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RUZEADH/UDITDUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 BERLIN 000223 
 
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 US XO SY CU EU FK TK EMS UP
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S., INDIA-PAKISTAN, SYRIA-IRAN, CUBA, EU, 
FALKLANDS, TURKEY, EU-GREECE, UKRAINE;BERLIN 
 
¶1.   Lead Stories Summary 
¶2.   (U.S.)   Healthcare Reform 
¶3.   (India-Pakistan)   Resumption of Talks 
¶4.   (Syria-Iran)   Ahmadinejad-Assad Meeting 
¶5.   (Cuba)   Death of a Dissident 
¶6.   (EU)   Debate Over Leading Personnel 
¶7.   (Falkland Islands)   Tensions over Drilling 
¶8.   (Turkey)   Military Officials Arrested 
¶9.   (EU-Greece)   Bail-out Package 
¶10.  (Ukraine)   Yanukovich Inaugurated 
 
 
¶1.   Lead Stories Summary 
 
Print media led with a number of different issues.  While 
Frankfurter Allgemeine and Tagesspiegel centered on the Bundestag 
debate over the German social security system, Sueddeutsche Zeitung 
led with the debate on health reform under the headline: "Obama 
Fighting for his most Important Project."  Die Welt and Berliner 
Morgenpost dealt with Swiss plans for Germans who have invested 
money in Switzerland to pay a withholding tax.  Editorials focused 
on the troubles between the CDU/CSU and the FDP and on the 
collective bargaining agreement for the public sector, which was 
also the main issue in ZDF-TV's early evening newscast heute and 
ARD-TV's early evening newscast Tagesschau. 
 
¶2.   (U.S.)   Healthcare Reform 
 
Sueddeutsche Zeitung (2/26) carried a front-page report under the 
headline: "Obama is Fighting for his most Important Project" and 
reported that President Obama is trying to get support for his 
controversial healthcare reform project.  He called upon the parties 
to agree on a healthcare reform and asserted in a six-hour debate 
with leading Republicans and Democrats that was broadcast live on TV 
that 'there are common views.'  The healthcare reform project is 
Obama's most important domestic project and a failure would be a 
serious blow for him.  But even before the meeting leading 
Republicans described an agreement as "almost impossible....  Right 
from the start, the President was obviously not so much interested 
in breaking up the Republican 'obstructionist front,' but the White 
House considered the discussion round, which the Republicans 
rightfully described as 'political theater' and 'photo-op,' as an 
opportunity to warm up the very skeptical American people for the 
reform." 
 
Sueddeutsche Zeitung (2/26) carried an editorial under the headline: 
"The Washington System" and judged: "Evan Bayh has now turned into a 
prosecutor against Washington, as a crown witness against the 
current system.  But worse than his frustration is the anger with 
which the American people stare at the system in Washington.  Only 
eight of 100 voters said their representative in Congress deserves 
his/her re-election.  The United States, shaken by the worst 
recession in three generations, is witnessing a political depression 
right now.  Barack Obama, too, is despairing of the system.  His 
reform plans have gone to the dogs in the catacombs of Congress.  He 
is seeking ways out and is trying with a 'healthcare summit' to warm 
up both Democrats and Republicans for some version of 'Obama-care.' 
But this palaver in the White House must be considered mere 
political theater....  It was the prime purpose of this event to 
present those Republican 'nay-sayers,' who usually paralyze the 
complex wheels of legislation in the background in Congress.  Obama 
wants to present the Republicans as fighters behind barricades, and 
politicians who blockade initiatives without having any concepts on 
their own.  And he is right. They are exactly that....  Yes, the 
President made mistakes...and sometimes Obama looks like the most 
prominent hostage of the system.  But this is the only thing he can 
be accused of.  It was not he who created this situation. The crisis 
goes deeper.  America's Constitution created a governing system in 
 
BERLIN 00000223  002 OF 005 
 
 
which many wheels must interlock before it spits out a law.  This 
balance of power succeeded as long as the United States was governed 
from the center.  But today, there is a mentality to think only in 
Republican or Democratic terms and the obligation to vote in line 
with party policies - as if Congress were the House of Commons. 
Populists in both parties have gained the upper hand; cable TV 
stations and talk radio only reward rabble rousers, and every 
compromise is linked to the shady touch of treason.  The fringes 
win, while the center loses." 
 
