism in the bud.... 
[However,] mistrust has been a burden to the relationship between 
both 
countries for years.  It is anything but certain that the U.S. will 
 
make more friends than enemies with all the money, trainers and 
drones 
it provides to Yemen." 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (1/4) editorialized: "Yemen has turned into 
the 
front line in the war on terrorism...  However, like in Afghanistan 
and 
Pakistan, Americans and the world face a dilemma.  The governments 
in 
these countries are too weak to fight against terrorists, or they 
try 
to appease the insatiable enemy in the hope they will be eaten last. 
 
American airstrike might hit local al Qaida leaders.  However, only 
 
Muslim societies can defeat Islamist terrorism, which kills 
particularly Muslims." 
 
Under the headline "The perfect place for al Qaida," tageszeitung 
(1/4) commented: "The U.S. responds to this real danger by rearming 
 
the Yemenite government and by participating - to only some extent 
so 
far - in the military fight against Islamists.  We might at least 
doubt that this fight will be more successful in Yemen than in 
Afghanistan." 
 
Westdeutsche Zeitung (1/4) opined: "Yemen is desperately poor, but 
its 
position is strategically highly important.  The U.S. and Britain 
are 
right about this.  However, there is also the lesson of Afghanistan. 
 
Bombs do not create peace but only stir up an unequal opponent. 
Maybe 
the worst can be prevented this time - by a steady hand during the 
Afghanistan conference in London." 
 
The Munich-based Abendzeitung (1/4) remarked: "The West faces a 
dilemma in Yemen.  If it is does nothing, the weak government will 
not 
defeat the terrorists.  If it increases the military pressure too 
massively and kills innocent people, the people will turn against 
 
BERLIN 00000002  004 OF 008 
 
 
the 
West.  The answer is not simple.  However, staying out of it does 
not 
automatically create peace." 
 
Berliner Zeitung (1/4) noted on British Prime Minister Brown's 
counterterrorism efforts: "Brown fosters the image of a competent 
leader who wants to tackle genuine problems. Last autumn, we already 
 
had the impression that the British tail wagged the American dog. 
While President Obama still considered his strategy on Afghanistan, 
 
the Briton had new ideas and announced an increase in the number of 
 
troops. 
 
Security measures: 
 
Deutschlandfunk (1/3) opined: "The key question is: how many checks, 
 
rules and data collection do we want to accept?  When does security 
 
turn into snooping?  Do we have to suspect any fellow citizen as a 
potential terrorist to effectively counter the threat? ...  Flight 
253 
and its happy end told us that collecting data alone does not help. 
 
We have to rely on ourselves because the determination of passengers 
 
prevented flight 253 from crashing." 
 
Sddeutsche (1/4) editorialized on the debate about body scanners: 
"Experts promise that neither the traveler's face nor the sex will 
be 
recognizable.  If this promise is kept and these scanners do not 
pose 
a health risk, nothing can be said against this technology. 
However, 
it can be doubted whether these machines can contain international 
terrorism.  Potential terrorists will search for new ways to smuggle 
 
weapons and explosives on board.  History shows that they will find 
 
them.  And how do we want to protect trains and subways against 
attacks in the future?  Nobody will seriously propose to scan every 
 
commuter every morning." 
 
Tagesspiegel (1/4) commented: "The new German government has finally 
 
discovered a common project: counterterrorism.  Over Christmas, 
politicians of the coalition government were seriously concerned 
about 
the renewed debate about body scanners and did not want under any 
circumstances to violate the dignity of the people.  Suddenly, a new 
 
generation of body scanners that would respect the privacy of people 
 
was being discussed.  In 2010, the interior and research ministers 
surprisingly have new information that removes all technical and 
ethnical concerns... although Justice Minister Leutheusser- 
Schnarrenberger stressed that the flood of data and not the lack of 
 
security tools poses a problem." 
 
Guant namo 
 
Under the headline: "Terror Recycling," Sueddeutsche Zeitung (01/04) 
 
BERLIN 00000002  005 OF 008 
 
 
 
opined: "the thwarted terror attack on Flight 253 is likely to have 
an 
impact on an important pillar of President Obama's anti-terror 
policy: 
the difficult closure of Guant namo has now become even more 
complicated.  It has been clear for a long time that Obama will miss 
 
his goal of closing this disgraceful camp.  As a matter of fact, 
there 
is no doubt about the fact that there has been a kind of 'terror 
recycling' with prisoners from the camp in Guant namo.  Suspects 
were 
released as harmless but found themselves in the ranks of al-Qaida 
again.  Republicans but also security experts of his own party are 
now 
calling for a moratorium on the release of further prisoners to 
Yemen. 
But if Obama is unable to get rid of prisoners, he will be faced 
with 
the alternative of transferring them to the U.S. mainland or keeping 
 
them in Guant namo.  We do not have to guess what he will do in an 
election year.  Guant namo will stay for the time being." 
 
