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courage is contagious

Viewing cable 09BERLIN1512, MEDIA REACTION: AFGHANISTAN, IRAN, RUSSIA, SWITZERLAND,

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09BERLIN1512 2009-11-30 12:02 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Berlin
VZCZCXRO2705
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHLZ
DE RUEHRL #1512/01 3341202
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301202Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5913
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 1775
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0493
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1013
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 2518
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1538
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0703
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 001512 
 
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 AF IR RS SZ ZP CH GM
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: AFGHANISTAN, IRAN, RUSSIA, SWITZERLAND, 
DUBAI, CHINA, GERMANY;BERLIN 
 
1.   Lead Stories 
2.   (Afghanistan)   Upcoming Presidential Speech 
3.   (Iran)    Nuclear Conflict 
4.   (Russia)   Train Derailment 
5.   (Switzerland)   Ban to Build New Minarets 
6.   (Dubai)   Financial Crisis 
7.   (China)   Monetary Policy 
8.   (Germany)   Demjanjuk Trial 
 
 
 
1.   Lead Stories Summary 
 
Print media opened with reports on the outcome of a Swiss referendum 
 
banning the construction of minarets near mosques.   Editorials 
focused on the conflict between the German states and the federal 
government on tax cuts and on the outcome of the Swiss referendum. 
 
ZDF-TV's early evening newscast heute and ARD-TV's early evening 
newscast Tagesschau opened with the surprising outcome of the 
referendum in Switzerland. 
 
2.   (Afghanistan)   Upcoming Presidential Speech 
 
Under the headline: "President Obama Feels Increasingly Isolated," 
Sueddeutsche Zeitung (11/30) opined that "important decisions make 
leaders increasingly isolated.  President Obama will have this 
experience twice in the coming weeks.  On Wednesday, he will reveal 
to 
the American people that he wants to escalate the war in 
Afghanistan, 
and one week later, he will demand of the America people that they 
break with the American way of life.  During the Copenhagen climate 
 
summit, Obama will promise that the United States will turn away 
from 
a style of living which, on a global scale, is considered a synonym 
 
for ignorant waste and the self-destruction of the planet.  More war 
 
and improved climate protection, with both decisions Obama will 
stretch America's forces to the limits.  The military rearmament in 
 
Afghanistan but also the ecological changes at home - both missions 
 
could determine the fate of this president.  He can become a great 
president - or fail." 
 
3.   (Iran)    Nuclear Conflict 
 
FT Deutschland (11/30) headlined "Iran provokes by new nuclear 
plants," and reported that "the decision is a harsh provocation and 
 
destroys the hope for a compromise in the nuclear conflict. 
Tehran's 
announcement is directed particularly against the UN nuclear 
watchdog 
IAEA and the so-called group of six."  Sddeutsche (11/28) 
editorialized: "The group of six that negotiates with Iran in the 
nuclear dispute is united. Also Moscow and Beijing, which have been 
 
protecting Iran in the past, are losing their patience, although it 
is 
not clear at all whether they would support sanctions that impress 
Iran....  The signs are indicating a confrontation....  A way out of 
the 
escalating circle is only possible if Iran's leader Ali Khamenei 
 
BERLIN 00001512  002 OF 006 
 
 
accepts the American hand.   Unfortunately, nothing indicates that 
that he will take that hand." 
 
4.   (Russia)   Train Derailment 
 
All papers carried news reports on the derailment.  Sueddeutsche 
(11/30) reported that "two days after the attack on the a train 
between Moscow and St. Petersburg traffic on this train route has 
normalized but the mood in the country continues to be tense 
President Medvedev called upon Russian to keep calm and added that 
there should be no chaos.  On Sunday, Prime Minister Putin planned 
to 
set up a fact-finding commission to investigate the accident." 
 
Tagesspiegel (11/30) headlined: "No Information on Perpetrators," 
and 
reported that "police is using all its means to seek the 
perpetrators," while Die Welt headlined: "Terror Attack in Russia," 
 
and Frankfurter Allgemeine reported under the headline: "A country 
in 
Shock," and wrote that "following the attack, Russia was shocked 
and 
one reason was that there was no clear suspicion of who could have 
been responsible for the attack  On Saturday another shock followed 
 
because a second bomb went off near the site of the explosion." 
 
