MEDIA REACTION: HAITI, U.S., CHINA, TERRORISM, TURKEY-

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 BERLIN 000056 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 HA CH PTER TK SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: HAITI, U.S., CHINA, TERRORISM, TURKEY- ISRAEL;BERLIN ¶1. Lead Stories Summary ¶2. (Haiti) Relief Efforts ¶3. (U.S.) President Obama to Tax Banks ¶4. (China) Censorship of Google ¶5. (Terrorism) Attack on Mesud ¶6. (Turkey-Israel) Strained Relations ¶1. Lead Stories Summary The majority of print media again led with stories about the tragedy in Haiti; others carried reports on the move of Finance Minister SchQuble to freeze all salaries for the employees of the public service to counter rising debt, while Handelsblatt reported that fear of Chinese hackers is threatening German trade with China. Editorials focused on Haiti, the closed door meeting of the CDU in Berlin, and a police raid on Germany's biggest 15 food companies, which are suspected of illegal price agreements. ZDF-TV's early evening newscast heute and ARD-TV's early evening newscast Tagesschau opened with special reports on Haiti. ¶2. (Haiti) Relief Efforts All papers (1/15) carried extensive coverage of the relief efforts that have now been initiated to help Haiti. Several papers carried special reports on U.S. assistance for the country. Frankfurter Allgemeine headlined: "How the United States helps," and reported that "Only a few hours after the devastating earthquake, President Obama promised 'unrestricted support' He said that his government would 'quickly and resolutely' take action to help the Haitian people. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cut short her trip to Australia and New Zealand and returned from Hawaii to Washington. Clinton, who is also responsible for coordinating civilian relief efforts, compared the situation after the earthquake with the situation following the tsunami in Asia in 2004." Berliner Zeitung carried a report on how prominent U.S. actors are helping Haiti and mentioned that actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie donated one million dollars for the victims of the earthquake. The paper also carried a report on President Obama asking Ex-Presidents Bush and Clinton to coordinate aid efforts. Financial Times Deutschland headlined: "United States Offers All-Out Support for Haiti - Obama Demonstrates Resolve," while die tageszeitung wrote a report under the headline: "U.S. Soldiers to Save Haiti." In a front-page editorial, Frankfurter Allgemeine (1/15) judged: "Even [Haiti's] President Prval admitted that institutions in his country are weak - if they exist at all. But what has thus far been detrimental to the country because the plant of democracy has not BERLIN 00000056 002 OF 006 thrived, could now be an advantage. Without any cynicism we must state that a 'failed state' cannot create any obstacles for foreign helpers.... It is also a clear signal that, in addition to Secretary Clinton, Defense Secretary Gates is also involved in relief efforts. The chaos can be easier reined in with military means. But it would not be detrimental either if the immediate assistance developed into long-term support because this 'state' will be dependent on such assistance for a long time to come." Under the headline: "Don't Do Too Much of the Good Things," Financial Times Deutschland (1/15) opined: "Haiti now needs internationally harmonized aid which will be coordinated by organizations on site. These organizations must cooperate with the government and have good links to important people. But what Haiti does not need is a bunch of additional helpers. Everyone who has no idea of life in the country and just goes there to help is a burden rather than a support. The country does not need a flood of donors either. If everyone now wants a report on which project the money was spent, then the government apparatus will soon be busy with accounting, reporting, and the reception of donors. And what the country does not need either - as cynical as this may sound - is as much money as possible. Millions that cannot immediately be spent will create corrupt structures and nurture power-hungry elites. It is good that there is already a country that is predestined to bundle international assistance and shoulder great parts of the financial burden: the United States. The obvious thing to do is concentrate the urgently necessary coordination for the reconstruction of Haiti in Washington. There is a great chance that the attention for Haiti will remain once the international TV teams have returned home." In the view of Neue Osnabrcker Zeitung (1/15),"one thing is clear right now: the relief efforts that have now been initiated and the announced millions of dollars of