Financial Times Deutschland (01/04) argued, "As simple and correct 
it 
is for President Obama to support Yemen with money and military 
support in its fight against al-Qaida, as complicated are the 
consequences, for instance, that it will become even more difficult 
 
for President Obama to close Guant namo.  But as difficult as it may 
 
be, the U.S. government should continue to find countries that are 
willing to accept the remaining Yemenites in Guant namo.  In order 
to 
avoid a ghettoization and a further radicalization, the Arab world 
would be more appropriate than Europe or an island paradise such as 
 
the Bermudas.  The states in the region that cooperate with the 
United 
States should together seek a solution to accept the Yemenites. 
Otherwise the closure of Guant namo will become the next victim in 
the 
fight against terror." 
 
¶5.   (Pakistan)   Attack on Volleyball Game 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (1/4) carried a report under the headline: 
"Peace Committee Criticizes Pakistan's Security Forces," and wrote: 
 
"Following the devastating attack in a village in northwestern 
Pakistan with more than 90 people killed, the secretary general of 
the 
local government-friendly peace initiative criticized security 
forces. 
He said that they did not do justice to their responsibility to 
protect the villagers.  As is usual in attacks with many killed 
civilians, no Taliban group assumed responsibility for the crime. 
Meanwhile, violence in the Northwestern part of the country 
continued. 
A former minister of the province was killed by a remote controlled 
 
bomb In the Hangu district."  Sueddeutsche Zeitung (1/4) carried a 
similar report, headlined: "The Revenge of the Taliban." Die Welt 
(1/4) reported under the headline: "Pakistan: Accusations against 
[Security] Agencies Following Attack." 
 
 
BERLIN 00000002  006 OF 008 
 
 
Berliner Zeitung (1/4) analyzed the situation in Pakistan and wrote 
 
under the headline: "The Plans of the Taliban No Longer Always Come 
 
True," that "what at the beginning seemed to be a senseless terror 
attack is now turning out to be a well-conceived part of a brutal 
intimidation campaign of the Taliban in the border area to 
Afghanistan 
against villages and Pashtun tribes which are opposed to the 
extremists and which have sided with the government.  This attack 
seems to be a retaliatory strike.  However, a 50-year old village 
councilor said after the attack that such attacks would only 
strengthen their resolve because they were Pasthuns and revenge 
would 
be the only answer to the cruel murder.  If his words come true, the 
 
Taliban's calculations would be wrong to intimidate the villagers 
and 
people of other regions." 
 
¶6.   (Islam in European Society)   Westergaard Attack 
 
Munich's Mnchener Merkur (01/04) noted: "The deadly seeds which 
preachers of hatred sowed with their calls to kill Danish cartoonist 
 
Westergaard, have borne fruit.  The attack of this fanatic Islamic 
terrorist is really not surprising.  The crime itself is not 
surprising, neither the eloquent silence of those who are outraged 
when they consider the feelings of Muslims to be insulted, such as 
Turkish Premier Erdogan  who saw fascism at work when the Swiss 
advocated a ban on minarets.  But the hatred in the name of Allah 
cannot be overcome by remaining silent.  The outrage of western 
politicians is also hypocritical:  out of fear of further eruptions 
of 
outrage in the Muslim world, Europe's political and intellectual 
elites could not disassociate themselves quickly enough from this 
regrettable cartoonist after the publication of these cartoons." 
 
Regional daily SchwQbische Zeitung of Leutkirch (01/04) opined: 
"Thus 
far, Islam has evaded a discussion over its historical background. 
 
For the majority, the Koran is the literal revelation of God and 
non- 
negotiable, including the anachronistic role of women and diverse 
medieval rules of the Sharia.  This is the core problem which the 
non- 
Islamic world cannot resolve.  But a tinge of understanding and 
concessions would be the worst of all reactions: The west must 
defend 
its values tooth and nail and hope that the Muslims will sooner or 
later begin to have their religion arrive in the 21st century.  It 
would be a comfortable signal if all Islamic authorities, who 
fiercely 
criticized the Mohammed caricatures four years ago, now reacted 
similarly to the assassination attempt of Westergaard. 
Unfortunately, 
silence dominates." 
 
