MEDIA REACTION: COP15, IRAN, MEPP, U.S., FINANCE, GERMANY-

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 BERLIN 001580 STATE FOR INR/R/MR, EUR/PAPD, EUR/PPA, EUR/CE, INR/EUC, INR/P, SECDEF FOR USDP/ISA/DSAA, DIA FOR DC-4A VIENNA FOR CSBM, CSCE, PAA "PERISHABLE INFORMATION -- DO NOT SERVICE" SIPDIS E.0. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KGHG IR XF US US AF SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: COP15, IRAN, MEPP, U.S., FINANCE, GERMANY- AFGHANISTAN;BERLIN ¶1. Lead Stories Summary ¶2. (Environment) Copenhagen Climate Conference ¶3. (Iran) Nuclear Conflict ¶4. (Middle East) Settlement Conflict ¶5. (U.S.) Blackwater ¶6. (U.S.) Finance Markets ¶7. (Germany - Afghanistan) Defense Minister Under Fire ¶1. Lead Stories Summary ZDF-TV's main newscast heute opened with a report on the meeting between Chancellor Merkel and Schleswig-Holstein's leadership on the economic stimulus package, while ARD-TV's primetime newscast Tagesschau opened with a report on the most recent developments in the Kunduz airstrike affair. Most newspapers also led with those stories, while Frankfurter Allgemeine focused on riots in Turkey after the Turkish government banned the Kurdish DTP party. Editorials focused on the ongoing political fallout from the Kunduz air strike and on the Copenhagen climate conference. ¶2. (Environment) Copenhagen Climate Conference Frankfurter Rundschau editorialized: "If it goes on at this slow speed, then it will be hopeless. This climate summit is similar to the previous ones.... Particularly the chief emitters, the U.S. and China, must make a move." Tagesspiegel commented: "Regardless of whether climate protection is seen as an opportunity or a threat, the fact is that if Copenhagen fails to change course, industrialized and developing countries alike have the best chances to drown. It is the task of state and government leaders to come up with a climate formula that stops global warming and does not humiliate anybody. This requires Europe's leadership. But we have not seen any of that thus far in Copenhagen." Role of the EU Die Welt (12/12) headlined its cover story: "EU gives 7.2 billion euros for climate protection," and added in a front-page editorial: "The first week of the Copenhagen climate conference appeared likely to end in irritation and frustration. Delegates have not been able to achieve anything on the working level. With the 7.2 billion euros, the EU at least managed to send a ray of hope to the UN conference." Tagesspiegel (12/12) fronted: EU energetically moves forward in climate protection." Deutschlandfunk opined: "The financial agreement to help threshold and developing countries to begin with common climate protection is remarkable. Other countries must now live up this agreement.... The EU is also the only negotiator that can offer its partners not just BERLIN 00001580 002 OF 006 money, but also a concrete strategy how to prevent the rise of temperature by more than two degrees." Norddeutscher Rundfunk radio opined: "Missed opportunity: at the end of the first week of the climate summit in Copenhagen a signal could have been sent by the European state and government leaders that Europe is stepping up its leadership role in climate protection... However, the final communiqu of the 27 countries repeated the same old positions.... This does not demonstrate Europe's determination to bring the climate conference to a successful end. Instead, the leaders are debating stingily over immediate assistance for developing countries.... While the self-declared climate chancellor did not give a fresh impetus, her colleagues Brown and Sarkozy used the EU summit as an embarrassing promotion tour, staging themselves up as a Franco- British rescue duet. The money Europe has put on the table is nothing compared to that pumped into banks. This is approach to meeting the future challenges of climate change is not encouraging. Sddeutsche (12/12) editorialized: "European government heads are not just travelling with a few billion euros in their pockets to the climate negotiations in Copenhagen, but also with a sound plan. They have finally collected the money to help the poorest countries protect themselves better against rising tides and droughts.... However, the truly remarkable achievement of the European heads of state is the plan they developed to collect money for climate protection till 2020 and beyond... Given the strained budgets, it looked impossible for the EU so far to make serious promises.... The EU has asked the IMF to make proposals by spring 2010 for a global tax on financial transactions. Banks might soon pay a special levy on bonuses and speculative gains. This may sound like a fairy tale now, but it