VZCZCXRO5182
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHLZ
DE RUEHRL #0151/01 0341344
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031344Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6460
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 1986
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0712
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1229
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 2729
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1749
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0910
RHMFIUU/HQ USAFE RAMSTEIN AB GE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//J5 DIRECTORATE (MC)//
RHMFISS/CDRUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
RUZEADH/UDITDUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 BERLIN 000151 
 
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 EFIN MCAP EU CH PARM PTER IR KGHG GR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S.-BUDGET, U.S.-QDR, U.S.-EU, U.S.-CHINA, 
U.S.-RUSSIA, EU-U.S., IRAN, CLIMATE EU-GREECE;BERLIN 
 
¶1.   Lead Stories Summary 
¶2.   (U.S.)   Draft Budget 
¶3.   (U.S.)   Quadrennial Defense Review 
¶4.   (U.S.-EU)   Summit Meeting 
¶5.   (U.S.-China)   Relations 
¶6.   (U.S.-Russia)   START Talks 
¶7.   (EU-U.S.)   SWIFT 
¶8.   (Iran)   Nuclear Program 
¶9.   (Environment)   Climate Policies 
¶10.  (EU-Greece)   Budget Trouble 
 
 
¶1.   Lead Stories Summary 
 
Print media led with a variety of issues this morning.  While 
Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Frankfurter Rundschau reported that Germany 
would buy a CD with data of tax evaders, Frankfurter Allgemeine 
dealt with a reform of the job centers.  Other issues in the media 
were a ruling by the Federal Court of Justice on water prices 
(Berliner Zeitung, Handelsblatt) and a remark by Health Minister 
RQsler that he would step down if he failed with his efforts to 
reform the healthcare system.  Editorials focused on the CD with the 
tax evaders and on the financial troubles of communities and 
regional governments.  ZDF-TV's early evening newscast heute and 
ARD-TV's early evening newscast Tagesschau opened with reports on 
warnings by cities and communities that they would face financial 
collapse if the government did not help out. 
 
¶2.   (U.S.)   Draft Budget 
 
Reports on the President's draft budget are no longer prominent in 
Germany.  There was only one paper that carried an editorial. 
 
Regional daily Mnchener Merkur (2/3) argued: "The carrier of hope 
has turned, for the time being, into a politically assailable debt 
president.  With the biggest budget deficit since WW II around his 
neck and a budget plan in which savings and freezing efforts only 
have an alibi role to play thanks to numerous exceptions, Barack 
Obama is offering further ammunition to the opposition in the year 
of Congressional mid-term elections. With his financial forecasts, 
the President was totally wrong when entering office and his 
economic stimulus program also completely failed to have an effect 
on the labor market." 
 
Handelsblatt (2/3) noted in an editorial: "What will the Americans 
and the British do to achieve economic growth?  It is likely that 
they will allow a higher inflation rate in order to reduce their 
debt burden.  In the euro zone, however, there are many people who 
save money and it is the state that runs up debt.  In the U.S., the 
state is also running up debt but the Americans, too, are fighting 
red numbers.  That is why many more Americans are less interested 
than we are in getting a stable currency.  The problem is that, in 
the future, it could be possible that the euro zone stagnates, while 
the economy in the United States will grow again.  We will then have 
more unemployed and will admire the Americans.  We will find out 
that they have a more flexible labor market, are more willing to 
take risks, and do everything better.  At the same time, we will 
realize that our rigid structures prevent higher economic growth. 
But we can also say there is a certain probability that history will 
repeat itself.  But at least Europe has the consolation of knowing 
it is more virtuous and has less but more stable economic growth." 
 
¶3.   (U.S.)   Quadrennial Defense Review 
 
Only a few papers carried reports on the Pentagon's Quadrennial 
Defense Review.  Sueddeutsche (2/3) carried a report under the 
headline: "Pentagon Adapts to 'Small Wars"" and wrote: "More than 
ever before the United States is adapting its military strategy and 
 
BERLIN 00000151  002 OF 005 
 
 
arms planning to the global fight against terror networks and to 
dangers emanating from unstable and failed states such as 
Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia.  Defense Secretary Robert Gates 
said the U.S. success in the fight against the insurgents in 
Afghanistan or Iraq depends on 'America's ability to face the 
threats of the coming years' when presenting the Quadrennial Defense 
Review (QDR).  The new QDR version...definitely breaks with the 
traditional U.S. dogma according to which the U.S. armed forces 
should be able to stand two large-scale conventional wars at the 
same time.  Gates said: "This condition is 'outdated' and 'no longer 
reflects the real world.'" 
 
