MEDIA REACTION: SECRETARY RICE VISIT TO INDIA

UNCLAS SECTION 02 OF 08 NEW DELHI 003071

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NP, AC, PM

STATE FOR INR/MR

STATE FOR SCA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO

STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU

STATE FOR AID/APRE-A

USDOC FOR 4530/IEP/ANESA/OSA FOR BILL MURPHY

E.O. 12958:N/A
TAGS: KMDR KPAO PGOV PREL IN
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: SECRETARY RICE VISIT TO INDIA
AND PAKISTAN, IRAQ/STATEMENT OF BUSH; NEW DELHI.

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help from sections of the establishment. This may be one
of the reasons why the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza
Rice, wants Pakistan to be actively and, what is more
important, transparently pursuing the suspects. The
reason why Washington is pushing the Pakistani
authorities to get to the bottom of the jihadi operation
is that it is well aware that if the patrons of the
terrorists can get away after carrying out one of their
most daring acts of murder and mayhem, then they will
only become even bolder. The consequent threat to the
American mainland, not to mention targets in Europe, is
obvious. As commentators have noted, one objective of the
attack on Mumbai was to make India lose patience with the
peace process, thereby compelling Pakistan to move its
troops to the eastern border. This will enable al-Qaeda
and the Taliban to breathe more easily in their hideouts
in the northwest and focus on more plans for creating
havoc. The US, which is the primary target of the
terrorists, has to guard against such a turn of events.
Its only course, therefore, will be to convince the more
responsible elements in Islamabad that turning a blind
eye to the jihadi groups in the country will ultimately
endanger Pakistan itself."


4. "INDIA MUST BUILD IRREFUTABLE CASE," ediorial in the
December 5 left-of-center English daily DECCAN CHRONICLE
(circulation: 1 million). "The manner in which Mr.
Zardari has so implausibly - and ham-handedly - denied
that the Mumbai attackers were Pakistanis cannot but give
his credentials a setback. His observation is astounding.
It flies in the face of the evidence collated so far by
Indian investigators and corroborated by their American
counterparts. U.S. Director of Intelligence Mike
McConnell has all but named the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, in
saying that those who attacked Mumbai last week were the
same people who had planted bombs in Mumbai's suburban
train two years ago, killing 200 people, and executed the
attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001.
U.S.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has noted that
even if the terrorists were 'stateless' or 'non-state
actors,' as Mr. Zardari has maintained, Pakistan could
not shirk the responsibility of dealing with them as they
operated from Pakistani territory. It is widely
understood in specialist circles in this country, as well
as in the United States and Western Europe, that
terrorist training is handled in Pakistan by serving or
retired Army officers and those belonging to the
military's Inter-Services Intelligence. In the event, the
information coming from the captured terrorist in Mumbai
has to be treated with due circumspection. He is likely
to attempt to sell dummies. Every caution must be exerted
to prepare a dossier that will impress serious
investigators anywhere. This may involve some
coordination and forensic and legal assistance from
others across the world who have been victims of
terrorism. The necessity for this cannot be
overemphasized."


5. "BALANCING ACT," editorial in the December 5 left-of-
center English daily DECCAN HERALD (circulation:
350,000). "Rice's mission has been driven by the U.S.'

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self interest. The Indian demarche has listed steps like
handing over a number of wanted people to India.
Immediate action on such requests may even weaken the
government and disturb the present precarious arrangement
of power in the country. The US too would not like to
disturb that arrangement. The US would not like Pakistan
to weaken its vigil on Afghan border in any manner and
Rice's request to India to avoid actions of unintended
consequences point in that direction. Therefore her call
to Pakistan for robust action, but also expressing US'
satisfaction with Pakistan's commitment to fight
terrorism indicates that US may not push Pakistan beyond
a point."


6. "PROPER MESSAGE TO PAKISTAN," editorial in the
December 5 independent Kannada daily KANNADA PRABHA
(circulation: 180,000). "It seems there is no change in
the stand of Pakistan... At this point, India should be
open to all possibilities including military action. The
U.S. should sound a warning (to Pakistan) or initiate
appropriate action if Pakistan does not help India in
this hour of crisis. Otherwise, the visit of US Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice will be a wasteful exercise."


