Cablegate: Media Reaction: U.S.-Un, Economic, Iran, Afghanistan,

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 BERLIN 001185

STATE FOR INR/R/MR, EUR/PAPD, EUR/PPA, EUR/CE, INR/EUC, INR/P,

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TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO GM US IR HO UK AF XF

SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S.-UN, ECONOMIC, IRAN, AFGHANISTAN,

MIDEAST, U.S.-UK, HONDURAS, GERMANY;BERLIN

1. Lead Stories Summary

2. (U.S.-UN) President Obama's Speech

3. (Economic) G-20 Summit

4. (Iran) Nuclear Conflict, Ahmadinejad

5. (Afghanistan) New U.S. Strategy

6. (Mideast) Summit Meeting

7. (U.S.-UK) Relations

8. (Honduras) Zelaya in Brazilian Embassy

9. (Germany) Upcoming Elections

1. Lead Stories Summary

ZDF-TV's and ARD-TV's primetime newscasts opened with stories on the

protests of Opel workers in the Belgian city of Antwerp. Newspapers

led with stories on the G20 summit and Opel. Editorials focused on

the G20 summit, President Obama's speech to the UN, and the future

of carmaker Opel.

2. (U.S.-UN) President Obama's Speech

All media reported on President Obama's speech to the UN General

Assembly, highlighting that "Obama asked the world for help" to

resolve problems together (Frankfurter Rundschau) and quoting him

prominently as saying "America cannot solve all problems alone"

(Spiegel Online).

Sueddeutsche Zeitung (9/24) commented: "After eight months in

office, Obama has seen heights some of his predecessors never

enjoyed. However, he has now reached the valley of tears. His

presidency is in trouble. Barack Obama is facing weeks, if not even

months of ordeal. Only after that time we will be able to judge

whether the man as the stature one recently associated with him....

His presidency is passing in quick motion: a clumsy photo

opportunity with the Mideast rivals, a hesitating Obama in climate

negotiations, challenged by the Congress and the military

leadership. Obama is a man of announcements, not of action.

However, this is the beginning of a crisis, not the end.

Apparently, there is great determination behind Obama's much praised

coolness. Somebody who proved so much stamina and finesse in the

election campaign, will cope with the political business. However,

it is past the time of great speeches and noble calls. A UN speech

full of emotions seems to be ridiculous when the roof is on fire at

home. Obama will have to show toughness and courage if he wants to

remain credible."

Under a headline "A world of words," Die Welt (9/24) opined on its

front page: "It is an invaluable advantage that the U.S. has a

President who is blessed with the gift of delivering speeches....

However, we are getting tired recently. The high tone, Obama is

always using, is somehow strenuous.... Slowly, not only Americans

wonder what all these nice words are supposed to mean if the

President does not deliver successes."

Tagesspiegel (9/24) remarked in a front-page commentary: "Barack

Obama has become the victim of the expectations he has raised. His

popularity was long seen as a trump card in America's foreign

policy. It is now becoming a burden. It is suddenly imaginable that

the U.S. and its partners are entering a spiral of disappointment.

The headlines in Europe on Obama's activities at the UN document

disillusionment.... Obama has contributed to this misunderstanding,

and he is continuing to do so. He knows about the impact his

speeches have and uses them the exert pressure to change things.

However, this leads to an overestimation of the influence the U.S.

President has.... The reality shock was overdue. Wrong

expectations are not a good basis for politics. We should neither

BERLIN 00001185 002 OF 009

exaggerate the disappointment."

3. (Economic) G-20 Summit

"The Great Redistribution of Wealth," is the headline in

Sueddeutsche Zeitung (9/24), which opined: "The announcements for

the G-20 summit again sound brilliant. Each participant emphasizes

how much we must learn from the crash...but in reality, nothing has

changed over the past months since the monetary system was about to

crash and mankind looked into an abyss. The shock let up and old

habits have returned. A great redistribution of wealth has taken

place and a small group profited from the development of a financial

bubble, while the costs for the disaster must be shouldered by many

people. But politicians are far away from taking really radical

steps. The reason is that the banks in the U.S. and Britain have

roped in their governments. In view of strong interests, it is no

wonder that good ideas from Europe have little chances to be

approved in Pittsburgh. However, it is striking that one item does

not appear on the agenda in Pittsburgh: the question of the future

look of the global economic system. Obviously, the great

redistribution of wealth should continue as before."

