MEDIA REACTION: U.S.YEMEN, TERRORISM-AIRPORTS, MEPP, IRAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 BERLIN 000004 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: PTER PTER XF IR AF RS GR SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S.YEMEN, TERRORISM-AIRPORTS, MEPP, IRAN AFGHANISTAN, ECONOMIC, GREECE;BERLIN ¶1. Lead Stories Summary ¶2. (Terrorism) Developments in Yemen ¶3. (Terrorism) Airport Security ¶4. (Middle East) New U.S. Peace Proposal ¶5. (Iran) Role of Opposition Movement ¶6. (Afghanistan/Iraq) U.S. Role ¶7. (Economic) Russian Oil Exports ¶8. (Greece) Financial Problems ¶1. Lead Stories Summary ZDF-TV's primetime newscast Heute opened with a story on the bad financial situation of German communities and ARD-TV's primetime newscast Tagesschau opened with a story on the European debate about body scanners. Frankfurter Allgemeine, Sddeutsche and Berliner Zeitung led with stories on the controversy about the "Foundation Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation." Many newspapers carried front- page photos of the Burji Dubai opening. Editorials focused on a broad variety of topics. ¶2. (Terrorism) Developments in Yemen Under the headline "Situation in Yemen poses global threat," Spiegel Online (1/5) reported that, "according to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the situation in Yemen poses a global danger. She said that the country must no longer serve al Qaida as a base for its terror attacks." This morning's ARD-TV's Tagesschau also showed Secretary Clinton saying that Yemen's instability poses a threat to the regional and global security. "She called for more international support for the Yemenite government," the report noted. Deutschlandfunk (1/4) opined: "The experience of recent months shows that bombs alone cannot defeat al Qaida, particularly not in a poverty-stricken country like Yemen. Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama should have understood this. It takes a broader strategy, one that also addresses the economic, political and social problems of Yemen." Frankfurter Rundschau (1/5) editorialized: "At best, Yemen is a loose association of tribes, regions and armed groups. The north is plunging into a civil war, the south is rebelling. The oil, which provides for 70 percent of the budget, is running low. Similar to Afghanistan, al Qaida is beginning to creep into the state system. What shall we do? How to respond? Foreign ground forces or a sudden wave of development aid cannot put an overpopulated failed state right." Reutlinger General-Anzeiger (1/5) commented: "Obama is stuck in a dilemma. America and its allies were involved in hopeless missions to improve the world already before his inauguration. Apart from the expensive and hardly effective counterterrorism activities in Afghanistan and Iraq, which involve heavy losses, another campaign is BERLIN 00000004 002 OF 006 looming in Yemen. Obama's situation is similar to that of John F. Kennedy, who faced the Cuba crisis and could not prevent America from plunging deeper into the Vietnam trauma." ¶3. (Terrorism) Airport Security All papers (1/5) carry extensive reports on intensified security checks at U.S. airports. Berliner Zeitung carried a report under the headline: "U.S. Drastically Tightens up Security Controls - EU also Wants to Intensify Controls - New Technologies to Achieve This are in the Pipeline." Sueddeutsche headlined: "Tougher Controls for Flights to the U.S. - Citizens from 14 Nations will Always be Checked," while Die Welt reported under the headline: "Obama Extends Axis of Evil," and wrote that "the United States will subject citizens from 14 primarily African and Arab states to strict controls before they enter the United States. These rules become valid immediately and require the full control of hand luggage and the patting down. At the same time, U.S. agencies have relaxed the intensified controls that were introduced on Christmas Day." Under the headline: "Security Craze," regional daily Neue Ruhr/Neue Rhein Zeitung of Essen (1/5) opined: "Full body scanners will soon be standard at German airports. After the failed terrorist attack from Detroit, there is probably no way around it. But apart from the question whether such scanners violate people's privacy, suggest greater security, or whether these devices are reasonable, their installation means one thing: another victory for terror. Just a few terrorists have succeeded in making societies, which were so proud of their freedom ideals, continue to shut themselves off from the rest of the world even more. This security craze is well thriving in a climate of fear. Fear is the reason that today almost every citizen is suspected of being a criminal and that this citizen is increasingly deprived of his rights. It may be increasingly difficult for terrorists to kill other people, but the fear of them is killing freedom. And this is another aspect which the 'religious warriors' will consider a great