support, primarily from the United States, are impressive signs of solidarity with the needy Haitians. At the same time, they offer the great chance to stabilize and reconstruct the politically and economically downtrodden country from scratch, provided the donations do not disappear in corruption holes and superfluous projects." Berliner Zeitung (1/15) editorialized: "The next natural disaster will certainly come, and it will hit Haiti harder, as poor as the country is. Help will reach the people more quickly if there are roads. It BERLIN 00000056 003 OF 006 will be more efficient if local administrative structures function. Hospitals will be more stable if building requirements are respected when they are built. Each disaster creates more poverty and each further impoverishment multiplies the impact of disasters. Economic development and the establishment of a functioning state will help escape from this vicious circle. Both require money and strong international engagement. There is no alternative for this heavily destroyed country nor tor the world that is now coming to the rescue." Regional daily Stuttgarter Zeitung (1/15) judged: "Immediate relief efforts, if continued correctly, help a country get out of a structural crisis. Such assistance helped the Indonesian Banda Aceh province overcome a civil war. Sri Lanka in turn did not succeed with such tour de force, even though the struggle against the LTTE was ended with much bloodshed. The lesson from both examples is that, without the good will of the local authorities, international support will decrease some day in the future. Haiti, too, could now get the chance to improve its situation, but a precondition is that the attention of the international community lasts long enough and that political leaders of the country finally serve their people and not themselves." According to Frankfurter Rundschau (1/15),"there are no Islamic extremists in Haiti, Haiti is not threatening the interests of the wealthy world. Haiti's failure would first of all hit the Haitians. But exactly this is turning Haiti into a test case for the prosperous part of the world. What we are loudly proclaiming in Afghanistan and elsewhere could be easily realized here: to help a country to develop in freedom." Regional daily Nrnberger Zeitung (1/15) criticized: "Relief workers from all over the world are now flying to the site of the disaster in order to correct the mistakes of the past. For decades, the country has turned into the house of poverty of America. As always, when there is a lack of food, medicine, and education, no one attached any attention to enabling the Haitians to come to terms with natural disasters on their own." ¶3. (U.S.) President Obama to Tax Banks Several papers (1/15) reported that President Obama wants to impose a levy on banks to counter the financial crisis. Frankfurter Allgemeine headlined; "Obama wants to Get Back Every cent," and added that "about 50 big U.S. banks should pay the planned levy." Sueddeutsche Zeitung BERLIN 00000056 004 OF 006 headlined; "Obama Presents the Banks with the Bill" and sub-titled: "U.S. government wants to impose tax on finance companies. This would also hit Deutsche Bank." The paper wrote: "President Obama presented his plans on how to get back the costs for the rescue of the financial system. He used this opportunity for a day of reckoning with Wall Street. The government must now try to get support from Congress, and the banks will put up bitter resistance." In an editorial Sueddeutsche (1/15) argued under the headline: "Tax For One's Good Feeling," that "the real objection to Obama's tax is that it contributes nothing to the solution of the follow-on problems of the financial crisis. On the contrary, it distracts attention from its solution. As a matter of fact, post-crisis policy has got bogged down. The leaders wanted to coordinate their policies and how the banks could be made liable for paying parts of the crises costs. But in view of Obama's tax, this will not happen. As a matter of fact, the very wise decisions from the Global Economic Summit from Pittsburgh were supposed to be implemented as quickly as possible and should enter into force in 2011. But thus far, nothing has entered into force. One essential reason is that Obama is increasingly losing support for his economic policy. The Republicans have begun a fundamental opposition, and the Democrats in Congress are getting increasingly unpredictable.... Parts of U.S. Congress are waging a grim battle to deprive the Federal Reserve of its power. The political process in Washington is increasingly getting irrational traits and no one is able to predict what will be the result in the end. In this situation, President Obama has opened a new front with his tax on