In a front-page editorial, Frankfurter Allgemeine (9/24) argued:

"Americans and British are working on a large-scale global control.

At the third Global Financial Summit, they want to agree on

strategies to reduce imbalances in the global economy. And surplus

countries such as China, Japan, and Germany must expect pressure to

increase their demand. Behind these moves from Washington and

London stands a mechanistic way of thinking. If demand drops, a few

screws will be turned around at different places to create new

demand elsewhere. But in the 1960s, Germany already succumbed to

the error that it is possible to fine-tune the economy. The result

of this large-scale attempt entered the history books as

stagflation. But now the Anglo-Saxons of all nations have given in

to the magic of a policy of demand. After the large U.S. shopping

mall has entered a crisis, because the sale via credit cards met its

limits, other countries should now put things straight and consume

at all costs to create a new global economic growth. But experience

with globalization has taught us one thing: growth cannot be bought

on credit for a long time."

Schwaebische Zeitung of Leutkirch (9/24) observed: "The third summit

must finally produce results. This meeting is a possibility to

pause and review all regulations and rules to change them and also

to make them stricter. Admittedly, this is an enormous task and

also highly complex. But it is not necessary to re-invent the

wheel. Many things are still functioning and the global monetary

system is still intact, the market economy without alternative. We

must now concentrate on the black sheep of the system. The banks

that exploited gaps in legislation and sold junk must now be shown

their limits and all those dangerous 'financial products' that

damaged other, need to be banned."

Regional daily Saarbruecker Zeitung (9/24) is critical of a

successful G-20 summit and noted: "Yesterday's [EU] proposal is

neither new nor original, and the same is true for the concerns.

Instead, Brussels missed the opportunity to present a convincing

model shared by all sides at the G-20 summit. With this approach,

the EU makes it easy for the United States (and other countries) to

use the disagreement among the Europeans as an instrument to defend

itself against too rigorous a control. Washington's course in

particular demonstrates that the international community was quick

with presenting catchphrases but that it took a lot of time to make

decisions on new approaches to prevent future crises. That is why

we must fear that the much lauded [G-20] conference will turn into a

show, that slogans will be exchanged that only hush up the fact that

all sides involved do not really want the things that they urgently

wanted a while ago."

BERLIN 00001185 003 OF 009

Straubinger Tagblatt/Landshuter Zeitung (9/24) had this to say:

"Politicians should not let up but must cut the proliferation in the

financial sectors in various countries. Unfortunately, the prospect

for successful moves in this respect is not very favorable. It is

likely that the 'window of opportunities' has already been closed

again. At Wall Street and in the City, the party has already begun

again. That is why the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh is not under a

good star. The tax on financial transactions suggested by Finance

Minister Steinbrueck is not implementable on the international stage

but Steinbrueck's question is very justified: Who is going to pay

the bill for an immoderate greed, for the exaggerations and the

irresponsibility of the financial sector? Of course, the ordinary

people."

Right-of-center Augsburger Allgemeine (9/24) judged: "In order to

avoid crises such as the current one, we needed a kind of global

financial police force. The strictest bans will be useless if no

one sees to it that these rules are also implemented. But it is

also clear that the banks in particular must do their homework.

They need sufficient capital resources to help themselves instead of

calling for the assistance from the state. If necessary,

politicians should force the banks to build up such reserves."

Regional daily Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger (9/24) argued: "Angela Merkel

does not hide her conviction that the G-20is a more appropriate

forum to resolve global problems than the G-8.... In the United

States a rethinking has begun, too. Unlike his predecessors, Barack

Obama is working hard to achieve a global alliance for greater

security and an alliance for the fight against climate change."

4. (Iran) Nuclear Conflict, Ahmadinejad

ZDF-TV's Heute (9/23) reported: "Iran's President Ahmadinejad caused

a scandal at the UN General Assembly. In a speech, he attacked

Israel again, calling it as a Zionist regime and describing its

policy on Palestinians as genocide. Several delegations left the

hall, including the German one." The report added that Iran's

nuclear program "was the topic of a meeting between President

Medvedev and President Obama. Medvedev indicated that Russia might

agree on imposing tougher sanctions on Iran."

Handelsblatt (9/24) commented that "the advocates of sanctions on

Iran have found a new tactic-they are intimidating companies through

public statements." The commentary added: "However, if China

remains unimpressed and continues to export goods to Iran, it would

be clear how toothless the West's policy of sanction has become."

