MEDIA REACTION ZARQAWI'S DEATH; IRAN;

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001323 SIPDIS STATE FOR INR/R/MR, I/GWHA, WHA, WHA/PDA, WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC CDR USSOCOM FOR J-2 IAD/LAMA SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO OPRC KMDR PREL MEDIA REACTION SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ZARQAWI'S DEATH; IRAN; MICHELLE BACHELET AND EVO MORALES; HUGO CHAVEZ; DARFUR 06/11/06;BUENOS AIRES ¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT Weekend papers lead with the implications of Al- Zarqawi's death; the chances for a diplomatic solution on Iran; the ties between the Chilean and Bolivian administrations; "what to do" with the Chavez administration; and the Darfur genocide. Leading "Clarin" carries an editorial on the new impetus to the war in the Middle East. ¶2. OPINION PIECES AND KEY STORIES - "Al Qaeda promises 'ferocious' retaliation" Daily-of-record "La Nacion" reports (06/12) "Al Qaeda's branch in Iraq threatened to launch large- scale 'ferocious attacks' that will make 'the enemy shiver,' and it insisted it will maintain its strength in spite of the death of its leader Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi. This warning increases fears that Zarqawi's killing has not put an end to violence in the country. "... US General George Casey, commander in Iraq, said the army has taken the message 'very seriously'... and that it is prepared to face the eventual terrorist response." - "When death plants riddles" Oscar Raul Cardoso, international analyst of leading "Clarin," writes (06/10) "... If he did not receive weapons or money from Washington, Al Zarqawi was in fact the beneficiary of a propaganda effort from the US. The US attempted to make him appear as a threat that was bigger than life itself... "Just a few months ago, newspapers like 'The Washington Post' and 'The Wall Street Journal' published official documents in which the USG pointed out the sense of a continued Al Zarqawi 'balloon.' Furthermore, they reported on the six times Washington had certain information about Al Zarqawi's whereabouts and, for unknown reasons, chose not to act." - "Zarqawi's violent demise" Gwynne Dyer, contributor to liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires Herald," comments (06/12) "... Like many religious fanatics, Zarqawi hated people of his own religion whom he saw as heretics, he hated them even more than infidels, and therefore, he had no compunction about blowing Shiite Arabs up in large numbers simply because they were Shiite. "He saw a Sunni-Shiite civil war as the best way of destabilizing the government that the US occupation was trying to install in Baghdad, as well as the best way to ensure the emergence of a permanent base for Islamist radicals in the Sunni Arab parts of the country, which would probably end up beyond Shiite control even after an eventual US withdrawal. "Zarqawi is dead, but he most likely achieved his purpose. Baghdad central mortuary is now receiving close to fifty mutilated bodies each day, almost all of them victims of sectarian killings, and every month the number rises... The situation in Iraq will probably get much worse, but it is already past saving." - "An unimportant business" Jorge Elias, international columnist of daily-of- record "La Nacion," writes (06/11) "... Except for Bush and his administration, and the American public, Al Zarqawi's death had a relative impact, like that of the capture of Saddam Hussein. It did not raise euphoria or compassion, but more doubts, particularly in response to the virtual counter-offensive amid the largest uncertainty - how to get out from where they should have never entered... "... On many occasions, Bush has suggested that it is preferable to fight terrorism in Baghdad than in Washington, DC. Based on this premise, he overhauled national security doctrine. To what extent did those remote battles... stop generating those shortfalls in the system for which the US has subsequently paid too high a price in later years? "Democracy did not flourish in Iraq as a mirror of the good example for the Arab world. What did flourish was precisely what they wanted to repel - terrorism." - "The last diplomatic way out" Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries an op-ed piece by Joshka Fischer, former German vice Foreign Minister, who writes (06/12) "The Iranian crisis is deepening... There is no reasonable doubt that Iran wants to own nuclear war capability. But the gist of the issue is its ambition to become a hegemonic Islamic and regional power, and in this way, become a counterpart of the most powerful nations. Here lies precisely its difference vis--vis Northern Korea, which wants to manufacture nuclear weapons in order to deepen its isolation. Iran's purpose is obtaining regional domination and perhaps something else. "... The Bush administration should lead the Western initiative in resolute and direct negotiations with Iran. If negotiations are successful, it will also have to be willing to agree upon proper guarantees. International credibility and legitimacy will be crucial in this confrontation. A cold, calculated US leading role will be required to achieve this purpose. "Offering a 'big business' to Iran would unite the international community and would present a convincing alternative to Iran. If Iran agrees to it, nuclear investigations in Natanz would be suspended during negotiations. If Iran rejects it or does not honor its commitments, it would become isolated from the