MEDIA REPORT KANSTEINER UNDER FIRE; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 002196

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS
IRAQ PD FOR SMITH, PINESS AND ROOKARD
AF FOR RAYNOR
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER
LONDON FOR GURNEY
PARIS FOR NEARY
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KMDR ZI
SUBJECT: MEDIA REPORT KANSTEINER UNDER FIRE; HARARE



1. Under headline "Kansteiner: from C-130 to Carrots" the
government-controlled daily "The Herald" (11/02),
circulation 55 to 70,000, carried the following op-ed by
Nathaniel Manheru, a. k. a. Jonathan Moyo (Information
Minister),under his regular column "The Other Side" in
which he brags about Robert Mugabe's make-believe
invincibility against the United States, before taking a
jab at the outgoing Assistant Secretary of State for
African Affairs, Walter Kansteiner, saying " he bows out
with the limp of a defeated man whose instigatory advice on
Zimbabwe has yielded a hefty policy failure for the Bush
administration." Excerpts:


2. "Talking about the Americans, Assistant Secretary of
State for African Affairs, Walter Kansteiner has
called it quits, but not before conceding in his
valedictory interview that President Mugabe has been
an impossible nut for America to crack. Far from
coming across as a bellicose proponent of `regime
change' and `challenge to Zimbabwe's sovereignty,'
the man whimpers about using `a combination of
carrots and sticks,' not even on the President and
his government, but `on all players.' Admitting
that the opposition which he euphemistically terms
`the civil society' is `hanging on by a thread,'
Kansteiner comes across much softer, as almost
unaware of America's weapons of shock and awe, C-130
included, which he once threatened America would
deploy to challenge Zimbabwe's sovereignty. Like
his predecessor Chester Crooker, he bows out with
the limp of a defeated man whose instigatory advice
on Zimbabwe has yielded a hefty policy failure for
the Bush administration. After all, while George
may get sticks in the Bush, he certainly has no
carrots. And even if he had them, he would soon
discover that the world does not live on carrots
alone. Let him ask his buffeted men in Iraq.
Meanwhile I say, to Kansteiner: kwaheri the mourned
one. As you tread softly into complete oblivion,
Studio 7 whispers its own epitaph and together you
shall be where America buries its defeated cold
warriors."

SULLIVAN