Cablegate: Media Reaction: President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize Address;

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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1356/01 3452119
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 112119Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0190
INFO RHMCSUU/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001356

SIPDIS
STATE FOR INR/R/MR, I/GWHA, WHA, WHA/PDA, WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC
CDR USSOCOM FOR J-2 IAD/LAMA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KPAO KMDR PREL
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S NOBEL PEACE PRIZE ADDRESS;
12/11/09; BUENOS AIRES

SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
ADDRESS; 12/11/09; BUENOS AIRES

1. SUMMARY

Most local newspapers (leading "Clarin," daily-of-record "La
Nacion," business-financial "El Cronista," conservative "La
Prensa," liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires Herald") carry
front-page headlines highlighting President Obama's acceptance of
the Nobel Peace Prize. Columnists of Argentine's two leading
dailies, La Nacion and Clarin, note a contradiction between
accepting the award and sending additional troops to Afghanistan.
END SUMMARY.

2. NOBEL PEACE PRIZE SPEECH

- "No man is a prophet in his own land"

Silvia Pisani, daily-of-record "La Nacion's" Washington-based
correspondent, comments (12/11), "Even though the Nobel Peace Prize
Award is one of the most acclaimed awards, President Barack Obama
is not a prophet in his own land, not even after having been
awarded this prize. The award ceremony did not appear among the
favorite TV programs of the day.

"As per a New York Times/CBS opinion poll, Obama is losing support
with an acceptance rate of roughly 50%.

"The award triggered controversy in the west, with different
opinions among those who support and those who are indifferent. The
President's positive image is falling according to opinion polls,
and the Nobel Peace Award has not helped to improve it.

"Obama's acceptance speech had 4,000 words, twice as many words as
those he used when taking office.

"Yesterday he had to use more paragraphs to explain why he is still
at war, to attempt to explain the theorem that peace calls for war,
and to make clear that, aside from being a man of hope, he is the
commander-in-chief of a superpower in recession, and at war. It was
not an easy address. Some say it is one of the best pieces by a
bright speaker. Others, disappointed, continue without finding an
explanation for the historic inconsistency of talking peace and
going to war."

- "It makes no difference..."

Marcelo Cantelmi, international editor of leading "Clarin," writes
(12/11), "The world has become again unpredictable, which is one of
the worst forms of danger. And it is so due to Obama's decision to
make his own the roads Bush chose. Obama even compared Afghanistan
with the Second World War and embodied a Hitler no longer exists in
these lands. It is a striking contradiction that the US president
is granted this award now that he is sending more troops to the
front in an offensive that nothing indicates will pacify the
world."

To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our

classified website at:

http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires

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