5. (Afghanistan) New U.S. Strategy

There is only one paper this morning that reports on the debate in

the United States over the future Afghanistan strategy. Under the

headline: "Biden's Backchat," Sueddeutsche (9/24) reported: "The

U.S. government is questioning the war in Afghanistan and the NATO

mission in a more radical way than has been previously known.

According to the New York Times, it is especially Vice President Joe

Biden who is urging the government to reduce the number of U.S.

soldiers in the countries to 68,000 soldiers in the medium term and

to intensify air raids against alleged al-Qaida bases. This would

be a break with Obama's 'comprehensive, new strategy" to defeat

Taliban fighters...."

6. (Mideast) Summit Meeting

Suedwestrundfunk (9/23) radio commented: "Obama cannot afford a

further Mideast meeting of this kind, which damages the foreign

policy reputation of the U.S. President so considerably. Netanyahu

BERLIN 00001185 004 OF 009

humiliated and made a fool out of the young man in the White

House.... Given Obama's apparent foreign political harmlessness,

Netanyahu was able to show the world that not the U.S. superpower

defines the key issues in the Mideast conflict, but Israel....

Obama has failed in the first and essential power struggle with the

Israeli prime minister. In New York, the Israeli prime minister

deliberately duped the U.S. President and made him appear as a

beginner in foreign politics. This was not smart."

Tageszeitung (9/24) remarked: "The body language of the participants

in the trilateral meeting in New York does not raise hope that peace

will soon be created in the Mideast. Palestinian President Abbas

and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu hesitated to shake hands. By

accepting the invitation, both made the impression that they wanted

to do a favor to President Obama.... Neither for Israelis nor the

Palestinians is the two-state solution attractive. However, it is

the only solution that would acceptable to both sides and the only

one that could prevent further bloodshed. Anything else is a

dangerous utopia."

7. (U.S.-UK) Relations

Under the headline: "Deterrence Is a thing of the Past,"

Sueddeutsche Zeitung (9/24) editorialized: "PM Brown's proposal to

cut the number of British nuclear submarines from four to three is

nothing but the desperate attempt to get back the goodwill of the

U.S. government and President Obama. Washington is still annoyed at

the release of Lockerbie assassin al-Meghrabi. Brown can now feel

how angry Washington is because it is very likely that President

Obama will not meet PM Brown at the UN General Assembly.

Admittedly, with his surprise offer, Brown is the first

representative of an official nuclear power who is backing Obama's

disarmament initiative. But the president's enthusiasm and

gratitude is likely to be limited, for Washington knows that Britain

cannot afford its expensive nuclear deterrence anyway. Even the

conservative opposition has announced cuts, but it is honest and

cited budgetary reasons."

8. (Honduras) Zelaya in Brazilian Embassy

Sueddeutsche Zeitung (9/24) headlined: "Dangerous Soap Opera," and

judged: "It is really time for Honduras to peacefully end its

dangerous soap opera. This poor country with its greedy elite

cannot afford this power struggle. Since ex-President Zelaya has

sneaked back to the country and has hidden in the Brazilian embassy,

the duel between the elite and Zelaya is now turning into a battle.

Honduras urgently needs international mediators. The putschists

should by no means assert their views. This would be a tragedy for

Latin America's hardly fought democracies. Diplomatic pressure

should now definitely force Micheletti's puppet regime to give in

before the armed forces and demonstrators cause a bloodbath.

Micheletti must enter into talks with Zelaya and restore basic

rights. And Honduras and its helpers should then also urgently

focus on the real problems in the country: poverty, inequality, and

violence."

In the view of Die Welt (9/24), "intelligent crisis management is

now necessary but also the development of a draft with a long-term

perspective for Honduras. But in the case of Honduras, Brazil's

Foreign Minister Celso Amorim had not demonstrated these things.

Now it is coming back to haunt Brazil that it did not use the past

months for a negotiating solution, for one thing is clear: There is

not a more confusing situation in the world than the one in

Honduras. The crisis is still solvable and the key to it November

29, the day of the presidential elections. Thus far, Brazil has not

taken advantage of the situation to talk about a new beginning with

both sides. In Honduras, more is at stake than the future of a

banana republic. At issue is whether Venezuela's President Hugo

BERLIN 00001185 005 OF 009

Chvez gets control over another country. This needs to be

prevented."