¶3.   (India-Pakistan)   Resumption of Talks 
 
Left-wing daily die tageszeitung (2/26) editorialized: "The Indian 
government is outraged - not just about Pakistan as usual, but also 
about the West.  Leading politicians are not yet openly saying it, 
but you can read it everywhere.  New Delhi feels treated like only 
the second most important NATO partner in the region - after 
Pakistan.  Above all, it feels like a bystander in the conflict over 
Afghanistan.  This is the case since the London conference on 
Afghanistan at the latest, where NATO coordinated with Afghanistan 
and Pakistan, not with New Delhi, its strategy of including the 
'good' Taliban in the fight against the 'bad' Taliban.  New Delhi 
vehemently opposed such a differentiation of the Taliban.  When 
discussing Afghanistan, Indians always think of Kashmir, over which 
they have fought three wars against Pakistan.  For them, Kashmir is 
the next conflict after Afghanistan.  They are therefore despising 
compromises with the Taliban: a Taliban friendly regime in Kabul 
would always feel tempted to fight with Pakistan for the liberation 
of the Muslim brothers in Kashmir.  If NATO troops were to leave the 
region soon, Indians would then stand alone in the fight against 
war-experienced Pakistanis and Afghans.... Pakistan is boasting 
about the western support in the fight against terrorism.  Indeed, 
it gets the most modern counterterrorism technology from the U.S. 
New Delhi suspects that it must fear a Pakistan that is aligned with 
the West more than ever before." 
 
¶4.   (Syria-Iran)   Ahmadinejad-Assad Meeting 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine 2/26) headlined: "Assad and Ahmadinejad swear 
oath of alliance," and noted: "Syrian President Assad and Iranian 
President Ahmadinejad demonstratively assured themselves to boost 
relations between their countries....  Both leaders signed an 
agreement that abolishes the visa requirement for citizens of both 
countries.  Assad and Ahmadinejad criticized the United States for 
trying to divide the alliance.  On Wednesday, Secretary Clinton 
called on Syria to distance itself from Iran.  Assad commented on 
Mrs. Clinton's statement: 'We must have misunderstood her because of 
the bad translation and our limited intellect.'...  In addition, the 
Syrian president defended the Iranian nuclear program.  Today, Iran 
is stopped from using this technology, tomorrow it will hit the 
Arabs, he said." 
 
Die Welt (2/26) headlined: "Rendezvous of dictators - Iran and Syria 
pretend to be friends."  The paper stated in its intro: "This was a 
demonstration towards Washington: only a few days after Secretary 
Clinton tried to lure Syria out of the alliance with Iran, Syrian 
president Assad met with the controversial Iranian President 
Ahmadinejad.  Together they indulged in gestures of friendship." 
 
¶5.   (Cuba)   Death of a Dissident 
 
Under the headline "Cuba shuns fundamental reforms," Berliner 
Zeitung (2/26) commented: "However great the hopes for change were 
when Castro II came to power, they are now as quickly dashed.  At 
least, a few cosmetic changes had been made concerning human rights. 
 The death penalty of dozens of prisoners was turned into prison 
sentences.  Political prisoners were continuously released, so that 
there total number fell to around 200.  However, the regime 
 
BERLIN 00000223  003 OF 005 
 
 
continued to use its old methods against its critics.  Yoani 
Sanchez, who expresses her criticism about the living conditions on 
an internet blog, is monitored, persecuted and sometimes 
intimidated.   Her Kafkaesque stories on everyday's life are the 
thorn in the side of the government because they reveal the 
shortcomings of the Cuban system without expressing a clear 
political conviction.  The death of Zapatas and the following 
arrests clearly show how nervous the government is and that, when it 
comes to human rights, the new Castro only represents the old Cuba." 
 
 
¶6.   (EU)   Debate Over Leading Personnel 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (2/26) editorialized: "Van Rompuy is 
certainly no megastar, who could bring New York City's traffic to a 
standstill and let the powerful men in Washington and Beijing get 
the jitters.  This would have been the qualities of Tony Blair. 
However, van Rompuy does not deserve the insults he had to hear form 
an English chuff in the European parliament.  He is doing a fairly 
good job in a very calm way.... Baroness Ashton shares with van 
Rompuy the inability of winning a charisma contest....  However, 
unlike the new president, she has not been able to counter the first 
impression that she is the wrong woman for the job.  The displeasure 
about what she does, and what she does not do, is justified." 
 
Sddeutsche (2/25) headlined: "Lack of power consciousness - 
Europe's new foreign minister Catherine Ashton raises a few eyebrows 
because she is giving up power without any need right at the 
beginning of her tenure."  The paper highlighted: "The informal 
meeting of EU defense minister on the Spanish island of Mallorca 
might not be the most important of its kind.  However, the fact that 
the high representative Ashton cancelled her participation at short 
notice meet raised eyebrows among diplomats." 
 
¶7.   (Falkland Islands)   Tensions over Drilling 
 
Over the past dew days, several papers reported on the new tensions 
between the UK and the Falklands.  But only today's Die Welt (2/26) 
mentioned the U.S. position and reported under the headline "Oil is 
Fuelling the Falkland Conflict," and wondered: "Will history repeat 
itself?  No one is talking about a new armed conflict, but the 
contradictions have reached a new sharpness, and the UK government 
is, as a provisional measure, increasing its military presence in 
the South Atlantic.  This time it is economic interests that have 
rekindled the conflict.  Unlike in the conflict from 1982, the 
government in London cannot rely on U.S. support  While ex-President 
Ronald Reagan sided with the British side and offered ex-PM Margaret 
Thatcher precious logistical support in reconquering the Falkland 
Islands, the White House is insisting today on a position of 
neutrality and wants to push both sides to enter into bilateral 
talks." 
 
