AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: March 20, 2007

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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: March 20, 2007


Quarrel Over Child-Care


1. Although politicians agree Austria needs more child-care spaces,
they disagree on how to finance such facilities. Health Ccare and
Family Issues Minister Andrea Kdolsky wants the provinces to provide
the funding, but Austrian municipality president Helmut Moedlhammer
argues the federal government should also make funds available. The
provinces have also called into question whether as many as 50,000
additional child-care spaces are required, as Minister for Women's
Issues Doris Bures suggested recently.
All major media report on the dispute over who is to pay for
additional child-care spaces in Austria. Liberal daily Der Standard
comments that "once again, politics has identified child-care as one
of the hot topics" and Coalition partners SPOe and OeVP are using
the issue as an "opportunity to boost their own profile among
voters." While the Conservatives are trying "to portray themselves
as a modern, family-oriented party," the Social Democrats wants
Wednesday's council of ministers to have a family summit put on the
agenda: "Politics has finally come to recognize women and their
needs as a potential target group," while the "men are still being
left out of the equation," the Standard writes.


Proell Skeptical On Climate Protection


2. Environment Minister Josef Proell told Austrian media he is
skeptical there will be agreement on Austria's climate strategy. He
could "not guarantee that things will work out on Wednesday,"
despite the "intensive negotiations" between the coalition partners,
he said. Under Chancellor Gusenbauer and Vice-Chancellor Molterer's
plans, the new climate strategy is to be discussed and passed at
tomorrow's Council of Ministers. However, there has been
disagreement among the cabinet ministers on issues including the
appointment of a so-called "climate envoy."
Meanwhile, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung reports a study
carried out by Greenpeace Austria suggests that daylight saving time
is making only an insignificant contribution toward curbing
greenhouse gases. Whereas daylight saving was introduced to reduce
energy consumption, the reduction only amounts to one thousandth of
the annual carbon dioxide emissions in Austria. Greenpeace says a
switch to energy-saving light bulbs would have an effect five times
greater. The amount of energy saved annually due to going on "summer
time" is said to be only several tenths of a percent.
Centrist daily Die Presse publishes a portrait of Austria's Green
Party, and its efforts on climate protection, but notes that the
Greens are not really getting through with their messages as an "eco
party." The SPOe-OeVP public squabble over the issue is to blame, as
is Austrian state-run television ORF's failure to cover the Greens,
according to the daily.


Bush Calls for Patience on Iraq


3. US President George Bush marked the fourth anniversary of the
US-led invasion of Iraq with a televised address defending his
strategy. Bush said it would be "disastrous" for US security if it
pulled troops out of Iraq soon. Iraqi civilian deaths over the last
four years are estimated at between 54,000 and several hundred
thousand. More that 3,200 US soldiers have been killed and over
24,000 injured.
Like all Austrian media, centrist daily Die Presse reports on the
fourth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq. The daily
publishes a two-page analysis headlined "4 years of the Iraq war: a
look at the US fiasco." The superpower USA has been "humiliated" in
Iraq, the Presse says: What was designed as a deterrent for other
Mideast potentates turned into a guerilla war for the US and its
allies. The Iraq, designed as a shining example of democracy in the
Middle East, has turned into a terrorist stronghold. The US, the
daily continues, is a "paralyzed superpower:" Four years after the
beginning of its military operation, the America is still stuck in
Iraq with about 140,000 troops. The best-equipped army in the world
has reached the limits of its capacity. Further, America's "moral
authority has also been discredited:" Iraq's WMD, the pretext for
war, which by now is perceived as a lie by much of the world, has
shattered global faith in the US, writes the Presse. Also the US
has emerged as a "clueless superpower," with neo-conservative
ideologies having faded in the face of reality in Iraq. Finally,
America has become the "absent superpower" on the global stage, as
the war in Iraq is using up not only America's military but also its
foreign policy resources. With regard to some developments, the US
appears to be hardly more than an observer these days, the Presse
suggests, citing Russia's reemergence as an authoritarian power, or
China's success at spreading its influence in Asia. The US, the
daily concludes, is caught up in a "cat-and-mouse game" in Iraq.
Similarly, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung suggests that "four
years after the first US bombs fell on Baghdad, the US appears to be
in a complete deadlock in Iraq." For the Iraqi people, "little hope
remains."
Liberal daily Der Standard says that four years after the US-led
invasion, Iraq is still caught up in a cycle of violence: Theses
days, it is not the Americans, who are leaving Iraq, but the Iraqis
themselves, many of whom are leaving because they no longer believe
their country will eventually recover from the insurgency and the
religious conflicts, the daily explains.
And, independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten reports on
"fear and disappointment in Iraq." Four years after the beginning of
the war, the situation in the country is completely out of control,
and a recent poll by TV networks ARD, BBC and ABC, as well as daily
USA Today has revealed that many Iraqis say they do no longer feel
safe in their own neighborhoods. The "violence and chaos, the
torture and poverty make for a meager balance of the Iraq war."
Still, there are signs of hope and recovery: some Iraqis believe
that in 15 or 20 years, their country will again be "strong, proud,
and able to govern itself," the daily says.


Saddam Hussein Aide Executed


4. Former Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan has been
executed, according to Iraqi government officials. He was convicted
along with the deposed Iraqi leader and others over their part in
the killing of 148 Shiites in the town of Dujail in the 1980s, in
apparent revenge following a failed assassination attempt against
Saddam Hussein. Ramadan lost his final appeal last week and under
Iraqi law had to be executed within 30 days. He was the third senior
former official to be hanged since Saddam Hussein was executed on 30
December, writes liberal daily Der Standard.


US, EU Withhold Palestinian Recognition


5. The European Union and the United States have agreed to withhold
recognition from the new Palestinian unity government, which was
sworn in on Saturday. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and EU
foreign policy chief Javier Solana at talks in Washington have again
called for the Palestinian government to recognize Israel and
renounce violence, reports ORF radio early morning news
Morgenjournal.
McCaw