In an editorial under the headline: "The Pentagonal Parallel Power 
Center," Sueddeutsche Zeitung (2/3) judged: "The draft budget for 
the Pentagon and the QDR allow the conclusion that the Pentagon has 
established itself as a parallel power center which has left behind 
all reasonable limits.  The Pentagon has quietly bid farewell to the 
strategy of waging two large-scale wars at the same time.  Now it is 
focusing on a number of small conflicts which are nurtured 
everywhere in the world due to ethnic and religious rivalries.  At 
the same time, the budget is to increase to 708 billion dollars.  If 
we look at the spending graph, then the arrows have shown a steep 
ascent since 9/11.  There is no doubt: The U.S. deficit problem has 
a military core.  The United States considers itself to be at war. 
That is why the budget is not being questioned.  It is unthinkable 
to reverse it and melt it down.  This fixation on defense will 
create a bad situation for the allies.  They are no longer available 
as a corrective for the U.S. mission policies.  For America, this 
interplay of mission doctrine and budget deficit is dangerous 
because there is no escape from the arms logic.  But, at the same 
time, America ignores the real enemy: the breathtaking deficit." 
 
¶4.   (U.S.-EU)   Summit Meeting 
 
Many papers (2/3) carried reports on A/S Gordon's news conference in 
which he explained why President Obama would not attend the EU-U.S. 
summit.  Sueddeutsche (2/3) carried a front-page report under the 
headline "Controversy over EU Responsibilities Irritates U.S." and 
wrote that "President Obama neither comes to Brussels or Madrid [for 
an official visit].  The United States is obviously irritated at the 
bickering of the leading personnel [in the EU].  This is the only 
interpretation of the reason not to come, which was presented in a 
smug way" by A/S Philip Gordon.  The daily cited Gordon as having 
said: "We are willing to come as soon as the Europeans are ready." 
The paper wrote that the Lisbon Treaty has been adopted "but, 
instead of speaking with one voice, the EU now has four: a permanent 
president of the European Council, a rotating EU presidency, a 
foreign minister who is not even allowed to call herself foreign 
minister, and the president of the European Commission are all 
squabbling about powers and responsibilities.  It is understandable 
that the Americans are no longer in the mood to accept 
inner-European arrangements." 
 
FT Deutschland (2/3) noted that "the U.S. President does not believe 
that the EU-U.S. summit is worth a visit.  Brussels is shocked, 
particularly because the EU wanted to demonstrate after the Lisbon 
Treaty that it is more than a coffee shop.... The Lisbon reform was 
supposed to raise the EU's foreign policy profile.  From the U.S. 
point of view, this seems to have failed." 
 
Under the headline: "Setback for Zapatero," Die Welt (2/3) 
editorialized: "There are good reason why President Obama wants to 
stay at home in the coming months...and now he even announced that 
he would not attend the EU-U.S. summit in Madrid.  Spain's President 
Zapatero had planned to orchestrate this summit as the culmination 
of the Spanish EU presidency:  How nice would it have been to 
demonstrate the support of his government for Obama's America and to 
bathe in its splendor!  But the times in which the Zapatero 
 
BERLIN 00000151  003 OF 005 
 
 
government was supported by a wave of sympathy are long since over. 
For Europe, however, one thing is true:  It is a pity that Obama 
cancelled the invitation, but it will not touch the core of 
European-American relations.  They need less show at summit meetings 
but more, concrete arrangements for the new shaping of international 
financial relations." 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (2/3) opined: "Spain's President Zapatero 
would certainly have liked to play the host for President 
Obama...but the U.S. President does not want to supply nice pictures 
since he will not take part in the EU-U.S. summit.  Now the 
Europeans have their ideal president and he obviously has better 
things to do than flying across the Atlantic for a few hours in a 
coffee shop.  But to get serious: Does Obama really have nothing to 
discuss with the European leadership what would be important to him 
and would make a flight worthwhile?  Or does he not consider the EU 
to be relevant?  One should not make a great fuss about the 
cancellation of the invitation but, nevertheless, it is an 
expression of dissatisfaction and indifference.  Maybe the truth is 
beginning to dawn on Europeans: they are not the center of attention 
of this president either.  They should wonder why this is so." 
 
