MEDIA REACTION: INVOLVEMENT IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000869



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



STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU



SIPDIS



E.O. 12958 N/A

TAGS: KMDR, KPAO, PGOV, OPRC, NP

SUBJ: MEDIA REACTION: INVOLVEMENT IN AFGHANISTAN AND

IRAQ



1. Summary: An opinion piece titled "Obama Needs to

Exert More" in state-owned English daily "The Rising

Nepal," September 21, 2009 called for more results-

oriented action from President Barack Obama to meet

voters' expectations, especially in bringing

normalcy to Afghanistan and Iraq. The piece is a

summary of American involvement in these two

countries. The writer claims that the protracted

wars in both countries could be a "Mission

Impossible" for foreign forces and that the failure

to bring normalcy in Iraq and Afghanistan could pose

serious problems to the governments involved,

especially the American and British governments. The

article also briefly mentions Washington's failure

to bring Pyongyang to dialogue on the nuclear

weapons issue.



2. Excerpts: " Even as the economy shows some signs

of limping back to normalcy, President Barack Obama

has a string of issues that need to be addressed

with greater vigor for visibly positive results.

When he won the presidential polls last November,

despite an array of odds against him, and was

formally sworn into office in January, he was hailed

worldwide mostly for being the first black president

of the United States. "



3. " The curiosity value was high; so too were the

voters' expectations. While the economy has always

been the No 1 concern and priority - politics, after

all, is basically local - US involvement in a number

of trouble spots in different parts of the world

could affect his records before the 2012

presidential elections."



4. " When he took office eight months ago, Obama

indicated that his administration's special foreign

policy focus would be on, among other issues,

Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea and Iran. The war in

Iraq and Afghanistan is costing heavily in terms of

casualties and loss of prestige and money for

especially Washington."



5. "Although some British newspapers have termed

their country's involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq

"Mission Incomplete", there are fears that things

could be even worse. Were things to deteriorate,

the foreign forces stations in these countries could

find themselves engaged in a "Mission Impossible."

The war has dragged on for eight years."



6. "... Syria, Cuba and Venezuela have also showed

the limits of even the world's best-equipped

fighting forces. Obama once said that he was

prepared to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il if

a situation demanded so. But so far Washington has

not even been able to engage Pyongyang to holding a

dialogue on the nuclear weapons issue."



7. "... Obama's popularity rating is no longer what

it was in the first 100 days in office. Ups and

downs in such ratings are to be taken in stride.

But were the US troops to return home by the 2011

schedule while normalcy continued to elude the Iraqi

people, American credibility would suffer heavily.

If the Taliban in Afghanistan were to expand their

strength and restrict the presence of the Kabul

government in only the cities where, too, daily bomb

blasts occur and people get killed, the governments

involved in the war would face serious questions.

The costs and the casualties of the foreign troops

recorded in Iraq and Afghanistan will be issues of

considerable consternation for especially the US and

Britain that have made the largest and deepest

commitment in terms of troop contributions and

money. The Obama administration might not be

unaware of this."



MOON