world, and the implementation of other measures would be justified. Russia nor China would support the other members of the UN Security Council. "However, such an initiative would only be successful if the Bush administration leads Western countries and sits to negotiate with Iran... Time is running out for a diplomatic solution." - "Bachelet and Evo make us rethink politics" Leading "Clarin" carries an op-ed piece by Manuel Antonio Garreton, sociologist and professor at Universidad de Chile, who writes (06/12) "... I am under the impression that in the current political scenario of the region there are two unusual national leaderships... "On the one hand, there is the Morales administration in Bolivia, which, regardless of its socio-economic origin, corresponds to the ethnical claim of a subdued community... On the other hand, there is the Bachelet administration in Chile, which strictly continues the three previous center-to-left democratic governments and, still, is the first government with an equal number of men and women in the Executive Branch, which is also led by a woman. "And it is their unusual nature which makes it hard to judge the performance of these governments... In the long run, these governments could fail... However, their mere existence is a big success because it unleashed an important cultural change. "... We all know that we are witnessing an important change. The fact that Chile accepts an agenda including the topic of Bolivian maritime sovereignty and that Bolivia respects the rhythm required by this big change in Chile, and that this is done contradicting the public opinion of each of the countries shows that perhaps what was not achieved by years of diplomacy and conflict between traditional leaders can perhaps be achieved by both a female and indigenous government. Perhaps all this will put an end to one of the main obstacles to unity in our region." - "What to do with Chavez" Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries an opinion piece by Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, professor of International Relations at Universidad de San Andres, who writes (06/10) "The US is more isolated than Venezuela. It is not getting support to engage in diplomacy of coercion against Venezuela. "Meanwhile, Chavez is reinforcing his regional intervention through active energetic diplomacy. This leads to an exasperating corollary - while Chavez is attempting to obtain more international autonomy..., the Bush administration is acting out of despair and is increasingly aggressive... "... Some basic harmony should be reached between Washington and Caracas. The US should not undermine Venezuela's instability and Venezuela should not promote international alliances that unleash excessive anxiety in the US. Caracas should also contain its practice of radical change within its own borders and commit itself to stop pressuring the rest of the region to accept its ideology and policies." - "The IMF criticizes the (Argentine) Government's anti-inflation policy" Alejandro Rebossio, economic columnist of daily-of- record "La Nacion's" "Economic and Business" supplement, writes (06/10) "The IMF is no longer a creditor of Argentina and, therefore, its recommendations have stopped being conditions for Argentine finance programs, as they used to be in the past. However, the IMF continues to form opinions about the country, as it does with other member nations. Yesterday, it criticized the Government's strategy to fight inflation and it asked the Government to cool down the economy with more restrictive fiscal and monetary policies. "... In a communiqu, the IMF highlighted that while 'the Government's post-crisis policy played an important role in the positive results obtained during recent years,' 'inflation and the policies implemented to restrict it have created mounting tensions, which the Government will have to solve.'" - "More anti-genocide action is required" Leading "Clarin" carries an op-ed piece by Anthony Lake, political analyst, University of Georgetown, and Francis Fukuyama, political analyst from the University Johns Hopkins, who write (06/12) "In spite of the official rhetoric and the increasing public support directed towards international action to put an end to the first genocide of the 21st century, Darfur has been an ignored tragedy for three years. "... The Bush administration should not limit itself to just urging the UN to plan a peace force, but it should also give the Sudan government a short period of time to accept such a force... Sudan said it would do it once a peace deal was signed, but its latest statements were misleading. "The US and other countries attending the UN World Summit last September agreed that the international community should protect innocent civilians whenever a government is unwilling to do it." - "Impetus to the war in the Middle East" An editorial in leading "Clarin" reads (06/12) "The dim peace expectations that could exist in the Middle East were, at least, seriously weakened by the Israeli attack against civilians in a Gaza beach... "... The Israeli administration formally apologized for the attack, but this will not neutralize the desire for retaliation. In fact, Hamas launched several missiles against Israel right away. "This means that pro-war sectors on both sides continue defeating the negotiation wings. This trend has resulted in a lack of safety, and death for the two countries, with the Palestinians obviously suffering the most." To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires GUTIERREZ