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RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHLZ
DE RUEHRL #0004/01 0051350
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051350Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6179
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 1887
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0609
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1125
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 2630
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1652
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0815
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 06 BERLIN 000004 
 
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: PTER PTER XF IR AF RS GR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S.YEMEN, TERRORISM-AIRPORTS, MEPP, IRAN 
AFGHANISTAN, ECONOMIC, GREECE;BERLIN 
 
¶1.   Lead Stories Summary 
¶2.   (Terrorism)   Developments in Yemen 
¶3.   (Terrorism)   Airport Security 
¶4.   (Middle East)   New U.S. Peace Proposal 
¶5.   (Iran)   Role of Opposition Movement 
¶6.   (Afghanistan/Iraq)   U.S. Role 
¶7.   (Economic)   Russian Oil Exports 
¶8.   (Greece)   Financial Problems 
 
 
¶1.   Lead Stories Summary 
 
ZDF-TV's primetime newscast Heute opened with a story on the bad 
financial situation of German communities and ARD-TV's primetime 
newscast Tagesschau opened with a story on the European debate about 
 
body scanners.  Frankfurter Allgemeine, Sddeutsche and Berliner 
Zeitung led with stories on the controversy about the "Foundation 
Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation."  Many newspapers carried front- 
page photos of the Burji Dubai opening.  Editorials focused on a 
broad 
variety of topics. 
 
¶2.   (Terrorism)   Developments in Yemen 
 
Under the headline "Situation in Yemen poses global threat," Spiegel 
 
Online (1/5) reported that, "according to U.S. Secretary of State 
Hillary Clinton, the situation in Yemen poses a global danger.  She 
 
said that the country must no longer serve al Qaida as a base for 
its 
terror attacks."  This morning's ARD-TV's Tagesschau also showed 
Secretary Clinton saying that Yemen's instability poses a threat to 
 
the regional and global security.  "She called for more 
international 
support for the Yemenite government," the report noted. 
 
Deutschlandfunk (1/4) opined: "The experience of recent months shows 
 
that bombs alone cannot defeat al Qaida, particularly not in a 
poverty-stricken country like Yemen.  Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama 
 
should have understood this.  It takes a broader strategy, one that 
 
also addresses the economic, political and social problems of 
Yemen." 
 
Frankfurter Rundschau (1/5) editorialized: "At best, Yemen is a 
loose 
association of tribes, regions and armed groups.  The north is 
plunging into a civil war, the south is rebelling.  The oil, which 
provides for 70 percent of the budget, is running low.  Similar to 
Afghanistan, al Qaida is beginning to creep into the state system. 
 
What shall we do?  How to respond?  Foreign ground forces or a 
sudden 
wave of development aid cannot put an overpopulated failed state 
right." 
 
Reutlinger General-Anzeiger (1/5) commented: "Obama is stuck in a 
dilemma.  America and its allies were involved in hopeless missions 
to 
improve the world already before his inauguration.  Apart from the 
expensive and hardly effective counterterrorism activities in 
Afghanistan and Iraq, which involve heavy losses, another campaign 
is 
 
BERLIN 00000004  002 OF 006 
 
 
looming in Yemen.  Obama's situation is similar to that of John F. 
Kennedy, who faced the Cuba crisis and could not prevent America 
from 
plunging deeper into the Vietnam trauma." 
 
¶3.   (Terrorism)   Airport Security 
 
All papers (1/5) carry extensive reports on intensified security 
checks at U.S. airports.  Berliner Zeitung carried a report under 
the 
headline: "U.S. Drastically Tightens up Security Controls - EU also 
 
Wants to Intensify Controls - New Technologies to Achieve This are 
in 
the Pipeline." Sueddeutsche headlined: "Tougher Controls for Flights 
 
to the U.S. - Citizens from 14 Nations will Always be Checked," 
while 
Die Welt reported under the headline: "Obama Extends Axis of Evil," 
 
and wrote that "the United States will subject citizens from 14 
primarily African and Arab states to strict controls before they 
enter 
the United States.  These rules become valid immediately and require 
 
the full control of hand luggage and the patting down.  At the same 
 
time, U.S. agencies have relaxed the intensified controls that were 
 
introduced on Christmas Day." 
 
Under the headline: "Security Craze," regional daily Neue Ruhr/Neue 
 
Rhein Zeitung of Essen (1/5) opined: "Full body scanners will soon 
be 
standard at German airports.  After the failed terrorist attack from 
 
Detroit, there is probably no way around it.  But apart from the 
question whether such scanners violate people's privacy, suggest 
greater security, or whether these devices are reasonable, their 
installation means one thing: another victory for terror.  Just a 
few 
terrorists have succeeded in making societies, which were so proud 
of 
their freedom ideals, continue to shut themselves off from the rest 
of 
the world even more.  This security craze is well thriving in a 
climate of fear.  Fear is the reason that today almost every citizen 
 
is suspected of being a criminal and that this citizen is 
increasingly 
deprived of his rights.  It may be increasingly difficult for 
terrorists to kill other people, but the fear of them is killing 
freedom.  And this is another aspect which the 'religious warriors' 
 
will consider a great success." 
 