7. "ONE MORE CHANCE TO PAKISTAN," editorial in the
December 5 left-of-center Kannada daily PRAJAVANI
(circulation: 550,000). "During her visit to Pakistan,
the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has
specifically asked Pakistan to extend all possible help
to investigate the terror attack in Mumbai and advised
that urgent and tough action should be taken against
terrorists. Pakistan's President, under severe pressure
from the U.S., said that he would cooperate with
India. Pakistan should not hesitate to take the help of
India for rooting out terrorists from its soil."


8. "A STUBBORN PAKISTAN," editorial in the December 5
independent Kannada daily VIJAYA KARNATAKA (circulation:
700,000). "Even though India is talking tough against
Pakistan, there is no imminent threat of a war between
both the countries. Leaders of Pakistan have assured
visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of all
possible cooperation to India, which of course, is just
an eye-wash. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari just
cannot get away by saying that some 'stateless actors'
are behind Mumbai attacks."


9. "OUR OPTIONS," editorial in the December 4 HINDUSTAN
Hindi daily: "How can one ignore the endless attacks
across the border. It is such a proxy war, which has the
same motive as a war has. The only difference is that it
is killing the common man. But, this is not the time to
lose temper because war can never be a solution to any
problem... In fact, this is the right time to fight the
diplomatic war with Pakistan. The entire world is in
favor of India. The international community also believes
that Pakistan is the hub of terrorism. This is the
perfect time for stepping-up pressure on Pakistan at the
international level to make its institutions end their
relations with the terrorists. The ways of sending money
to the terrorist organizations could be blocked. Only the

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diplomatic assertiveness can be the best and the mosteffective answer to a proxy war."


10. "DIPLOMATIC WEAKNESS," editorial in the December 4
DAINIK JAGRAN Hindi daily: "There is no doubt that
India's first step toward increasing pressure on Pakistan
has failed and India itself is also responsible for this
to a certain extent. It should know that Pakistan would
not agree to hand over India's most wanted terrorists. At
least the strategists should know that the media should
not be used for such sensitive issues. Now India should
ensure that its next step is productive because the
nation is not in a mood to wait. It should inspire the
international community to deal with Pakistan, which has
become a threat not just for South Asia but for the
entire world, without any further delay. It should ask
the United Nations to get active. India should not
hesitate in taking any possible measure, except for the
war, to bring Pakistan on the right track."


11. "AMERICA SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO INTERFERE",
editorial in the December 5 right-of-center Urdu daily
"SIASAT", Hyderabad: "What is happening in India is most
condemnable, but India has complete ability and power to
tackle the situation. In such a situation, visits by
American and British investigating agencies and their suo
motu investigations are extremely uncalled for. It is a
sort of intervention in the internal affairs of India.
Followed by aforesaid investigating teams, Secretary of
State, Condoleezza Rice too came to India on the
direction of President George Bush. There are
apprehensions that AMERICA wants to exploit the
situation, and accomplish its vested interests in the
name of sympathy to Indian people. This is most
condemnable strategy. It is the responsibility of India
to disallow AMERICA to interfere in the internal matters
of India. It should not allow America, when India,
itself, can make a position amongst the nations of the
world. However, if foreign agencies are allowed to
interfere in the ongoing investigations, it may
discourage the national investigation and security
agencies. It is extremely unfavorable to the nation."


12. "PAKISTAN, AMERICA AND INDIA", editorial in the
December 5 right-of-center Urdu daily HINDUSTAN EXPRESS,
New Delhi: "God forbid, lest AMERICA is playing any dual
role. History of western imperialism is full of its dual
roles. Standing on the debris of British imperialism, the
democratic sultanate of AMERICA seems toeing the lines of
erstwhile Great Britain. Our leaders should not be
ignorant of any aspect of the prevailing situation. At
this moment, we would like to request our government to
share with the U.S., the concrete evidences, if any, so
that the latter stops supporting its old friend rather
apple of its eyes. Nevertheless, ever-growing madness of
media trial should also be stopped simultaneously. We
should teach a lesson to Pakistan so that it may not even
think of committing acts of terrorism in future. We
should also make our security arrangements
insurmountable. Political leaders are free to do anything
to conceal their drawbacks but they should not, at least,

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play havoc with the nation's security. If you want to
teach Pakistan a lesson, take practical initiatives. For
God's sake, stop fanning useless tension, and exploiting
people's sentiments by verbosity on media. We believe
that the government will exercise wisdom, vision and
diligence."


