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FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
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RHMFISS/CDRUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
RUZEADH/UDITDUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 BERLIN 000168 
 
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 IR UP EMS UK NATO IQ US
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAN, UKRAINE, EU, NATO, IRAQ, US.;BERLIN 
 
¶1.   Lead Stories Summary 
¶2.   (Iran)   Nuclear Program, Enrichment 
¶3.   (Ukraine)   Outcome of Elections 
¶4.   (EU)   Deficit Worries 
¶5.   (NATO)   Istanbul Defense Ministers Meeting 
¶6.   (Iraq)   Parliamentary Elections 
¶7.   (U.S.)   Budget Deficit 
 
 
¶1.   Lead Stories Summary 
 
The Frankfurter Allgemeine led with Iran's plans to enrich uranium, 
while Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Tagesspiegel dealt with the special 
FDP meeting in Berlin.  Die Welt carried an interview with 
metalworkers' union leader Berthold Huber, and Berliner Zeitung led 
with the purchase of data on tax evaders.  Editorials focused on the 
Munich Security Conference and the debate about the purchase of tax 
data.  ZDF-TV's early evening newscast heute and ARD-TV's early 
evening newscast Tagesschau opened with reports on the Munich 
Security Conference. 
 
¶2.   (Iran)   Nuclear Program, Enrichment 
 
All media carried (2/8) lengthy reports and editorials on the 
dispute with Iran over its nuclear program.  Many papers also 
carried photos showing President Ahmadinejad with goggles at the 
Iranian Center for Nuclear Sciences, where he called on the 
country's nuclear agency to enrich uranium.  Headlines included: 
"The madman of Tehran shocks the world - Ahmadinejad orders 
enrichment of uranium" (mass tabloid Bild), "West wants sanctions" 
(Sddeutsche), "Ahmadinejad: We don't want to waste any time with 
playing games" (Frankfurter Allgemeine), "New provocations from 
Tehran - Foreign Minister Mottaki does not show any willingness to 
reach a compromise, his country wants to enrich uranium." (Berliner 
Zeitung). 
 
Deutschlandfunk (2/7) radio opined on Iranian Foreign Minister 
Mottaki's visit to the Munich Security Conference: "Iranian Foreign 
Minister Mottaki made a fool of himself at the conference....  The 
fact that he did not even prepare the united bunch of security 
experts on his President's upcoming decision to begin enriching 
uranium made his visit a complete farce." 
 
ARD-TV's late-night Tagesthemen (2/5) newscast noted: "We should not 
give this regime the acknowledgment it is seeking.  We should put 
democratically legitimized screws on them: a list with names of 
people who are responsible for human rights violations, no visa for 
them, freeze their foreign accounts and stay tough on the nuclear 
dispute.  If we negotiate with them individually, than people in 
Iran will wonder whether we have forgotten them and wonder why they 
are risking their lives.  What will we tell them?" 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (2/8) editorialized on its front page: "The 
governments of the West, including the German, must prepare 
themselves for an escalation of the nuclear dispute with Iran. 
Tehran just played with the West again.  Tehran is perfect at 
gambling for time by raising hopes.  Patience is necessary in this 
conflict, but also determination to keep its word:  Iran has the 
right to use nuclear energy, but the Iranian regime must not obtain 
nuclear weapons.  2010 will be an acid test for the states of the 
western community and all of those who do not want to accept 
Islamist terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass 
destruction. 
 
Sddeutsche Zeitung (2/8) remarked: "This was a real provocation by 
the Iranian regime, which lampoons anyone who wants to make the 
mutual relationship more reliable.  Foreign Minister Mottaki's 
attendance in Munich and the timely supporting measure by President 
Ahmadinejad can only mean that the government in Tehran does not 
 
BERLIN 00000168  002 OF 005 
 
 
know anything about diplomacy or has already made up its mind about 
the nuclear program, which would make an agreement with rest of the 
world (apart from China, which obviously shields this path) 
impossible....  All this triggers a dangerous dynamic, which 
provides support to those who favor military strikes.  But caution: 
before talking about a military approach, the all other measures 
must be applied.  Now is the time for new sanctions.  Rarely before 
was the West with its well-intended offers so duped.  Even China 
cannot ignore this at the UN Security Council.  Iran has damaged 
itself last weekend.  Sanctions must be decided this month." 
 