Sueddeutsche (1/5) carried an editorial under the headline: "Simple 
- 
and Hopefully Effective," and judged: "Instead of pinning its hopes 
on 
new databases or anti-terror units, which were unable to stop the 
failed terrorist from Christmas weekend, Washington is now pinning 
its 
hopes on the simplest of all security measures: Those who want to 
board a plane will be closely checked, in particular if they come 
from 
a suspicious country.  This filtering out and control of people who 
 
BERLIN 00000004  003 OF 006 
 
 
 
are only suspicious because they come from a certain country, will 
result in protests, but, nevertheless, this low-cost measure is 
reasonable....  It will be decisive that these new measures will 
actually be applied.  Plans for tougher controls will be of little 
use, as will computers with long lists of names of suspects, if the 
 
security personnel does a sloppy job." 
 
In an editorial, Frankfurter Rundschau (1/5) wrote: "Terrorists have 
 
learned from drug smuggling and are now transporting explosives in 
their bodies.  But it will now take two to three attempted attacks 
before we allow others to x-ray us.  While healthy people will 
speculate why people were asked to step out because a full body 
scanners allegedly found something irregular, e.g. people had to 
undergo a cancer operation, the scanner discovered a breast implant 
or 
an artificial anus, a sly terrorist will quickly realize that he can 
 
buy cutlery and chemical substances after he passed controls.." 
 
According to die tageszeitung (1/5), "While the public is loudly 
debating over the introduction of full body scanners, it silently 
accepts much more serious infringements of their freedom rights. 
The 
fact that entire groups of people are subjected to tougher controls 
 
only because of their nationality is not being criticized but is 
welcomed as a mild alternative to full body scanners.  So-called 
security experts are already calling for a better linkage of all 
national databases.  This means that, because of intelligence 
assumptions that no one can examine, passengers are subjected to 
special treatment or are even excluded from flying." 
 
In a front-page editorial Tagesspiegel (1/5) judged under the 
headline: "Inappropriate Controversy" that "Germans are fiercely 
discussing the introduction of full body scanners.  In view of the 
legal and technical questions, this is understandable, but it does 
not 
seem to be appropriate in view of the terrorist dangers.  If the use 
 
of a well tested technology...reduces the risk of an attacker 
boarding a 
plane with explosives, the use of such technology should be logical 
as 
quickly as possible.  To put it more drastically: we prefer being 
scanned hundreds of times than being torn to pieces at an altitude 
of 
10,000 meters." 
 
Regional daily Stuttgarter Zeitung (1/5) judged in an editorial: "If 
 
new security controls make it possible to check passengers to their 
 
skin without taking their clothes off, then this technology would be 
 
more discreet than the current frisking of people.  But before 
airports introduce even more security devices, it would be 
reasonable 
if the security agencies not only collect data but also use it in an 
 
effective way.   This alone would have been enough to capture 
Christmas terrorist Abdulmutallab." 
 
Regional Westdeutsche Zeitung of Dsseldorf (1/5) judged: "For 
decades, human rights organizations have accused U.S. police of 
sorting out suspects according to the color of their skin.  In the 
 
BERLIN 00000004  004 OF 006 
 
 
summer of this year, it was Obama himself who wanted to punish this 
 
approach of agencies with a bill.  If racial profiling is coming up 
 
again now in the fight against terror, then this is nothing but a 
triumph for terrorists who want to achieve exactly this with their 
attacks: to sow the seeds of mistrust and hatred between cultures, 
to 
create an atmosphere of fear in which every one is suspicious, and 
finally to undermine the central values and thus the foundations of 
 
the West's ideals." 
 
¶4.   (Middle East)   New U.S. Peace Proposal 
 
Under the headline "Obama's plan for the Mideast," Berliner Zeitung 
 
editorialized: "The leaked information on the upcoming U.S. peace 
initiative sounds promising.  The new Obama plan intends to set the 
 
borders between Israel and the future Palestine nine months after 
the 
beginning of the talks.  Settlers would then know where they can 
build 
and where they can't.   Connected with American guaranties, a 
complete 
agreement is planned to be ready for signature after two years... 
Is 
this too nice to be true?  First of all, it is important to get the 
 
deadlocked peace process going again.  The main thing is that they 
talk to each other....   If the new attempt fails, only radical 
forces 
will benefit... However, there is no reasonable alternative, it must 
be 
tried again.  Washington is working on it.  Israeli Prime Minister 
Netanyahu is apparently ready for it, even though his right-wing 
Foreign Minister Lieberman does not hide his opposition. 
Palestinian 
President Abbas has nothing left to lose.  Everybody, however, could 
 
win something if President Obama is a fair and strict mediator." 
 
