MEDIA REACTION; AMIA BOMBING ANNIVERSARY; 07/19/07

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001385 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 SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION; AMIA BOMBING ANNIVERSARY; 07/19/07 ¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT Daily-of-record "La Nacion," leading "Clarin," and liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires Herald" carry editorials on the 13th anniversary of the AMIA bombing. ¶2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS - "When 13 is really unlucky" Liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires Herald" carries an editorial (07/19) "Marking yesterday's 13th anniversary of the AMIA terrorist bomb destruction (which killed 85 people),the Jewish community center's current president Luis Grynwald expressed the hope that this would be the last anniversary without anyone found guilty of the crime and called on President Nestor Kirchner to break off relations with Iran. "This newspaper cannot concur with the latter statement because we concur with the former - until Iranian participation is definitely proven, breaking off relations with Iran becomes a substitute for finding the guilty parties, a relatively easy way out. It may be Israeli state policy to insist on Iranian guilt - perfectly understandable with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for Israel to be 'wiped off the map'..., but it does not have to be Argentina's state policy. In any case this should not be about anybody's state policy but simply justice. If this newspaper disagrees with severing ties with Iran, this does not mean that we agree with being friendly to such egregious Iranian cohorts as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and far less with being nice to Iran itself, which has consistently withheld judicial cooperation in the AMIA case, but cutting ties is to slam the door on any such cooperation. In a word, we agree with Grynwald in wanting the guilty to be found - the culprits, not scapegoats. "Until the guilty are found, the AMIA anniversary should not be allowed to die or even fade, irrespective of the passage of time... As the participants in yesterday's ceremony from both home and abroad pointed out, the AMIA atrocity was an attack on Argentina while at the same time the AMIA victims are the world's victims. "... Argentina's current government certainly cannot be accused of not giving the AMIA anniversary the importance it deserves with both the presidential couple and virtually the entire Cabinet showing up yesterday... But it is already too late for even such forceful gestures as breaking relations with Iran - as Grynwald also said, the guilty must be found and justice done." - "AMIA - thirteen years later" Leading "Clarin" editorializes (07/19) "On the thirteenth anniversary of the attack on the AMIA, the clarification of the attack is still pending... "To the lack of response, negligence and lack of competence, serious irregularities committed during the investigation were added, which frustrated the legal process against those who are allegedly involved in the local connection... "... The lack of a serious judicial investigation and an explicit, consistent and efficient governmental commitment to get to the truth and punish the guilty left the country damaged in two ways - first, due to the attack and then due to the subsequent impunity. "... However, the Argentine Government remains responsible for supporting the Judiciary's independent performance to solve the case and put an end to the impunity related to the bloody and atrocious terrorist attack suffered by the Jewish community thirteen ago, which was an attack against all Argentines." - "AMIA - impunity goes on" Daily-of-record "La Nacion" (O7/19) editorializes "... Yesterday, during the public ceremony celebrating the thirteenth anniversary of the cowardly attack against AMIA, which was attended by President Nestor Kirchner, the AMIA head, Luis Grynwald, publicly asked Argentina to break off ties with Iran and declare Hezbollah an international terrorist organization, which has already been demanded by Federal Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral and other foreign judges. "In spite of its promises, the Iranian government has not cooperated with the Argentine Government. However, it is striking that the commercial exchange between the two countries continues. And leaders of picketers like Luis D'Elia continue publicly defending the Iranian Government. "... Thirteen years after the attack, the Argentine borders remain as porous as in those years. A political decision on the future of the relationship between Argentina and Iran is still pending and the investigation has not made the progress it should. "Once again, we should say that in the event this abhorrent episode of Argentine history is not clarified, our country will continue to exhibit an image of vulnerability to the world, which could make it the target of new terrorist attacks. The entire society, including the national authorities, should not be defeated by impotence or confusion." To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires WAYNE