¶5.   (U.S.-China)   Relations 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (2/3) headlined: "Beijing warns 
Obama-measures will be taken if he meets the Dalai Lama." 
Deutschlandfunk radio reported that "the topic of Tibet continues to 
cause diplomatic disturbances between the U.S. and China.  A 
spokesman of the Beijing Foreign Ministry expressed vehement 
opposition to meetings between representatives of the U.S. 
government and the Dalai Lama, adding that Washington must recognize 
the sensitivity of the topic of Tibet." 
 
Under the headline "Frosty relations," Frankfurter Rundschau (2/3) 
editorialized: "Prior to the 2008 presidential elections, Beijing 
secretly hoped that the winner would be McCain or Clinton, but not 
Obama.  The charismatic itinerant preacher made China's leadership 
feel uncomfortable.  Rightly so.  In his first year, the U.S. 
President clashed with the Chinese in almost every possible field of 
conflict: currency manipulation, climate protection, internet 
censorship, U.S. weapons sales and Obama's planned meeting with the 
Dalai Lama.  Relations have not been so frosty for years.  The 
confrontation is unwanted and still inevitable.  The conflicts of 
interests between the U.S. and China are increasingly difficult to 
cover up in the times of a global crisis.... As little as Obama can 
allow himself to appear weak on China at home, China cannot afford 
to let him play freely on the global stage because China wants to be 
a superpower." 
 
¶6.   (U.S.-Russia)   START Talks 
 
According to an editorial in Sueddeutsche Zeitung (2/3), "in his 
Prague speech, President Obama proclaimed his vision of a world 
without nuclear weapons.  Two hundred prominent advocates of this 
idea of 'Global Zero' have now gathered in Paris....  This alliance 
from Paris is creating global attention for the second stage of the 
disarmament campaign.  The supporters of a zero solution are now 
concretely saying how not only the number but also the military 
significance of nuclear weapons can be reduced.  These would be 
important stages on the path to their abolition.  By doing so, they 
keep up the pressure on Washington and Moscow.  In view of the 
increasingly difficult domestic situation, President Obama can 
really use such support....  None of the participants in Paris 
harbors the illusion that the U.S., Russia or any other nuclear 
state would be able to completely do without nuclear weapons in the 
near future.  The date, 2030, as the final date for their abolition 
is a psychological date.  The goal must be within reach to motivate 
others.  It would be an important success to break the trend of 
 
BERLIN 00000151  004 OF 005 
 
 
putting nuclear weapons again in the center of military doctrines. 
The key question is not whether the U.S. and Russia will be 
satisfied with 1,000, 750 or 500 warheads  It is much more important 
whether a global, primarily regional, stability can be achieved that 
is not based on the balance of terror.  Those who point the way to 
such a policy must accept strain, but the result would deserve a 
Nobel Peace Prize much more than any political proclamation." 
 
¶7.  (EU-U.S.)   SWIFT 
 
Under the headline "Strasbourg, say no to SWIFT!," FT Deutschland's 
(2/3) Reinhard HQnighaus wrote a lengthy commentary on the U.S.-EU 
agreement to exchange bank data for counterterrorism purposes, 
opining that the SWIFT agreement "violates data protection and 
barely increases security.  EU parliamentarians must reject it." 
The author wrote: "It was a modest request from the European 
parliament.  The governments of the 27 EU countries were asked to 
wait a few days until the parliament could make the decision on 
February 10 or 11 on the agreement to hand over financial data to 
U.S. investigators.  However, the foreign ministers brusquely 
ignored the request of the parliamentary president.  Without any 
further debate, they decided last week to enforce the agreement on 
February 1.  This was only the most recent affront in a long serious 
of humiliations which elected representatives had to cope with in 
the name of fighting terrorism.  Ignoring the EU parliament, 
negotiators of EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot and the member 
states previously negotiated with the Americans that U.S. 
investigators are provisionally allowed to continue to scan 
financial transactions of EU citizens that are made through the 
Belgian provider SWIFT.  Also the German government allowed this 
diminution of data and legal protection rights, although there were 
doubts about whether this would improve security.  This and next 
week, the European parliament will have a unique chance to correct 
this nonsense.  If the parliamentarians take their new rights 
seriously, given to them by the introduction of the Lisbon Treaty, 
they must reject the provisional SWIFT agreement.   There are three 
good reasons for this.  First, security authorities have not 
provided any plausible evidence that such widespread interference 
with data protection rights is reasonable to this end....  The EU 
commission claims that the SWIFT data led to the arrest the four 
members of the Sauerland cell who planned attacks on U.S. sites in 
Germany.  German investigators have long since made clear that this 
is not true....  The EU parliament is not opposed to an intelligent 
surveillance of the financial sources of terrorism...  However, the 
current text does not meet the minimum standards.  Secondly, the 
parliament demanded that only an independent judge is allowed to 
decide which banking data can be given to U.S. investigators. 
According to paragraph 4 of the agreement, the key authority of a 
member state makes this decision.  This would be the Federal 
Criminal Police Office in Germany, not an independent judge.   In 
addition, the agreement does not meet the standard of legal 
protection required by the parliament.  In case their data are 
mistreated, EU citizens have no right to file a suit in a U.S. 
court....  Finally, it is not clear which data are involved....  If 
the parliamentarians take their conditions seriously, they have no 
option but to reject the agreement.  This is the third, tactical 
reason for a rejection: those who do not accept shortcomings 
concerning the data and legal protection rights for a provisional 
period of time, will not be able to insist on higher standards 
during negotiations with Americans on a permanent agreement, which 
begin soon.  The pressure coming from European capitals to pass the 
agreement is great.  The 736 representatives must withstand it. 
Concerning such an important topic, which touches on the basic 
rights of all EU citizens, the protection of civil rights must be 
the guiding rule, not reasons of state." 
 
