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Viewing cable 10BERLIN56, MEDIA REACTION: HAITI, U.S., CHINA, TERRORISM, TURKEY-

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
10BERLIN56 2010-01-15 15:40 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Berlin
VZCZCXRO9636
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHLZ
DE RUEHRL #0056/01 0151540
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151540Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6282
INFO RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 1928
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0648
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1167
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 2670
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1689
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0852
RHMFIUU/HQ USAFE RAMSTEIN AB GE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//J5 DIRECTORATE (MC)//
RHMFISS/CDRUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
RUKAAKC/UDITDUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
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