VZCZCXYZ0006
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKT #0060 0221206
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 221206Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1302
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 3438
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7620
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 2971
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 5659

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000060 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO 
 
STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO PGOV OPRC NP
SUBJ: MEDIA REACTION: OBAMA'S FIRST YEAR 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: Nepal's state-owned English daily, The 
Rising Nepal (circulation: 5,000), on Monday, 
January 18 published an OP-ED piece titled "Obama's 
first year in the White House," by a journalism 
professor and former chief editor of the paper.  The 
piece analyzed President Obama's first year as the 
U.S. President and the steps he had taken to address 
the economic crisis, health care and foreign policy 
and called it "generally positive." 
 
¶2.  EXCERPTS: "Barack Obama, the U.S. President, has 
just completed his first year as the presiding 
occupant of the White House. The euphoria with which 
his victory in the 2008 November presidential polls 
was greeted is being gradually assessed in a more 
detached manner.  This is usually the case with any 
president." 
 
¶3.  "...Obama, 47, intends to be not only the man of 
the moment but also a respected figure in history. 
It may be recalled how his body language spoke after 
his poll triumph weeks before actually taking over 
the White House key from outgoing President George 
Bush.  Expectations were high from the American 
public, in particular, and the rest of the world 
audience, in general.  The global economic recession 
got splattered all over the place, and the world's 
No. 1 economy was deeply affected.  The task was to 
tide over the crisis at the earliest possible, and 
ease the hardships suffered by the people in 
general.  This was easier said than done and yet it 
was a task the newly sworn-in president had to 
strive for accomplishment." 
 
¶4.  "The crisis is far from over, but the general 
assessment of the Obama administration's initiative 
to deal with it has been satisfactory.  His health 
services reform program has made a significant 
stride. People have decided to hold their patience 
with many other issues chiefly because Obama has 
barely completed his first year and has not 
committed any major blunder so far.  So they would 
like to give him the benefit of the doubt that he 
will translate into practice what he has set out to 
deliver. These concern domestic policies." 
 
¶5.  "On the foreign policy front, the issues are 
complex. Yet it was a personal boost for the 
President that the Nobel Peace Prize Committee 
decided to award him the 2009 edition of the coveted 
prize...  Washington has a withdrawal plan in Iraq. 
In keeping with the schedule, most troops in 2009 
were stationed outside populated areas. 
Washington's assessment is that Al-Qaeda's presence 
in Iraq has considerably weakened and that it was 
trying to find a base elsewhere.  ... How the Al- 
Qaeda spreads its tentacles is indicated by its 
recent activity in Yemen where the group appears to 
have developed a network... " 
 
¶6.  "...Yemen might be the next country where 
Washington will focus greater attention, though it 
is too early to ascertain the extent such attention 
will merit.  ...Next door Cuba might also be in the 
Obama administration's signal for some kind of 
engagement.  Cuba's non-inclusion in the 34-year- 
nation summit of the Americas last year was a sort 
of embarrassment, considering that many of the 
summiteers wanted Havana's presence ..." 
 
¶7.  "In conclusion, the Obama administration has 
taken a number of initiatives that have generally 
sent positive messages in the past 12 months.  Next 
winter marks the mid-term, by which time more action 
and substantive results will be expected." 
 
ORDWAY