could be standard practice in three years time." Frankfurter Allgemeine (12/12): "EU climate aid for poor countries- more than seven billion euros," adding in an editorial: "The European fund-raising campaign for the post-Kyoto process collected 7.2 billon euros.... As you can see from the contributions, not every European country is committed to climate protection." Handelsblatt opined: "In five days, the basics of the new global climate agreement must be clear. So far, not much progress has been made. Although the EU has promised to contribute a fair part, a concrete offer is only expected on Wednesday or Thursday... The EU obviously has not developed a plan how to lure the U.S. and China to BERLIN 00001580 003 OF 006 its side. Persuading the developing countries will not be enough. In the end, it will matter to overcome Washington's and Beijing's opposition. There is not much ground to believe that this will happen." Protests Sddeutsche carried a front-page photo of protesters in Copenhagen with a headline saying "Time is up." The paper editorialized on the mass protests in Copenhagen: "They had expected 20,000 or 50,000 protesters, but 100,000 came. So many people have never before taken to the streets in Copenhagen.... This demonstration was not just a protest against the inactivity [of the conference]. It was the clearest evidence of a new global movement, which is gaining more influence on climate negotiations than some governments' would like it to have." ¶3. (Iran) Nuclear Conflict Several Saturday papers carried factual news reports on possible EU sanctions on Iran. Frankfurter Allgemeine (12/12) headlined: "EU threatening new sanctions against Iran," and reported: "The EU member states are threatening to impose new sanctions on Iran in the nuclear conflict. The EU leaders adopted a resolution in Brussels on Friday in which they said that the EU would be willing to take 'the necessary steps' and that they would is 'very concerned' that Iran has not done anything until today to convince the international community that Iran's nuclear program only serves peaceful purposes. The EU foreign ministers were instructed to discuss options for new sanctions at their next meeting at the end of January.... Brussels already drafted a paper that lists the possibilities for sanctions. According to sources in Brussels, the paper concentrates on sanctions in the finance and energy sectors." Sueddeutsche Zeitung (12/12) reported under the headline: "EU Threatening Tehran - But Shies Away from Imposing Its Own Sanctions." The daily wrote: "Gradually, the EU is losing patience with Iran. After five years of fruitless efforts to prompt Iran to give up its military nuclear program by offering economic cooperation, the Europeans are now clearly intensifying the tone in the controversy. But the EU is unwilling to impose unilateral sanctions as some members have demanded. In a declaration that was adopted by the EU summiteers last Friday, it is said that 'Iran's continuous violations of its international commitments' called for a 'clear answer' by taking corresponding measures.' But the site to decide about new sanctions would be the UN Security Council. With this declaration, the EU is pinning its hopes on combined international pressure.... Brussels BERLIN 00001580 004 OF 006 is afraid that unilateral EU sanctions would result in a breaking apart of the international front [against Iran], and this is what Tehran is hoping for." ¶4. (Middle East) Settlement Conflict According to Sueddeutsche Zeitung (12/14),"nothing is more dangerous in this region of the world than the desecration of religious symbols. Despite the minor damage, the symbolism of this crime should not be underestimated. On the one hand, it is provoking the Palestinians to take revenge, thus torpedoing the efforts for new peace talks. On the other hand, the extremists are showing the Israeli government that they will use all means if their freedoms are restricted only a little bit. Now everyone can imagine what would happen if a construction stop was implemented or if settlements were cleared. The leadership in Jerusalem is rightfully alarmed and is trying to clarify the matter. If it does not stop these violent settlers, it will quickly be taken hostage by these extremists. The fact that they can now act as a militant veto power in questions of peace is also the result of a misguided settlement policy. But it is no option for the future." ¶5. (U.S.) Blackwater All major dailies carried wire service reports and wrote that the CIA has cancelled its contract with Blackwater. Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Frankfurter Allgemeine headlined: "CIA Cancels Contract with 'Blackwater'" FAZ reported: "Staff members of the XE Services security company, which formerly carried the name 'Blackwater,' will no longer be responsible for equipping drones with bombs for CIA operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but staff of the company will continue to protect U.S. facilities." Sueddeutsche said in its report that "staff members of the controversial Blackwater mercenary company are no longer allowed to cooperate with the CIA in covert CIA actions in Pakistan and Afghanistan.... In addition, CIA Director Leon Panetta also announced that all other contracts with Blackwater would be reviewed." In an editorial, Frankfurter Allgemeine noted: "The archetype of America is called Blackwater - at least for those Iraqis, Afghans and Pakistani who hate the West even more than they hate domestic extremists. The security company from North Carolina was 'extradited' from Iraq after the bloodbath in 2007, but in Afghanistan, America did not want to separate from its most loyal ally.... But now an BERLIN 00001580 005 OF 006 increasing number of Americans are raising questions about the authorities in the war. It may be possible that the most recent answers from the CIA would satisfy the America public, but the new crack in the war- decisive partnership with the Pakistani leadership cannot be repaired that easily. Pakistan will continue to disassociate itself from Washington - in order to avoid being considered an accomplice of Blackwater." ¶6. (U.S.) Finance Markets "Firewall After the Great Fire," is the headline in Sueddeutsche Zeitung (12/14),which editorialized: "Has the world learned anything from the financial crisis? Yes, it did, at least U.S. Congress demonstrated that it is able to learn. The new law on the reform of the financial markets is of historic significance. Such comprehensive reforms have not been implemented since President Roosevelt restructured America with the New Deal in the 1930s. A repetition of the financial crisis has now become more unlikely. It is true that the Senate must agree on a common text, but the fact that the House of Representatives has adopted the draft is an important victory for President Obama, whose economic policy has become rather unpopular at home.... The governments have extinguished the fire of the financial crisis, and now the dangerous illusion of normalcy dominates. The majority of Democrats in the House has now rejected the illusion of normalcy with their decision and set up a firewall. If the bill had failed, the international community would be in a place in the fight against the financial crisis comparable to where it was in 2001 with regard to climate protection when the United States under George W. Bush bid farewell to the Kyoto Protocol. Now America is leading the way with respect to financial market regulation -- as problematic as some parts of the bill may ever be." ¶7. (Germany - Afghanistan) Defense Minister Under Fire Sueddeutsche Zeitung (12/14) argued: "Currently the building of lies, which was set up since the Afghanistan engagement in 2001, is collapsing. The mission that was characterized by the government as a stabilization and reconstruction mission is taking place in a war theater. The Bundeswehr is involved in a war, and not just since the beginning of this year. A succession of German governments have not had the courage to tell the truth in the Bundestag. It is insincere to burden a Bundeswehr colonel with the political burden, in addition to the military and moral burden. And not even Defense Minister zu BERLIN 00001580 006 OF 006 Guttenberg is in the focus of attention. In Kunduz, the issue is not whether the right procedure was followed; the bombing was not a bureaucratic act. The former CDU/SPD government is responsible for the bombing and for hushing up events. The chancellor, the former defense minister, and even the foreign minister are responsible because even he is likely to have known the real target of the bombing. All of them remained silent by referring to a NATO report, even though it would have been their duty to tell us about the real background of the attack. They are now paying the price, but they are also paying the price for nine years of self deception. In the end, this price could be very high. In the view of Frankfurter Rundschau (12/14),"... an incident of this magnitude cannot be kept under control with nice pictures and nice rhetorical rearguard actions. This is especially true in a democracy. ... This forces Defense Minister zu Guttenberg to take serious political action and if he does not do better than before, he will soon have to quit his job. But this development is now encouraging public debate on the real character of what we are doing in Afghanistan." MURPHY