Handelsblatt (2/8) wrote: "The leadership in Tehran showed shortly 
prior to the anniversary of the Iranian Revolution that it is not a 
serious negotiating partner.  Although the Western attitude has not 
been consistent for many years, the Ayatollahs were given a unique 
opportunity after the inauguration of the U.S. President to repair 
relations with the West.  However, this window of opportunity is 
closing.  Tough sanctions by hopefully all countries seem to be the 
only way to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb.  The People's 
Republic of China should therefore join in." 
 
FT Deutschland (2/8) stated: "Tehran continues its game of poker - 
with an increasingly weak hand.  The surprise visit of Foreign 
Minister Mottaki at the Munich Security Conference was supposed to 
be a smart move.  However, instead of impressing the West, he 
increased frustration and provoked a U.S. Senator to consider aloud 
a military strike against the regime.  Mottaki's offer is Iran's 
most recent tactical maneuver within a long-term strategy of making 
deceptive offers to the West to gamble for time.   Time, in which 
Tehran can continue to build a nuclear weapon....  The West cannot 
accept this one-sided deal.  The EU should insist on additional 
embargos at the UN and - if China is opposed to it - walk it alone. 
If Iran wants to prevent new sanctions, it must clearly improve its 
offer." 
 
¶3.   (Ukraine)   Outcome of Elections 
 
Only a few papers (2/8) carried editorials on the outcome of the 
elections because the counting was not concluded.  Sueddeutsche 
Zeitung reported under the headline: "Julia Timoshenko Defeated," 
and reported: "The previous opposition Victor Yanukovich narrowly 
won the Ukrainian presidential elections.  According to the 
preliminary results, Julia Timoshenko did not succeed in enlarging 
the number of supporters in the densely populated Eastern Ukraine." 
Frankfurter Rundschau headlined: "Tense Quiet in Ukraine," and 
reported that "The West is closely following the elections in 
Ukraine.  Ukraine is an important transit country of the EU for 
Russian gas." 
 
Tagesspiegel (2/8) carried an editorial under the headline: "Back on 
the Map," and opined: "This was simply a democratic election in a 
democratic country and even election winner Yanukovich will be 
unable to change the basic course of the country.  There is no other 
successor state of the Soviet Union in which such a degree of 
freedom of opinion, such a penchant for controversial discussions 
and where so many democratic rights exist as in Ukraine.  President 
Yushshenko has achieved even more: He gave back Ukraine its national 
memory.  The newly elected Ukrainian president can hardly abolish 
this.  We owe it to Yushshenko that Ukraine, the second largest 
European country is back on the political map as an independent 
actor and not considered a Russian colony.  This is the standard 
against which Victor Yanukovich will be measured." 
 
In an editorial, Sueddeutsche Zeitung (2/8) argued: "Indeed, there 
are many indications of election manipulations in favor of Victor 
Yanukovich...but in contrast to 2004, there are little indications 
that Timoshenko could succeed with her protests this time, because 
the weariness with politics is massive following all the conflicts 
among the leading personnel in Kiev, but primarily because of the 
 
BERLIN 00000168  003 OF 005 
 
 
financial crisis.  We can assume that she will hardly be able to 
mobilize the masses again.  Timoshenko was at the top of the 
government for the past two years and many make her responsible for 
the financial crisis, for rising unemployment, and drastic wage 
cuts.  Many other politicians could not have reacted differently but 
she was at the wrong place during the crisis, for which she is by no 
means responsible; and she was unable to free herself from this 
trap.  This is sad because Timoshenko always created attention for 
her country because of her personality." 
 
¶4.   (EU)   Deficit Worries 
 
Under the headline: "Fear About Greece - EU Wants To Solve Crisis on 
its own," Sueddeutsche Zeitung (2/8) reported: "The Europeans want 
to resolve the debt crisis about Greece on their own - without the 
assistance of the IMF. At the G-7 finance ministers summit in Canada 
they promised this to the other industrialized nations.  Experts 
expect the euro to be under constant pressure because of the 
financial misery in several other EU countries."  Finance Minister 
SchQuble said that 'the Europeans are able to resolve this problem 
and cope with it.'" 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (2/6) judged under the headline: "Risk State 
Bankruptcy" that "At risk is nothing more than the continued 
existence of the European Monetary Union and thus the stability of 
the common currency, the euro.  The European Commission, which was 
duped by the Greeks for much too long, has now referred to the last 
means laid down in the European Treaties and put Greece's finances 
under receivership....  But those who think that stable countries in 
an act of solidarity should help shaky countries will do the 
European idea a disservice because they would then create incentives 
for all countries to violate their treaty obligations.  Nothing 
would weaken the euro more than a violation of the central issue of 
finance policy discipline.  If the monetary union threatened to be 
turned into a community of debt, all Europeans would pay in the form 
of a devaluation of the euro and pensions." 
 
