IRAQ: ECHOING PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE IN SLOVAK MEDIA

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000023

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CVIS MARR MOPS PGOV PREL KPAO LO
SUBJECT: IRAQ: ECHOING PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE IN SLOVAK MEDIA

REF: STATE 003592


1. On Thursday January 11, Ambassador Vallee strongly echoed the
themes, presented in President Bush's new Iraq Strategy, to a broad
Slovak audience: Much is at stake in Iraq; it can not become a base
for global terrorism; the Iraqis will take the lead in this new
strategy; protection of the population and isolation of the
extremists is the focus. In nine interviews, Ambassador Vallee was
also able to stress that President Bush is seeking to work in a
bi-partisan effort to craft a successful plan for creating a stable
and democratic Iraq.


2. Ambassador Vallee gave interviews to three television stations,
three newspapers, two radio stations and one wire service. These
interviews saturated the Slovak news market. Questions asked by all
interviewers were: "How much time will the new strategy need to
succeed?" "Will the plan pass Congress?" "What are the non-military
elements of the plan?" and "More troops have not worked before, why
will this plan work?"


3. Twenty-four hour news station TA3 began airing its interview with
Ambassador Vallee on January 11. In the portion aired, Ambassador
Vallee explains how the new strategy will effectively isolate the
extremists in and around Baghdad. Although Sme ran stories with
headlines like: "Vallee: Success in Iraq Cannot be Measured" and
"Address that Brought Nothing New" the paper quotes Ambassador
Vallee as saying, "American soldiers will stand side by side with
Iraqi soldiers," to make Baghdad neighborhoods more secure.
Hospodarske Noviny quotes the Ambassador as saying, "the core goal
of the new strategy for Iraq is to support democracy. The
president's proposal wants to change some tactics in Iraq where most
people have a positive and democratic vision for their country as
one without extremism." Pravda ran a story under the headline, "Bush
Did not Throw the Towel In," saying that, "Iraq is worth another
attempt to save it. Too much is at stake and Americans should not
throw the towel in the ring without trying all possibilities."


4. In each of his interviews, Ambassador Vallee stressed that the
USG is grateful for Slovak military support it has provided to the
Iraqi people. Post will report through PD channels subsequent media
coverage.
VALLEE