"Attack on Russia's Longing," headlined Sueddeutsche Zeitung (11/30) 
 
and judged: "Those who are responsible for the derailment of the 
Newskij Express train aimed at the mobile, technically versed, 
active 
top performers, in other words at the 'new Russia' that President 
Medvedev has lauded for months.  This attack is now hitting the 
president himself.  Now a small, extremely violent group has 
attacked 
Russia where it is at its most vulnerable - in its longing for 
stability." 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine (11/30) judged: "Russian security agencies 
are 
reserved when it comes to suspicions of who could be responsible for 
 
the attack on the express train.  One reason could be that two 
versions of who could be blamed are uncomfortable for the Russian 
leadership.  One was the rumor that Russian right-wing extremists 
could be responsible while the other one centered on about Muslim 
extremists from northern Caucasus.  The first version would be 
further 
evidence of the previous failure of Russia's policy in Chechnya and 
 
its neighboring republics.  The other one would make it appear 
extremely odd that the Russian security forces always used toughness 
 
and violence against peacefully demonstrating democrats, while they 
 
minimized as 'hooliganism' the violence of right-wing extremists 
despite dozens of killings each year." 
 
"Right-Wing Terror in Russia is Thriving," headlined Berliner 
Zeitung 
(11/30), which editorialized: "Terror in Northern Caucasus has not 
declined but it has even expanded to Dagestan and Ingushetia.  In 
the 
meantime, terrorist activities in Russia have increased in profile. 
 
Right-wing crimes in Russia are on the rise and for a long time 
 
BERLIN 00001512  003 OF 006 
 
 
[Russian authorities] shied away from calling the mob by name.  But 
 
the Russian security authorities only reluctantly followed tip-offs 
 
for nationalist agitators and criminals.  One reason might have been 
 
that the reference to national unity in the fight against an 
external 
enemy would have resulted in even greater support for right-wing 
extremist groups.  But this ugly right-wing face is primarily 
detrimental to Russia's reputation." 
 
5.   (Switzerland)   Ban to Build New Minarets 
 
All German media carried prominent reports and many papers had front 
 
page editorials on the "surprising" outcome of the Swiss referendum 
 
that bans the building of minarets.  ARD-TV's late night newscast 
Tagesthemen noted that "Switzerland, which is proud of its 
tolerance, 
will carry a mark as of today that it will not get rid of for a long 
 
time.  A surprisingly clear majority of 58 percent voted against 
building new minarets in Switzerland in the future... The Swiss 
government now faces the sad result."  Berliner Zeitung headlined: 
"The right wing is excited, Muslims are shocked." 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine wrote in a front-page editorial: "Democratic 
as 
you can get, open-minded and tolerant-that's the way the Swiss have 
 
always liked to see themselves.  The vote in favor of banning 
building 
new minarets reveals other sides: narrow-mindedness, timidness and a 
 
willingness to cut itself off.  The self-proclaimed homeland 
protectors of the national conservative Swiss People's Party 
achieved 
a success that will be a burden for the country in the future.  The 
 
guessing game on what has led to the change of mind is only getting 
 
started...  The result should also be a warning to those in Germany 
who 
try to minimize the populist factor of referendums." 
 
Sddeutsche editorialized: "The referendum is a catastrophe for 
Switzerland.  You would not find such a building ban anywhere else 
in 
Europe.  The six words 'the building of minarets is prohibited' 
violate not just the freedom of religion and the non-discrimination 
 
principle but also the European human rights convention....  The 
result 
also causes huge damage to direct democracy....  A storm of outrage 
will 
now follow in Muslim world.  The worst mistake would be if the Swiss 
 
take an even tougher approach now because the heart of the country 
is 
open-minded and liberal." 
 
Die Welt highlighted that the "Swiss lapse back into a time before 
the 
Enlightenment," saying in a front-page editorial: "The Swiss 
decision 
to ban the building of minarets is the wrong response to the right 
 
BERLIN 00001512  004 OF 006 
 
 
question.  The questions that move all European societies is how to 
 
deal with the growing Muslim minority and their sometimes backward 
customs, and how we can isolate the small number of Islamic 
extremists.  The response of the referendum is far too simple.  The 
 
ban of building minarets is not a ban on building mosques, but it 
throws back Switzerland into a time before the Enlightenment and 
tolerance, which Europe had worked hard for in the past and which 
had 
made the multiethnic Switzerland such a model of success....  The 
outright ban is a slap into the face of all Muslims in Switzerland. 
 
The referendum shows how deeply rooted the fear of Islam is in 
Europe 
and that political elites, not just in Switzerland, have not taken 
the 
matter seriously enough." 
 
Mass tabloid Bild opined: "Have intolerance and xenophobia 
prevailed? 
This was rather the concern that minarets could one day outnumber 
church steeples.  You could probably expect a similar result in 
Germany if the people were asked in a referendum because the minaret 
 
is not just a symbol of a religion, but that of a whole different 
culture.   Large parts of the Islamic world do not share our 
European 
values; the legacy of the Enlightenment, equal rights for men and 
women, the separation between church and state, rule of law 
independent from the Bible and Quran...   There is another reason 
for 
the outcome:  nowhere in the world is it so difficult for Christians 
 
to live as in Islamic countries. Those who are intolerant themselves 
 
must not expect unqualified tolerance." 
 