National radio station Deutschlandfunk (2/6) commented: "The German 
government, too, ignored the mismanagement in Athens for years, but 
it did that not by mistake but with full political intention.  For 
the governments in Berlin only one thing was important: Brussels 
should by no means interfere in national economic policies.  But 
Chancellor Merkel realized much too late that Germany cannot be 
indifferent to Greece because we cannot risk a Greek state 
bankruptcy that could inevitably pull other euro states into an 
abyss.  That is why the euro zone must help Greece...and prepare for 
a worst-case scenario. This is in particular true for the biggest 
euro state, Germany.   One thing is certain: If the EU must save 
Greece, then Germany would have to pay in any case.  The German 
government must finally accept this and inform Germans about this 
uncomfortable truth and draw the necessary political consequences. 
The most important one is: The monetary union needs a common 
economic policy and the EU must interfere in euro-states that 
deviate from this policy. This must be true for all EU member 
states, including Germany itself." 
 
Tagesspiegel and Frankfurter Rundschau (2/8) carried an editorial, 
headlined: "Chain Reaction," and judged: "Greece's financial crisis 
was foreseeable for a long time and that is why the EU partners must 
also be blamed for the misery.  The Greek government is unable to go 
far beyond the current austerity programs if it does not want to 
risk social unrest.  That is why the EU partners have no other 
choice but to help Greece.  Otherwise a chain reaction would be 
looming which could, in the end, result in a meltdown of the 
monetary union.  It is true that the European Central Bank and the 
individual national banks are not allowed to offer emergency loans 
but it is conceivable to have the EU structural fund pay low 
interest loans of the European Investment Bank or offer a common 
euro bond of all 16 member states of the monetary union.  But 
 
BERLIN 00000168  004 OF 005 
 
 
Germany and other euro countries are opposed to it.  However, they 
have no other way but to grasp the nettle." 
 
Under the headline: "Get the IMF Involved On Time," Handelsblatt 
(2/8) editorialized: "Has Europe really everything under control and 
is it really able to manage the debt crisis of its Mediterranean 
members without international assistance? The positive answers may 
reassure the G-7 but the markets will hardly be convinced of them. 
A precondition would be that the governments realize the dimension 
of the financial crisis 3.0 and that they would be able to point a 
way out of the debt trap.  But this is not the case.  The Greek 
epidemic has already infected Spain and Portugal.  Italy, Ireland 
and even the UK could be the next candidates, and it could be 
possible that the financial markets will test their ability to pay. 
But instead of looking for a sustainable solution, we hear primarily 
political slogans to hold out.  It would be better if the Europeans 
would now call the IMF for help.  The IMF is not only much more 
experienced in crisis management but also has the political 
independence to call for painful adjustments.  That is why Europe, 
in its own interest, should shed old skins." 
 
Regional daily Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten (2/8) judged: "The euro 
is facing hard times.  Only ten years after the introduction of the 
common currency, it is in a serious crisis.  Following Greece, 
Portugal is also facing a state bankruptcy.  Spain, Ireland, and 
Italy could soon follow.  At the latest then when the large European 
countries will be dragged into the maelstrom at the capital markets 
and are unable to place new bonds, the common currency will be 
threatened with disintegration, irrespective of whether the European 
Commission imposes fines because of the high budget deficits or cuts 
subsidies." 
 
¶5.   (NATO)   Istanbul Defense Ministers Meeting 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (2/6) judged under the headline: 
"Challenging," that no one likes to dismiss NATO Secretary-General 
Rasmussen's remark that 2010 will be a 'challenging year' for the 
NATO mission in Afghanistan.  With a new strategy, more and better 
trained Afghan security forces and more NATO soldiers, ISAF 
commander McChrystal wants to regain the initiative in the fight 
against the Taliban.  But this also means that there will be more 
people killed on both sides and also among the civilian population. 
There are still 4,000 trainers missing and this is a challenge for 
solidarity, without which an alliance cannot function in the long 
run.  In the meantime, the German debate centers solely on a 
withdrawal.  Again the German government is deceiving itself." 
 