banks. We can only hope that this will clarify the situation and not increase the chaos even more." Regional daily Badische Zeitung of Freiburg (1/15) editorialized: "Obama's approach is better than the one from Chancellor Merkel and the SPD who demand a global stock market sales tax. This fee would primarily hit small investors. It was not the activities of these investors which caused the greatest financial crisis in the 20th century. Obama's approach is also better than the bonus tax that was approved in Britain and France. The U.S. levy will be a burden for the bank as a whole and not only for the income of a few staff members. But there is also a hitch to Obama's plan. This industrial sector will now try to make the customers pay for the additional cost. But even if it succeeded, the U.S. president sent a signal." ¶4. (China) Censorship of Google BERLIN 00000056 005 OF 006 Several papers (1/15) carried factual news reports on China's efforts to ban Google. Frankfurter Allgemeine reported under the headline: "China Defends Internet Censorship - 'Measures Correspond to International Practice," and wrote that "a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that international Internet companies must stick to Chinese laws." Sueddeutsche headlined: "Second Class Internet and said; "Many Chinese users are worried about a possible withdrawal of Google. The censorship can have negative implications for the economy." In another report under the headline: "pact with the Devil," Sueddeutsche (1/15) noted: "Such an Orwellian-like distortion of the truth could not have been better formulated by the Chinese Ministry for Public Relations or Propaganda Ministry). When Google was asked over the past years about business in China, the company always said that it wants to make an 'important and positive contribution' to the development of the country. But it is obvious that the company has never been interested in the well-being of Chinese society. Google primarily followed profit interests - and subjected itself to the censorship of the regime. But for its pact with the Chinese rulers, Google paid a high price. The company had opened a market, but inflicted great damage on its image. Google betrayed its own ideals." According to regional daily Allgemeine Zeitung of Mainz (1/15), "China is a dictatorship that brutally persecutes its critics. All diplomatic efforts, threats and sanctions of democratic states have not been able to bring about decisive change. Maybe the Internet will manage to achieve this. Chinese dissidents describe it as a gift from God. For the powers that be in Beijing, it is devilish stuff and they react with attacks as Google has learned right now. But it is simply too bad for the Chinese rulers that the other side is so highly armed in this cyber war. That is why the controversy between democratic and dictatorial ways of thinking, between China and the West, will possibly be decided in the Internet. And in this respect, the West has probably the better chances than it would eve have in a 'normal' war." ¶5. (Terrorism) Attack on Mesud Frankfurter Allgemeine (1/15) dealt with the drone attack on Hakimullah Mesud in Pakistan and opined: "Even though Mesud managed to escape, some of his followers died in the drone attack. The clearly targeted killing of radical Islamic Jihadists, who have found a BERLIN 00000056 006 OF 006 hideout in the Pakistani tribal areas and who must be considered supporters of Osama bin Laden or cooperate with him, has become a practice of the CIA in the fight against international terrorism. President Bush began it and under President Obama these secret, legally controversial, activities have even been extended. The destruction of leadership structures has certainly only a limited effect since new heads will grow out of a hydra if one head is cut off. But at least it will disrupt the activities of the radical Islamists and forces them to go on the defensive." ¶6. (Turkey-Israel) Strained Relations Sueddeutsche opined under the headline: "Lesson in Ridiculousness, "that this episode [in Israel-Turkish relations] is not only evidence of the alarmingly bad relations between the two countries but it also casts a bad light on Israel's foreign policy as a whole, which can hardly be measured by the usual diplomatic standards. Lieberman is presenting himself as 'Mister Njet' of Israel's policy. He described peace talks with the Palestinians as 'a waste of time'...and now he wanted to teach the Turks a lesson, a move that backfired. While governments around the globe are working on peace plans, Israel affords itself the luxury of a foreign minister who disregards all efforts. His nationalistic clientele may cheer him, but Lieberman is broadly damaging his country with his moves." MURPHY