success." Sueddeutsche (1/5) carried an editorial under the headline: "Simple - and Hopefully Effective," and judged: "Instead of pinning its hopes on new databases or anti-terror units, which were unable to stop the failed terrorist from Christmas weekend, Washington is now pinning its hopes on the simplest of all security measures: Those who want to board a plane will be closely checked, in particular if they come from a suspicious country. This filtering out and control of people who BERLIN 00000004 003 OF 006 are only suspicious because they come from a certain country, will result in protests, but, nevertheless, this low-cost measure is reasonable.... It will be decisive that these new measures will actually be applied. Plans for tougher controls will be of little use, as will computers with long lists of names of suspects, if the security personnel does a sloppy job." In an editorial, Frankfurter Rundschau (1/5) wrote: "Terrorists have learned from drug smuggling and are now transporting explosives in their bodies. But it will now take two to three attempted attacks before we allow others to x-ray us. While healthy people will speculate why people were asked to step out because a full body scanners allegedly found something irregular, e.g. people had to undergo a cancer operation, the scanner discovered a breast implant or an artificial anus, a sly terrorist will quickly realize that he can buy cutlery and chemical substances after he passed controls.." According to die tageszeitung (1/5),"While the public is loudly debating over the introduction of full body scanners, it silently accepts much more serious infringements of their freedom rights. The fact that entire groups of people are subjected to tougher controls only because of their nationality is not being criticized but is welcomed as a mild alternative to full body scanners. So-called security experts are already calling for a better linkage of all national databases. This means that, because of intelligence assumptions that no one can examine, passengers are subjected to special treatment or are even excluded from flying." In a front-page editorial Tagesspiegel (1/5) judged under the headline: "Inappropriate Controversy" that "Germans are fiercely discussing the introduction of full body scanners. In view of the legal and technical questions, this is understandable, but it does not seem to be appropriate in view of the terrorist dangers. If the use of a well tested technology...reduces the risk of an attacker boarding a plane with explosives, the use of such technology should be logical as quickly as possible. To put it more drastically: we prefer being scanned hundreds of times than being torn to pieces at an altitude of 10,000 meters." Regional daily Stuttgarter Zeitung (1/5) judged in an editorial: "If new security controls make it possible to check passengers to their skin without taking their clothes off, then this technology would be more discreet than the current frisking of people. But before airports introduce even more security devices, it would be reasonable if the security agencies not only collect data but also use it in an effective way. This alone would have been enough to capture Christmas terrorist Abdulmutallab." Regional Westdeutsche Zeitung of Dsseldorf (1/5) judged: "For decades, human rights organizations have accused U.S. police of sorting out suspects according to the color of their skin. In the BERLIN 00000004 004 OF 006 summer of this year, it was Obama himself who wanted to punish this approach of agencies with a bill. If racial profiling is coming up again now in the fight against terror, then this is nothing but a triumph for terrorists who want to achieve exactly this with their attacks: to sow the seeds of mistrust and hatred between cultures, to create an atmosphere of fear in which every one is suspicious, and finally to undermine the central values and thus the foundations of the West's ideals." ¶4. (Middle East) New U.S. Peace Proposal Under the headline "Obama's plan for the Mideast," Berliner Zeitung editorialized: "The leaked information on the upcoming U.S. peace initiative sounds promising. The new Obama plan intends to set the borders between Israel and the future Palestine nine months after the beginning of the talks. Settlers would then know where they can build and where they can't. Connected with American guaranties, a complete agreement is planned to be ready for signature after two years... Is this too nice to be true? First of all, it is important to get the deadlocked peace process going again. The main thing is that they talk to each other.... If the new attempt fails, only radical forces will benefit... However, there is no reasonable alternative, it must be tried again. Washington is working on it. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is apparently ready for it, even though his right-wing Foreign Minister Lieberman does not hide his opposition. Palestinian President Abbas has nothing left to lose. Everybody, however, could win something if President Obama is a fair and strict mediator." Tageszeitung opined: "For five years, the inhabitants of several villages in the West Bank have been peacefully protesting against a settlement policy that is connected with the building of the wall on Palestinian territory and which is depriving them of their fields, which is their source of income. Although the protests are peaceful, apart from some exceptions, local authorities try to put a stop to them by all means. Their peaceful form of protest meets all conditions western governments demand from the Palestinians. However, they hardly enjoy any international support. That is a shame." ¶5. (Iran) Role of Opposition Movement Under the headline "Out of Control," FT Deutschland (1/5) editorialized on the Iranian opposition movement: "If the crisis escalates further, the ten people killed during the Ashura protests will only be the beginning. The government and the clerics are determined to do worse things if necessary. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people died during the massacre on Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989. The rulers of Tehran have as few scruples as the BERLIN 00000004 005 OF 006 Chinese regime about suppressing protests and sentencing dissidents to prison for ridiculous reasons. Ten deaths are only a warning. If the infamous Bassj militia is given rifles and not sticks, the violence will escalate. The conflict could be very bloody." ¶6. (Afghanistan/Iraq) U.S. Role Under the headline "Iraqi Light, Afghan Shade," Frankfurter Allgemeine (1/5) carried a lengthy feature on the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan: "So far, the withdrawal is according to the 2008 Iraqi- American agreement--and broadly successful. Although there have been a number of devastating bomb attacks since the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraqi cities and communities, the overall number of killed civilians is decreasing. The organization Iraq Body Count determined that fewer civilians were killed in Iraq in 2009 than in any year since the beginning of the war.... For the American troops, December 2009 was the first month since the beginning of the war in which no soldier was killed in a combat action.... Given the hopeful development, General Odierno said that Iraq has moved out of the darkness toward the light of hope. Contrary to this, there is a negative development in Afghanistan, which is likely to deteriorate this year.... More than half of the soldiers killed in 2009 were killed by IEDs. Also in Iraq, IEDs were the most effective weapon against the occupying troops, before the surge and the opposition of the Sunni movement against al Qaida turned the tide." ¶7. (Economic) Russian Oil Exports Sueddeutsche Zeitung dealt with the controversy between Russia and Belarus on Russian oil exports and opined: "Simply by mentioning possible supply bottlenecks, Russia is now putting the rest of its reputation as oil supplier at risk. The Kremlin has never understood that it must supply oil, if necessary in cans, but it can never accept a stop, even if the conflict pushes up the price and even if Russia is right. Currently the Russians want to sell their oil in the Asian markets and only recently it opened a transportation route to China. Hong Kong, Beijing, and Seoul can hardly wait for Russian oil supplies. They are solvent buyers and do not deliver sermons on human rights. It's still spring time between customer and supplier but Asia will also look into an empty pipeline on a regular basis." ¶8. (Greece) Financial Problems According to Sueddeutsche 1/5),"at the beginning of the year, the Greek government gave all Greeks a small and odd present: It suspended a tax on small wins in a lottery. But this present...was nothing BERLIN 00000004 006 OF 006 but a symbol. With this move, Prime Minister Papandreou wants to warm the hearts of the ordinary people before he presents the cold shower which his finance minister is currently preparing. The EU will soon examine the plan as will the European Central Bank...because banks and other international investors would otherwise hesitate to give the Greeks fresh capital. It is very likely that the EU will approve the plan because it has hardly any other choice. Greek insolvency would considerably damage the euro. But once Papandreou's austerity plan has been approved, and once loans are again granted to the country, appearances must change and turn into a tough reality, and this cannot happen without a change of mentality. However, the signs of such a change are not very positive. According to a poll, two-thirds of Greeks are unwilling to make a personal contribution to an improvement in the financial situation of their country. As long as the new government does not eliminate the Greek culture of freedom from prosecution, it can abolish as many petty taxes as possible but it will not persuade the people to accept change." DELAWIE