9. (Germany) Upcoming Elections

Mass tabloid Bild (9/24) commented: "This was not an enthusiastic

and emotional election campaign that touched our hearts and exited

our minds. But does this mean that the election is boring? Not at

all, it is a fateful election-for the country and the Social

Democrats.... Germany does not left-wing shouters, but a moderate

and reliable left-wing force like the SPD. Voters must make a

decision now whether the Social Democrats should be the junior

partner in another grand coalition. Or should they regain to old

strength by sharpening their profile in opposition to a center-right

government of the CDU/CSU and FDP? One thing seems to be clear: If

the SPD continues to lose its profile in coming years, the left-wing

of the party will rebel against its leadership and unite with the

Left Party. A coalition of the SPD, Left Party and the Greens might

then soon govern this country. This election is also the last exit

to avoid a Germany that is guided by the Communists."

1. Lead Stories Summary

ZDF-TV's and ARD-TV's primetime newscasts opened with stories on the

protests of Opel workers in the Belgian city of Antwerp. Newspapers

led with stories on the G20 summit and Opel. Editorials focused on

the G20 summit, President Obama's speech to the UN, and the future

of carmaker Opel.

2. (U.S.-UN) President Obama's Speech

All media reported on President Obama's speech to the UN General

Assembly, highlighting that "Obama asked the world for help" to

resolve problems together (Frankfurter Rundschau) and quoting him

prominently as saying "America cannot solve all problems alone"

(Spiegel Online).

Sueddeutsche Zeitung (9/24) commented: "After eight months in

office, Obama has seen heights some of his predecessors never

enjoyed. However, he has now reached the valley of tears. His

presidency is in trouble. Barack Obama is facing weeks, if not even

months of ordeal. Only after that time we will be able to judge

whether the man has the stature one recently associated with him....

His presidency is passing in quick motion: a clumsy photo

opportunity with the Mideast rivals, a hesitating Obama in climate

negotiations, challenged by the Congress and the military

leadership. Obama is a man of announcements, not of action.

However, this is the beginning of a crisis, not the end.

Apparently, there is great determination behind Obama's much praised

coolness. Somebody who demonstrated so much stamina and finesse in

the election campaign will cope with the political business.

However, it is past the time of great speeches and noble calls. A

UN speech full of emotions seems to be ridiculous when the roof is

on fire at home. Obama will have to show toughness and courage if

he wants to remain credible."

Under a headline "A world of words," Die Welt (9/24) opined on its

front page: "It is an invaluable advantage that the U.S. has a

President who is blessed with the gift of delivering speeches....

However, we are beginning to grow tired. The elevated tone Obama

always uses is somehow strenuous.... Slowly, not only Americans are

wondering what all these nice words are supposed to mean if the

President does not deliver successes."

Tagesspiegel (9/24) remarked in a front-page commentary: "Barack

Obama has become the victim of the expectations he has raised. His

popularity was long seen as a trump card in America's foreign

policy. It is now becoming a burden. It is suddenly imaginable that

BERLIN 00001185 006 OF 009

the U.S. and its partners are entering a spiral of disappointment.

The headlines in Europe on Obama's activities at the UN document

disillusionment.... Obama has contributed to this misunderstanding,

and he is continuing to do so. He knows about the impact his

speeches have and uses them the exert pressure to change things.

However, this leads to an overestimation of the influence the U.S.

President has.... The reality shock was overdue. Wrong

expectations are not a good basis for politics. We also should not

exaggerate the disappointment."

3. (Economic) G-20 Summit

"The Great Redistribution of Wealth," is the headline in

Sueddeutsche Zeitung (9/24), which opined: "The announcements for

the G-20 summit again sound brilliant. Each participant emphasizes

how much we must learn from the crash...but in reality, nothing has

changed over the past months since the monetary system was about to

crash and mankind looked into an abyss. The shock passed and old

habits have returned. A great redistribution of wealth has taken

place and a small group profited from the development of a financial

bubble, while the costs for the disaster must be shouldered by many

people. But politicians are far away from taking really radical

steps. The reason is that the banks in the U.S. and Britain have

reigned in their governments. In light of strong opposing

interests, it is no wonder that good ideas from Europe have little

chance to be approved in Pittsburgh. However, it is striking that

one item does not appear on the agenda in Pittsburgh: the appearance

of the future global economic system. Obviously, the great

redistribution of wealth should continue as before."