¶8.   (Turkey)   Military Officials Arrested 
 
In a front-page editorial, Frankfurter Allgemeine (2/26) stated: 
"The images of the crisis meeting between the president, the prime 
minister and the chief of the general staff show how much power 
relations have changed in Turkey....   The highest representative of 
the military forces was clearly subordinate to the elected 
representatives of the people.  This message is new in Turkey - and 
it is almost revolutionary because the military forces have seen 
themselves for a long time as the authority that defends the state 
as they see it and the political legacy of its founder Kemal Ataturk 
against incapable, corrupt and ideologically unreliable politicians; 
if necessary also with force.  There were three military coups 
between 1963 and 1980.  However, those days seem to be gone....  The 
restriction of the army is not yet at all a victory of democracy... 
Turkey is a deeply divided country - and still some time away from a 
 
BERLIN 00000223  004 OF 005 
 
 
stable democracy." 
 
¶9.   (EU-Greece)   Bail-out Package 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (2/26) argued in a lengthy editorial: "The 
comfortable life for the Greeks has come to an end.  But many Greeks 
do not want to accept this, are outraged at German media, and assume 
that the Germans are behind the tough EU course, while they hardly 
mention their own lapses....  In the eyes of the majority of Germans 
they made a great sacrifice by abolishing the D-mark, which created 
an identity for all Germans.  With the collective experience of two 
currency reforms, the Germans consider the attempted violation of 
the Maastricht Treaty - it bans one country from paying the debts of 
another - a danger for the stability of the euro, while the soft 
currency countries insinuate that the Germans only want to safeguard 
their economic superiority in the EU with the euro.  But the 
constant violation of the Stability Pact is responsible for the 
escalation of the debt crisis.  Fortunately, the German government 
insists on adhering to common rules....  By consolidating its 
budget, Greece will regain credibility.  Those who want to replace 
the auction of Greek bonds by transfer payments from Brussels and 
Frankfurt will invite others to speculate against the euro, 
overestimate Germany's financial power, and risk a failure of the 
Monetary Union.  It is true that the German government is fighting 
on its own in the euro group, but it is in a strong position. 
Without German participation in the bail-out package for Greece, 
each package would fail in the capital markets.  If Chancellor 
Merkel remains steadfast and allows only the IMF to help Greece, can 
she save the euro." 
 
Under the headline: "A Euro Oversight Group Must Be Set Up," 
Sueddeutsche Zeitung (2/26) opined: "In this exciting debate over 
the Greek mismanagement, one decisive term is missing: consequences. 
 It is true that the Greeks have been called upon to change their 
relaxed style of living.  But what will happen if nothing happens? 
What are the consequences Greece has to fear?  Greece needs profound 
reforms.  But it is also visible that the European financial and 
monetary bodies also require profound reforms.  The European 
statistical office Eurostat has no real authority, and this is 
incomprehensible.   But by far more dramatic are the shortcomings of 
the EU finance ministers who introduced the euro.  And the third 
body that is responsible is the European Commission.  Even if the 
currency commissioner spoke out clearly on the issue, he would need 
the approval of the Commission's president, who would say' no' 
because of pressure from the national governments.  The Greek fiasco 
clearly demonstrated that member states cannot be disciplined by 
other member states.  If the Monetary Union is to survive, then it 
must be urgently controlled by an oversight agency that is 
independent of all EU bodies and member states." 
 
¶10.   (Ukraine)   Yanukovich Inaugurated 
 
Under the headline: "First Brussels, Then Moscow," Die Welt (2/26) 
editorialized: "Victor Yanukovich was inaugurated into his office on 
Thursday.  He delivered a brief address in which he spoke of a 
dramatic economic situation....  He also spoke of Ukraine as an 
"European non-aligned state' and as a 'bridge between East and 
West.'  His first trip will bring him to Brussels, and only his 
second one goes to Moscow.  We are anxious to see to what extent, as 
he indicated, he wants to include the EU in the restructuring 
efforts of his gas pipelines.  And there is still Julia Timochenko, 
who wanted to lead her country into the EU.  But we can hardly 
expect a smooth co-habitation between the two but rather a mutual 
blockade.  This would be the last thing the country needs right now. 
 A bit more stability, efficiency, predictability, this was also 
something the president addressed in his speech.  And this would 
really be progress." 
 
 
BERLIN 00000223  005 OF 005 
 
 
MURPHY