In an editorial on 2/6, die tageszeitung opined: "The medicine that 
NATO has now prescribed for Afghanistan does not even deserve the 
term 'placebo.'  It will not heal the sick but it should allow the 
doctors to leave the sick room.  NATO knows that the conflict cannot 
be resolved militarily.  That is why a withdrawal would be a 
capitulation, and that is why police forces are now to jump in.  But 
police officers do not attack heavily armed guerilla forces--they 
fight crime and control traffic." 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (2/8) editorialized on its front-page: "NATO 
soldiers have been fighting in Afghanistan for nine years.  Hundreds 
of them were killed, particularly last year.  It is therefore no 
surprise that criticism is increasing in most Western countries, 
although the objective of the mission is to prevent the country from 
becoming a base for transnational terrorism again.  The German 
defense minister called this skepticism a healthy democratic reflex. 
 If Senator McCain is right, even more soldiers will be killed in 
¶2010.  Criticism, which does not just reflect concerns over the 
lives of soldiers, will increase further.  Will politicians be able 
to cope with it? ...  Western countries and politicians must show 
endurance and strong leadership.  The newly agreed strategy is 
promising as long as all partners stick to it and keep their 
 
BERLIN 00000168  005 OF 005 
 
 
promises." 
 
Deutschlandfunk (2/5) radio remarked: "Many questions are still 
unanswered and some are even new after the conference on 
Afghanistan.  Why do NATO generals say only in background talks that 
Germany's intention to dissolve the rapid reaction force in 
Afghanistan contradicts the plans Germany explicitly at NATO?  Why 
are there statements coming only from outside that, given such an 
attitude of the Germans, the U.S. is now considering taking over the 
command in the north?  Should this not be discussed at a conference 
like that in Munich?" 
 
Regional tabloid B.Z. of Berlin (2/6) noted: "The demand to give 
NATO more and more funds is too simple.  There are enormous 
possibilities to make savings in the military alliance.  Instead, 
each partner in parallel to the others is developing its own weapons 
and transportation systems.  Even uniform standards are a thing of 
the future.  Synergy effects, as they exist in the economy, are very 
rare in NATO.  The defense ministers should begin here.  The 
military must make savings, too." 
 
¶6.   (Iraq)   Parliamentary Elections 
 
In an editorial under the headline: "Far Away from Peace," 
Sueddeutsche Zeitung (2/6) argued: "The parliamentary elections in 
Iraq are happening under a bad star.  Partisan bickering is 
increasingly burdening the vote.  But as a matter of fact, it would 
really offer a last chance to close the Iraqi ranks before the U.S. 
withdrawal in August.  If only a small part of the population does 
not recognize the outcome of these elections, there will be no 
national reconciliation seven years after the beginning of the war. 
And without the U.S. forces as armed referees, the Iraqis would soon 
attack each other again.  Iraq is far away from any hoped for 
stability.  The increasing number of terrorist attacks is evidence 
of the fact that the militants have by no means been defeated.  A 
few months before the U.S. withdrawal, time is working for the 
underground fighters.  They feel strong again and evidence of this 
is the fact that they are intensifying their attacks." 
 
¶7.   (U.S.)   Budget Deficit 
 
Under the headline: "Washington's Greek Illness," Sueddeutsche 
Zeitung (2/6) editorialized: "In the long run, the issue [in the 
financial markets] is America.  The future of the global economy 
depends on whether the United States is able to put its finances in 
order.  Momentarily, it seems to be beyond any doubt.  U.S. bonds 
are considered to be a safe heaven for investors from all over the 
world.  But they ignore an important part of reality.  Washington is 
increasingly demonstrating symptoms of the Greek illness.  The 
federal deficit is the highest ever in times of peace.  But Congress 
does not seem to be capable of reacting to it.  The expenses for the 
healthcare system and social security are out of control but no one 
is able to stop the march into bankruptcy.  In the interest of the 
global economy, it is to be hoped that the U.S. politicians will 
perceive reality faster than the financial markets." 
 
MURPHY