13. "AMERICA'S CLEAN CHIT TO PAKISTAN", editorial in the
December 4 right-of-center Urdu daily "URDU TIMES",
Mumbai: "Now, AMERICA too, stood in defense of Pakistan.
On Tuesday, White House spokesperson, while talking to
press reporters, said that Pakistan is not involved in
terrorist activities in Mumbai. We want to say only this
much, if the Indian government has concrete evidences in
respect of its claims, it should share them with AMERICA
so that it stops defending and supporting Pakistan.
However, if Pakistan is found guilty, many options are
open. First, efforts should be made to drag Pakistan to
the International Court of Justice; secondly, it should
be taught a lesson by an attack like that of the USA. We
should like to say that government is free to do anything
but it should stop vilification media propaganda against
Muslim in the name of anti-terrorism initiatives.
Thirdly, we believe that the Indian government will act
diligently in this regard."


14. "LOOKING AT AMERICA," editorial in the December 5 CPI
(M) Organ GANASHAKTI Bengali daily, Kolkata.
"Communicating India's stand to the visiting U.S.
SecState Rice implies that Delhi expects Washington to
sustain its pressure on Pakistan. Delhi has bowed to
Rice's strategy of insuring India's dependence on the
U.S. on foreign policy issues. The U.S. has gotten a
chance of exercising its big brotherly attitude in the
midst of exchanges of arguments and counterarguments by
India and Pakistan. But why should India become reliant
on the U.S.? Why does India invoke a single country - the
U.S. - in countering terrorism? Is the U.S. larger than
the UN? Is it more powerful than the Security Council?


15. "HALF CITIZENS' FULL PATRIOTISM," editorial-page
article in the December 5 CPI (M) Organ GANASHAKTI
Bengali daily, Kolkata by Gautam Deb, West Bengal
Minister of Housing and Public Health Engineering. "A
competition has started in India to arouse a sense of
nationalism and patriotism. People are trying to show off
how anti-Pakistan they are! This is happening at a time
especially when assembly elections are going on in six
states and parliamentary elections are round the corner.
Most of the media houses in India are not in the hands of
reputed businessmen. These are run by mafia-like traders.
They spend a few months every year in other countries.
Their newspapers or television channels are more active
in creating an aggressive attitude among people than to
disseminate news. They are doling out baseless news. No
language is enough to denounce the terror attacks in
Mumbai. But consequences will be dangerous if some forces
play with fire in this subcontinent. A tiny candle of
democracy is burning in Pakistan. Whose hands woud be
strengthened if that too is put out?"


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16. "NOT WORTHY OF A NEIGHBOR," editorial in the December
5 left-of-center Kolkata Bengali daily, SAMBAD PRATIDIN.
"Let India-baiting across Pakistan be stopped. The
neighboring country must take stern action against those
who desecrated the Indian flag in Islamabad. How do anti-
Indian organizations pursue their activities right in
front of the Pakistani administration? It is now an
established fact that terrorists involved in the Mumbai
carnage had hatched the conspiracy on the Pakistani soil.
People of India never want another war. Rather, they want
peace. But that should not be construed as India's
weakness. India will not continue to tolerate proxy-war
from Pakistan. India has rightly communicated this
message to Secretary of State Rice."


17. "PAKISTAN SHOULD NOT BE LEFT SCOT FREE," editorial in
the December 5 pro-BJP Kolkata Bengali daily, BARTAMAN.
"Secretary of State Rice rushed to Delhi by curtailing
her Europe trip only to restrain India from going to war
against Pakistan. However, the way Pakistan rigidly
sticks to its stand on the terrorist issue makes it
uncertain how long the Indo-Pak relationship will remain
in good spirit. India wants the U.S. to compel Pakistan
into crushing terrorist training camps in the PoK. But
the course of events indicates that America's any gentle
advice to Pakistan will not do. On several earlier
occasions too AMERICA had restrained Pakistan and India
but that did not yield any positive result ultimately.
Now the Taliban has also started threatening India. Will
India and the U.S. remain inert even after this?"