Tageszeitung opined: "For five years, the inhabitants of several 
villages in the West Bank have been peacefully protesting against a 
 
settlement policy that is connected with the building of the wall on 
 
Palestinian territory and which is depriving them of their fields, 
which is their source of income.  Although the protests are 
peaceful, 
apart from some exceptions, local authorities try to put a stop to 
them by all means.  Their peaceful form of protest meets all 
conditions western governments demand from the Palestinians. 
However, 
they hardly enjoy any international support.  That is a shame." 
 
¶5.   (Iran)   Role of Opposition Movement 
 
Under the headline "Out of Control," FT Deutschland (1/5) 
editorialized on the Iranian opposition movement: "If the crisis 
escalates further, the ten people killed during the Ashura protests 
 
will only be the beginning.  The government and the clerics are 
determined to do worse things if necessary.   Hundreds, maybe 
thousands of people died during the massacre on Beijing's Tiananmen 
 
Square in 1989. The rulers of Tehran have as few scruples as the 
 
BERLIN 00000004  005 OF 006 
 
 
Chinese regime about suppressing protests and sentencing dissidents 
to 
prison for ridiculous reasons.  Ten deaths are only a warning.  If 
the 
infamous Bassj militia is given rifles and not sticks, the violence 
 
will escalate.  The conflict could be very bloody." 
 
¶6.   (Afghanistan/Iraq)   U.S. Role 
 
Under the headline "Iraqi Light, Afghan Shade," Frankfurter 
Allgemeine 
(1/5) carried a lengthy feature on the situations in Iraq and 
Afghanistan: "So far, the withdrawal is according to the 2008 
Iraqi- 
American agreement--and broadly successful.  Although there have 
been 
a number of devastating bomb attacks since the withdrawal of combat 
 
troops from Iraqi cities and communities, the overall number of 
killed 
civilians is decreasing.  The organization Iraq Body Count 
determined 
that fewer civilians were killed in Iraq in 2009 than in any year 
since the beginning of the war....  For the American troops, 
December 
2009 was the first month since the beginning of the war in which no 
 
soldier was killed in a combat action....  Given the hopeful 
development, General Odierno said that Iraq has moved out of the 
darkness toward the light of hope.  Contrary to this, there is a 
negative development in Afghanistan, which is likely to deteriorate 
 
this year....  More than half of the soldiers killed in 2009 were 
killed 
by IEDs.  Also in Iraq, IEDs were the most effective weapon against 
 
the occupying troops, before the surge and the opposition of the 
Sunni 
movement against al Qaida turned the tide." 
 
¶7.   (Economic)   Russian Oil Exports 
 
Sueddeutsche Zeitung dealt with the controversy between Russia and 
Belarus on Russian oil exports and opined: "Simply by mentioning 
possible supply bottlenecks, Russia is now putting the rest of its 
reputation as oil supplier at risk.  The Kremlin has never 
understood 
that it must supply oil, if necessary in cans, but it can never 
accept 
a stop, even if the conflict pushes up the price and even if Russia 
is 
right.  Currently the Russians want to sell their oil in the Asian 
markets and only recently it opened a transportation route to China. 
 
Hong Kong, Beijing, and Seoul can hardly wait for Russian oil 
supplies.  They are solvent buyers and do not deliver sermons on 
human 
rights.  It's still spring time between customer and supplier but 
Asia 
will also look into an empty pipeline on a regular basis." 
 
¶8.   (Greece)   Financial Problems 
 
According to Sueddeutsche 1/5), "at the beginning of the year, the 
Greek government gave all Greeks a small and odd present: It 
suspended 
a tax on small wins in a lottery.  But this present...was nothing 
 
BERLIN 00000004  006 OF 006 
 
 
but a 
symbol.  With this move, Prime Minister Papandreou wants to warm the 
 
hearts of the ordinary people before he presents the cold shower 
which 
his finance minister is currently preparing.  The EU will soon 
examine 
the plan as will the European Central Bank...because banks and other 
 
international investors would otherwise hesitate to give the Greeks 
 
fresh capital.  It is very likely that the EU will approve the plan 
 
because it has hardly any other choice.  Greek insolvency would 
considerably damage the euro.  But once Papandreou's austerity plan 
 
has been approved, and once loans are again granted to the country, 
 
appearances must change and turn into a tough reality, and this 
cannot 
happen without a change of mentality.  However, the signs of such a 
 
change are not very positive.  According to a poll, two-thirds of 
Greeks are unwilling to make a personal contribution to an 
improvement 
in the financial situation of their country.  As long as the new 
government does not eliminate the Greek culture of freedom from 
prosecution, it can abolish as many petty taxes as possible but it 
will not persuade the people to accept change." 
 
DELAWIE