MEDIA REACTION: OBAMA'S FIRST YEAR

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000060



SIPDIS



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



STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU



E.O. 12958 N/A

TAGS: KMDR, KPAO, PGOV, OPRC, NP

SUBJ: MEDIA REACTION: OBAMA'S FIRST YEAR



1. SUMMARY: Nepal's state-owned English daily, The

Rising Nepal (circulation: 5,000),on Monday,

January 18 published an OP-ED piece titled "Obama's

first year in the White House," by a journalism

professor and former chief editor of the paper. The

piece analyzed President Obama's first year as the

U.S. President and the steps he had taken to address

the economic crisis, health care and foreign policy

and called it "generally positive."



2. EXCERPTS: "Barack Obama, the U.S. President, has

just completed his first year as the presiding

occupant of the White House. The euphoria with which

his victory in the 2008 November presidential polls

was greeted is being gradually assessed in a more

detached manner. This is usually the case with any

president."



3. "...Obama, 47, intends to be not only the man of

the moment but also a respected figure in history.

It may be recalled how his body language spoke after

his poll triumph weeks before actually taking over

the White House key from outgoing President George

Bush. Expectations were high from the American

public, in particular, and the rest of the world

audience, in general. The global economic recession

got splattered all over the place, and the world's

No. 1 economy was deeply affected. The task was to

tide over the crisis at the earliest possible, and

ease the hardships suffered by the people in

general. This was easier said than done and yet it

was a task the newly sworn-in president had to

strive for accomplishment."



4. "The crisis is far from over, but the general

assessment of the Obama administration's initiative

to deal with it has been satisfactory. His health

services reform program has made a significant

stride. People have decided to hold their patience

with many other issues chiefly because Obama has

barely completed his first year and has not

committed any major blunder so far. So they would

like to give him the benefit of the doubt that he

will translate into practice what he has set out to

deliver. These concern domestic policies."



5. "On the foreign policy front, the issues are

complex. Yet it was a personal boost for the

President that the Nobel Peace Prize Committee

decided to award him the 2009 edition of the coveted

prize... Washington has a withdrawal plan in Iraq.

In keeping with the schedule, most troops in 2009

were stationed outside populated areas.

Washington's assessment is that Al-Qaeda's presence

in Iraq has considerably weakened and that it was

trying to find a base elsewhere. ... How the Al-

Qaeda spreads its tentacles is indicated by its

recent activity in Yemen where the group appears to

have developed a network... "



6. "...Yemen might be the next country where

Washington will focus greater attention, though it

is too early to ascertain the extent such attention

will merit. ...Next door Cuba might also be in the

Obama administration's signal for some kind of

engagement. Cuba's non-inclusion in the 34-year-

nation summit of the Americas last year was a sort

of embarrassment, considering that many of the

summiteers wanted Havana's presence ..."



7. "In conclusion, the Obama administration has

taken a number of initiatives that have generally

sent positive messages in the past 12 months. Next

winter marks the mid-term, by which time more action

and substantive results will be expected."



ORDWAY