NORTH KOREA; ROBERT GATES HEAD OF THE US PENTAGON;

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 002785 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: NORTH KOREA; ROBERT GATES HEAD OF THE US PENTAGON; COLOMBIA-ECUADOR; IRAN AND THE HOLOCAUST; 12/19/06 ¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT Today's newspapers carry opinion pieces on the Six-party talks to address North Korea's nuclear program; Robert Gates taking office as the new head of the Pentagon; Colombia's conflict with Ecuador; and Iran's move to question the Holocaust. ¶2. OPINION PIECES - "A dispute with little margin for maneuver" Oscar Raul Cardoso, international analyst of leading "Clarin," comments (12/19) "... "The Six-party negotiations seeking to stop Pyongyang's nuclear development resumed in Beijing yesterday. "... Two of the actors in this play - North Korea and the US - are back at the negotiating table with extreme positions and they even 'showed their teeth.' "... The margin for maneuver is scarce for the remaining countries - who will try to get Washington and Pyongyang to moderate their initial tough stances... "In any case, there is not too much time to improve negotiations. China, which succeeded in bringing North Korea once again to the negotiating table, is worried, and some Japanese political sectors seek a reinterpretation of the Constitution to allow Tokyo to access a nuclear arsenal. "As in the case of Iran, although this is less serious, it is not so much that experts see Pyongyang making effective use of the bomb - but that its mere existence turned life into a persistent nightmare and an arms race." - "Robert Gates already heads Pentagon" Leonardo Mindez, Washington-based correspondent for leading "Clarin," writes (12/19) "Donald Rumsfeld is part of history... Robert Gates is now the head of the Pentagon, and he will try to rescue the most powerful army in the world from an adventure that killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and 2,949 US soldiers, accumulated spending for 400 billions dollars, and whose outcome of it is still uncertain. "... Gates is a conservative with common sense. Distancing himself from the White House's main policy guidelines, he acknowledged during a confirmation hearing at the US Senate that the US 'is not winning' the war in Iraq, although he was not as blunt as former (US) Secretary of State Colin Powell, who said 'we are losing.' "... But it remains to be seen how much margin of action he will have when it comes to re-defining the military strategy." - "The roots" Pablo Biffi, international columnist of leading "Clarin," writes (12/19) "The recurring conflict on the Colombian-Ecuadorian border unveils the problems faced by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, despite his attempts to portray himself as triumphant in all fronts. "The fact that he again had to fumigate illegal crops with glyphosate reveals that his policy of manual eradication has failed. And that in spite of the millions invested, he has not managed to reduce coca plantations. By blaming the FARC guerrillas, he also confirms that this area, as many others, is not under real control of the State. "Lastly, a clash with Ecuador... always comes in 'handy' when trying to scare away allegations haunting him about an alleged alliance between several of his legislators and ultra-rightist paramilitary groups." ¶3. EDITORIALS - "The Iranian regime and the Holocaust" Daily-of-record "La Nacion" editorializes (12/19) "Iran's dictatorial and authoritarian regime has just organized a shameful conference in Tehran with a highly anti-Semitic and racist tone. During this meeting, some aspects of the horrible Holocaust suffered by the Jewish people were analyzed with an extreme bias... "... During the conference, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a disrespectful radical fanatic, reiterated some of the expressions, plagued with lies and cynicism that he has already made public on other occasions regarding the State of Israel. Once again, he announced that Israel would be 'wiped off the map,' something that is certainly unacceptable. "... It should be reminded that Ahmadinejad is 'a strategic ally' of the Chavez administration, which has not taken due distance from such an absurd meeting, and this cannot and should not be omitted either." To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires WAYNE