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TERRORISM
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18. "CAN TERRORISM BE CRUSHED?" editorial in the
December 5 multi-edition right-of-center Gujarati daily
GUJARAT SAMACHAR. "It's not impossible to put an end to
terrorism. There are examples galore that convey how
this menace can be dealt with determination. AMERICA
freed Afghanistan from the clutches of the Taliban. The
Sri Lankan army is fighting tooth and nail against the
LTTE. Bhutan and Bangladesh are too taking punitive
measures against terrorism or terrorists. Even China
gunned down elements that could have fomented trouble
during the last Olympics there.... What we rather our
leaders need to learn is that terrorism can be crushed if
there is a strong political will. How ever it is
embarrassing for us to state that our political masters
have become mute spectators to the endless barbarism
inflicted by terrorists on the citizens. It is no doubt
then that our politicians have lost all the confidence of
the citizenry."

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IRAQ/STATEMENT OF BUSH
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19. "REPENTENCE BY BUSH", editorial in the December 4
right-of-center Urdu daily "HINDUSTAN EXPRESS", New
Delhi: "American President George Bush has, at last,

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admitted that he had attacked Iraq on the basis of
erroneous information. He also expressed his grief. The
world community was bewildered over his audacity. Is it
the same Bush, who attacked Iraq ignoring the resolutions
of the Security Council, and brushing off reports
submitted by the investigators? During his eight-year
tenure, the world reeled under unparalleled restlessness,
chaos, uncertainty and confusion. On 20th January 2009, he
will be out of power gallery. His popularity graph
touched its nadir, where he is seen as a villain instead
of a hero. He is a target of all round condemnation for
two reasons. First Iraq incursion, and secondly the
financial crisis and economic recession throughout the
world. His admission, in fact, is a confession of crimes,
he committed, for which he should be prosecuted before
the International Court of Justice. But who is going to
prosecute him like Milosevic Slobodan? It is the high
time, when the world community should envisage a concrete
line of action in this regard, otherwise, in future
America and its allies will target another country like
Iraq and Afghanistan, and then any Bush, once again, will
try to clean stains of blood from his sleeves by saying
"I AM VERY SORRY"."


20. "ADMISSION BY BUSH", editorial in the December 4
right-of-center Urdu daily "SIASAT", Hyderabad:
"Shamelessly, President George Bush admitted that other
countries and members of Congress, who supported Iraq
war, are also responsible for the failure of his
administration. George Bush tried to alienate Muslim
countries from the development and progress of the world.
His self-confession, now, is the result of defeat and
dishonor given to him by his people. Question is whether
international courts of war crimes and legal luminaries
will take any notice of Bush's confession? Whether he
will be apprehended as a war crime and be prosecuted? It
is a genuine case against him in the light of Geneva
Convention. International laws are framed to such rulers,
who become enemies of humanity by unjust use of their
powers. George Bush is personally responsible for
horrible wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and genocides
therein. It is an implicit case of aggression prima
facie. He plundered not only the world peace but also
American economy. His successor will have to compensate
his wrongs."


21. "BLUNDERS OF PRESIDENT BUSH", editorial in the
December 4 right-of- centre Urdu daily "MUNSIF",
Hyderabad: "The entire tenure of Bush is full of his
incessant wrongs and misdeeds. No historian (even if he
is an American) will exonerate him for his horrendous
crimes. War against Iraq was a pre-conceived plan and
Zionists joined hands in hatching conspiracies against
Iraq. He waged a war against the Islamic world under the
guise of war on terrorism. George Bush kept doing such
activities in order to appease the Jewish lobby, which
has extraordinary influence over the President as well as
the American administration. And he, ultimately, paved
the way for American economy disaster. Now, at the
departure from the power gallery, if he is desirous to
make his image better, he should confess all his

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misdeeds. First of all, he should refute the imaginary
terrorism of al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden vis a vis 9/11
incident. He should seek apology from the people of
Sudan, Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan. He should also
confess his acts of terrorism in order to defame the
Muslim community. Only then the world may think to
exonerate him."
MULFORD