In a front-page editorial, Frankfurter Allgemeine (9/24) argued:

"Americans and British are working on large-scale global control.

At the third Global Financial Summit, they want to agree on

strategies to reduce imbalances in the global economy. And surplus

countries such as China, Japan, and Germany must expect pressure to

increase domestic demand. Behind these moves from Washington and

London there is a mechanistic way of thinking. If demand drops, a

few screws will be turned around at different places to create new

demand elsewhere. But in the 1960s, Germany already succumbed to

the error that it is possible to fine-tune the economy. The result

of this large-scale attempt entered the history books as

stagflation. But now the Anglo-Saxons of all nations have given in

to the magic of a policy of demand. After the large U.S. shopping

mall has entered a crisis, because the sale via credit cards met its

limits, other countries should now put things straight and consume

at all costs to create a new global economic growth. But experience

with globalization has taught us one thing: growth cannot be bought

on credit for a long time."

Schwaebische Zeitung of Leutkirch (9/24) observed: "The third summit

must finally produce results. This meeting is a possibility to

pause and review all regulations and rules to change them and also

to make them stricter. Admittedly, this is an enormous task and

also highly complex. But it is not necessary to re-invent the

wheel. Many things are still functioning and the global monetary

system is still intact, the market economy does not have an

alternative. We must now concentrate on the black sheep of the

system. The banks that exploited gaps in legislation and sold junk

must now be shown their limits and all those dangerous 'financial

products' that damaged others need to be banned."

Regional daily Saarbruecker Zeitung (9/24) is critical of a

successful G-20 summit and noted: "Yesterday's [EU] proposal is

neither new nor original, and the same is true for the concerns.

Instead, Brussels missed the opportunity to present a convincing

model shared by all sides at the G-20 summit. With this approach,

the EU makes it easy for the United States (and other countries) to

use disagreement among the Europeans as an instrument to defend

BERLIN 00001185 007 OF 009

itself against too rigorous a control. Washington's course in

particular demonstrates that the international community was quick

with presenting catchphrases but that it took a lot of time to make

decisions on new approaches to prevent future crises. That is why

we must fear that the much lauded [G-20] conference will turn into a

show, that slogans will be exchanged that only hush up the fact that

all sides involved do not really want the things that they urgently

wanted a while ago."

Straubinger Tagblatt/Landshuter Zeitung (9/24) had this to say:

"Politicians should not let up on reining in the financial sectors

in various countries. Unfortunately, the prospect for successful

moves in this respect is not very favorable. It is likely that the

'window of opportunity' has already closed again. At Wall Street

and in the City, the party has already begun again. The tax on

financial transactions suggested by Finance Minister Steinbrueck is

not implementable on the international stage but Steinbrueck's

question is very justified: Who is going to pay the bill for the

immoderate greed, the exaggerations and irresponsibility of the

financial sector? Of course, the ordinary people."

Right-of-center Augsburger Allgemeine (9/24) judged: "In order to

avoid crises such as the current one, we needed a kind of global

financial police force. The strictest bans will be useless if no

one sees to it that these rules are also implemented. But it is

also clear that the banks in particular must do their homework.

They need sufficient capital resources to help themselves instead of

calling for the assistance from the state. If necessary,

politicians should force the banks to build up such reserves."

Regional daily Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger (9/24) argued: "Angela Merkel

does not hide her conviction that the G-20 is a more appropriate

forum to resolve global problems than the G-8.... In the United

States a rethinking has begun, too. Unlike his predecessors, Barack

Obama is working hard to achieve a global alliance for greater

security and an alliance for the fight against climate change."

4. (Iran) Nuclear Conflict, Ahmadinejad

ZDF-TV's Heute (9/23) reported: "Iran's President Ahmadinejad caused

a scandal at the UN General Assembly. In a speech, he attacked

Israel again, calling it as a Zionist regime and describing its

policy on Palestinians as genocide. Several delegations left the

hall, including the German one." The report added that Iran's

nuclear program "was the topic of a meeting between President

Medvedev and President Obama. Medvedev indicated that Russia might

agree on imposing tougher sanctions on Iran."

Handelsblatt (9/24) commented that "the advocates of sanctions on

Iran have found a new tactic-they are intimidating companies through

public statements." The commentary added: "However, if China

remains unimpressed and continues to export goods to Iran, it would

be clear how toothless the West's policy of sanctions has become."