Spiegel Online remarked in an editorial: "This is a shockingly clear 
 
success of far-right politicians... The initiators managed to 
interpret 
the controversy over minarets as a symbolic referendum on the 
influence of Islam.  They talked little about minarets and much 
about 
the Sharia, burka and the oppression of women in the Islamic 
world.... 
This was a virtual debate that had little to do with the Swiss 
reality 
because the country with 22 percent foreigners has little problems 
with the integration of 400,000 Muslims." 
 
6.   (Dubai)   Financial Crisis 
 
"Returns From Arabian Nights," headlined Sueddeutsche Zeitung 
(11/28) 
argued: "Dubai's Collapse Shows that the Financial Crisis is not yet 
 
over."  The paper added: "There is no reason to panic.  Dubai's 
neighbors have more oil and their strategies are less risky, and 
they 
are able to support their weak brother.  The current problems are 
not 
monstrous enough to cause a conflagration   la Lehman Bros.  That is 
 
why the recovery from the global economy is likely to continue.  But 
 
Dubai's repayment problems are a formidable warning sign that the 
 
BERLIN 00001512  005 OF 006 
 
 
financial crisis is by no means over - and what is threatening the 
global recovery.  In Dubai, too much money was available which was 
invested in risky projects.  To a similar extent, other investments 
or 
other speculation from the years of the crisis will come to the 
fore, 
create damage and delay the return to economic growth.  But the 
disaster in the Gulf will draw attention to the dangers that are 
looming on a global scale.  Now it will become clear what the 
announcements of the most powerful politicians on earth are worth: 
to 
act before the next finance disaster follows.  There have not been 
warnings of smaller and bigger mistakes of various countries.  The 
industrialized nations must quickly implement the ideas that were 
developed in Pittsburgh and intensify their controls of the 
financial 
markets and they should criticize governments which ignore these 
problems.  There is no longer a national economic policy that does 
not 
affect other nations.  It is human to dream of a paradise in the 
desert, but it is stupid to stumble from one crisis to the next." 
 
7.   (China)   Monetary Policy 
 
Under the headline: "Against the Wall," Frankfurter Allgemeine 
(11/30) 
argued: "First, the People's Republic of China allowed the U.S. 
president to run into the wall and now it is [doing the same with] 
Europe's leadership.  Beijing is unwilling to revalue the 
artificially 
low Yuan, which makes it more difficult to export goods and to 
recover 
from the crisis, while China is winding out of the worst 
consequences 
of the crisis.    But in the medium-term, there will be no way 
around 
it: China will have to revaluate its currency.  On the one hand, 
increasing import prices for raw material will increase inflation. 
On 
the other hand, China is not interested in postponing the upswing in 
 
Europe, and, third, a weak Yuan will make it more difficult to 
reduce 
those imbalances that led to the crisis.  The Europeans are right: a 
 
revaluation is also in China's interest and can be handled during an 
 
upswing." 
 
According to Sueddeutsche (11/30), "China will not give in so easily 
 
in the conflict about foreign exchange.   The Chinese are again 
giving 
evidence of their delaying tactics when it comes to the demanded 
revaluation of their currency.  For Europeans and Americans, the 
waiting for the reform of the Chinese foreign exchange policy has 
turned into a play of patience.  They can only wait and see what 
will 
happen because they do not have the means to exert pressure on China 
 
to take action.  And in the near future, they will have to continue 
to 
play this role.  The Communist Party has hardly an interest in a 
strong Renminbi because this would inevitably result in weaker 
exports 
and bankruptcies.  The foundation on which China's economic growth 
is 
based is shaky.  And before this does not change, China will be 
 
BERLIN 00001512  006 OF 006 
 
 
unwilling to eliminate the pegging to the dollar and to leave it to 
 
the laws of the market" 
 
8.   (Germany)   Demjanjuk Trial 
 
Under the headline "The old man and the truth," Frankfurter 
Rundschau 
(11/30) reported on the trial against the suspected war criminal 
Demjanjuk, which is supposed to begin today.  "Demjanjuk sees 
himself 
as a victim, who has been a prisoner of war.  This trial will be a 
cat 
and mouse game with delaying tactics and legal subtleties.  This is 
 
part of the rule of law, and even suspected Nazi criminals can enjoy 
 
this right.  However, it is undignified."   Die Welt editorialized: 
 
"In the trial against Demjanjuk, an autonomous society is passing 
judgment on a person who knew nothing else but a collective murder 
policy.  First, there was Stalin's starvation policy on Ukraine, and 
 
then there was Hitler's terror.  The judges want to assess the 
individual guilt of the accused person in a fair trial.  This is not 
 
an easy job." 
 
MURPHY