¶8.   (Iran)   Nuclear Program 
 
 
BERLIN 00000151  005 OF 005 
 
 
Deutschlandfunk radio (2/3) reported: "Things are on the move in the 
nuclear dispute with Iran.  President Ahmadinejad said on TV that 
his government is willing to allow the enrichment of uranium abroad 
- as demanded by the United Nations."  Mass tabloid Bild headlined a 
front-page report "Trick or real offer?  Iran wants to give in on 
the nuclear dispute." Tagesspiegel carried a short report under the 
headline "Softening its tone on the nuclear dispute?"   Frankfurter 
Allgemeine also carried a report headlined "Iran plans further 
executions," noting "Despite international protests, nine other 
dissidents are supposed to be executed in Iran soon." 
 
¶9.   (Environment)   Climate Policies 
 
Sueddeutsche Zeitung (2/3) carried an editorial under the headline: 
"The World in a Glasshouse," and judged: "If there has ever been 
evidence of rigidity in climate protection, then it has been 
presented now in the form of an omnibus volume of collective 
failure.  Empty phrases, conditions, provisos - after the colossal 
failure of Copenhagen, the states are unable to present anything 
else.  The main principle of climate protection is still valid: no 
one moves before the other side moves, and, in the end, no one 
moves....  What the various states have submitted [to the UN Climate 
Secretariat] is even less than their offers during the climate 
conference.  The world is in a downward spiral and this leads into a 
greenhouse. A way out is not visible....  The international 
community of nations seems paralyzed as a result of the Copenhagen 
conference.  But it is high time to think of Plan B, for instance, a 
two-year extension of the Kyoto Protocol, if President Obama needs 
more time for his climate bill.  Or finding a coalition of the 
willing in which important industrialized countries organize climate 
protection among themselves, for instance, the controlled trade with 
emission rights for carbon dioxide.  The world can do without an 
agreement that is as weak as the most recent state proposals. It 
would help no one." 
 
"Let Fresh Air into the Greenhouse," headlined Die Welt (2/3) and 
editorialized: "Since the Copenhagen summit, we learn almost on a 
daily basis new facts that cast doubt on the basis of the summit 
meeting: the report of the Global IPCC Climate Council.  The 
objections to the IPCC's reports have now grown into a mountain and 
no one can ignore them any longer, neither Germany where the IPCC 
was beyond all doubts just a short time ago.  The question now is 
whether the German government will take note of the new situation. 
But, with the exception of some grumbling from Environment Minister 
RQttgen, we have heard nothing.  Germany is considered the model 
country of climate protection and it would have great weight if 
Chancellor Merkel suggested de-politicizing the IPCC.  The next UN 
report should collect all available information and discuss it 
without a result that is known before." 
 
¶10.   (EU-Greece)   Budget Trouble 
 
Under the headline "Euro crisis -your bankruptcy is my bankruptcy," 
Tagesspiegel (2/3) editorialized on its front-page: "Greece is the 
weakest country of the Euro zone and faces bankruptcy.  Hedge fund 
managers are making big money by fueling the crisis, betting that 
Greece will default to repay its debt.  Opponents of the euro in the 
Anglo-Saxon financial world are already hoping that the common 
currency will fail, although the banking crisis made the advantage 
of having the euro obvious."  Handelsblatt headlined: "Greece's 
nervousness is rising - Athens' warnings against speculative attacks 
fall on deaf ears within the euro zone." 
 
MURPHY