MEDIA REACTION: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S NOBEL PEACE PRIZE ADDRESS;

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001356 SIPDIS STATE FOR INR/R/MR, I/GWHA, WHA, WHA/PDA, WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC CDR USSOCOM FOR J-2 IAD/LAMA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KPAO KMDR PREL SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S NOBEL PEACE PRIZE ADDRESS; 12/11/09; BUENOS AIRES SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S NOBEL PEACE PRIZE ADDRESS; 12/11/09; BUENOS AIRES ¶1. SUMMARY Most local newspapers (leading "Clarin," daily-of-record "La Nacion," business-financial "El Cronista," conservative "La Prensa," liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires Herald") carry front-page headlines highlighting President Obama's acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize. Columnists of Argentine's two leading dailies, La Nacion and Clarin, note a contradiction between accepting the award and sending additional troops to Afghanistan. END SUMMARY. ¶2. NOBEL PEACE PRIZE SPEECH - "No man is a prophet in his own land" Silvia Pisani, daily-of-record "La Nacion's" Washington-based correspondent, comments (12/11),"Even though the Nobel Peace Prize Award is one of the most acclaimed awards, President Barack Obama is not a prophet in his own land, not even after having been awarded this prize. The award ceremony did not appear among the favorite TV programs of the day. "As per a New York Times/CBS opinion poll, Obama is losing support with an acceptance rate of roughly 50%. "The award triggered controversy in the west, with different opinions among those who support and those who are indifferent. The President's positive image is falling according to opinion polls, and the Nobel Peace Award has not helped to improve it. "Obama's acceptance speech had 4,000 words, twice as many words as those he used when taking office. "Yesterday he had to use more paragraphs to explain why he is still at war, to attempt to explain the theorem that peace calls for war, and to make clear that, aside from being a man of hope, he is the commander-in-chief of a superpower in recession, and at war. It was not an easy address. Some say it is one of the best pieces by a bright speaker. Others, disappointed, continue without finding an explanation for the historic inconsistency of talking peace and going to war." - "It makes no difference..." Marcelo Cantelmi, international editor of leading "Clarin," writes (12/11),"The world has become again unpredictable, which is one of the worst forms of danger. And it is so due to Obama's decision to make his own the roads Bush chose. Obama even compared Afghanistan with the Second World War and embodied a Hitler no longer exists in these lands. It is a striking contradiction that the US president is granted this award now that he is sending more troops to the front in an offensive that nothing indicates will pacify the world." To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires MARTINEZ MARTINEZ