Mannheimer Morgen (01/04) judged: "As was the case with the Fatwa 
against writer Salman Rushdie, the same attitude is behind such 
attacks: the fight of willing Islamic terrorists, who stop at 
nothing, 
against the freedom of the western world. With this fight, they are 
 
discrediting millions of Muslims who are want peaceful co-existence. 
 
We can certainly describe Westergaard's cartoons as tasteless but 
 
BERLIN 00000002  007 OF 008 
 
 
religion should not be an area that is free from criticism.  And 
their 
self-appointed leaders have no right to take it upon themselves to 
set 
limits and take justice into their own hands." 
 
Regional daily Lbecker Zeitung (02/01) had this to say:  The 
relationship between the West and the Muslim world is full of 
misunderstandings and antipathies.  Following the thwarted terrorist 
 
attack on Danish Mohammed cartoonist, it is difficult to soberly 
assess the incident.  It should be clear that the alleged Islamic 
terrorist is not a representative of the great majority of Muslims." 
 
 
Regional Landeszeitung of Lneburg (1/4) argues: "Up until today, 
western state leaders have not found an answer to the question of 
why 
Christians in Islamic countries have been prevented from practicing 
 
their religion or are even persecuted, while freedom of religion 
dominates here.  Fanatics have a great interest in maintaining this 
 
imbalance.  They draw their strength from the 'weakness' of the 
West." 
 
 
¶7.   Look Back at 2009, Look Ahead at 2010 
 
Sueddeutsche Zeitung (12/31) noted under the headline: "The Failure 
of 
Politics" that "the year again ended with a painful insight: the 
international community of nations is unable to govern itself.  It 
had 
gathered in Copenhagen to safeguard its basis of living but failed 
to 
do so.  A global climate agreement that could have contained global 
 
warming will not come into existence for the time being.  While 
scientists only offer advice and warn against the consequences of 
false decisions, real politicians follow different laws.  They do 
not 
implement what is necessary, but what guarantees their political 
survival.  A model example of this is the U.S. president.  His first 
 
trips looked like campaigns, his speeches like promises.  He created 
 
worldwide hopes, promised a more peaceful and fairer society, an 
ecological policy and a domesticated capitalism.  But at the end of 
 
his first year in office, Barack Obama has lost his magic....  And 
2009 
revealed even more: there is no longer a domestic policy, but only a 
 
global policy.  The Americans may consider their 'national interest' 
 
to be the guideline of their policy.  But the illusion that they 
alone 
would be able to save the world has disappeared into thin air with 
the 
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The global policy agenda is no longer 
 
determined by the United States.  It must find an arrangement with 
other powers.  The frenzy that came along with the election of the 
first black U.S. president made many people believe that the United 
 
States would be able to regain its leadership role.  But the loss of 
 
 
BERLIN 00000002  008 OF 008 
 
 
significance of the western superpower does not depend on 
individuals. 
It is inevitable because the global edifice has structurally 
changed." 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (1/4) carried a front-page editorial under 
the 
headline: "A Year of Reliability," and judged: "In 2010, peoples' 
attention will go beyond Germany to President Obama in Washington. 
 
When he was elected, everyone spoke of a different, a new, a better 
 
leadership in America and hoped for a better world in 2010. But 
President Obama must also demonstrate his reliability now.  He spent 
 
his first year in office to appear totally different than his 
predecessor George W. Bush.  He delivered brilliant speeches, 
reached 
out America's hand to its opponents and enemies, and made new offers 
 
for cooperation...but the yield of this policy has thus far been 
meager. 
Iran and North Korea have refused to accept this hand, while Russia 
 
does not really know whether to grab it or not.  The emerging power 
 
China snubbed Obama, first during his state visit, then in 
Copenhagen. 
The European allies have benevolently commented on the new U.S. 
foreign policy but are hesitant to help him where it would be most 
necessary.  The question of whether the Europeans should support 
Obama 
in Afghanistan could turn out to be decisive for the western 
Alliance. 
It is true that NATO would not go down if Afghanistan's 
stabilization 
failed, but doubts about the meaning and the purpose of NATO would 
continue to increase in Washington.  America is able to provide for 
 
its own security, while the Europeans are decades away from reaching 
 
this goal.  But the crises and conflicts, in which America is 
engaged, 
are also threats for Europe." 
 
MURPHY