Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 51122 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 09BERLIN589, MEDIA REACTION: MIDEAST, GITMO, BALKANS, SRI LANKA, BURMA,

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #09BERLIN589.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09BERLIN589 2009-05-19 12:02 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Berlin
R 191202Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 4133
INFO WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC
SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
DIA WASHINGTON DC
CIA WASHINGTON DC
DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
FRG COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 
AMEMBASSY LONDON 
AMEMBASSY PARIS 
AMEMBASSY ROME 
USMISSION USNATO 
USMISSION USOSCE 
HQ USAFE RAMSTEIN AB GE
HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//J5 DIRECTORATE (MC)//
CDRUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
UDITDUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
UNCLAS BERLIN 000589 
 
 
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" 
 
E.0. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO GM US IS BK CE BM RS
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: MIDEAST, GITMO, BALKANS, SRI LANKA, BURMA, 
DISARMAMENT 
 
1.   Lead Stories Summary 
2.   Israeli PM Netanyahu in Washington 
3.   Guantnamo Prisoners 
4.   VP Biden in Bosnia and Herzegovina 
5.   End of Sri Lankan Civil War 
6.   Burmese Trial against Aung San Suu Kyi 
7.   U.S.-Russian Disarmament Talks 
 
 
1.   Lead Stories Summary 
 
ZDF-TV's early evening newscast Heute opened with a story on the 
strikes in kindergartens, and ARD-TV's early evening newscast 
Tagesschau opened with a story on the 2007 German Poverty Report. 
Newspapers led with stories on carmaker Porsche, the poverty report, 
and the resignation of the head of the West LB state bank.  Die Welt 
focused on the German health care system.  Editorials focused on the 
poverty report and the dispute between carmakers Porsche and VW. 
 
2.   Israeli PM Netanyahu in Washington 
 
Under the headline "Netanyahu withstands Obama - for the time 
being," Berliner Zeitung editorialized: "Israeli and Palestinian 
peace activists would be desperate if they did not have a last hope: 
Barack Obama, who will tell the conflicting parties how to reach a 
two-state solution.  This was Obama's intention when he met with 
Netanyahu yesterday.  Not just during their tte-`-tte but also in 
front of cameras, Obama clearly said what is necessary to achieve a 
peaceful co-existence of Israelis and Palestinians, namely a stop of 
the settlement building in the West Bank and opportunities for the 
people in the Gaza Strip.  Netanyahu does not share any of these 
thoughts.  However, he tried to conceal that as best as possible 
during his visit to the White House.  Netanyahu avoided opposing the 
man who can.  Both of them know that they will have to work together 
a great deal in the future, for instance on Iran.  Netanyahu sees 
Tehran as a threat, while Obama believes a dialogue with the mullahs 
could be a means to resolve the conflict.  Despite all the 
differences, Obama and Netanyahu avoided an open clash.  Their 
meeting did not exactly look like the beginning of a great 
friendship.  However, mutual trust is timidly growing, which is 
important if we want to get the Mideast peace process moving 
again." 
 
3.   Guantnamo Prisoners 
 
Under the headline "George W. Obama," FT Deutschland editorialized 
that, "from a tactical point of view, the decision to continue the 
military tribunals for detainees in Guantanamo might be right. 
However, it is a moral and legal disaster."  The paper added: 
"There are hundreds of reasons why Americans and the rest of the 
world found Barack Obama so fantastic.  He is rhetorically brilliant 
and looks impressive.  Above all, he promised one thing: change.... 
Obama has now seriously damaged his reputation.  He does not want to 
prosecute CIA officials who have tortured in the name of Bush 
government.  Contrary to a court decision, he does not want to 
publish photos that show the mistreatment by U.S. soldiers in Iraq 
and Afghanistan.  And now, Obama wants to resurrect military 
tribunals by which the Bush government wanted to try terror suspects 
irrespective of western legal principles.  The decision is not a 
belated realization but a regrettable wavering of a man who faces a 
catastrophic heritage....  These detainees must be brought before an 
orderly court - with all the rights an accused person has.  This is 
complicated and takes time....  However, these are the rules and 
they are the best the U.S. and other democracies have.  This is what 
differentiates democracies from dictatorships, authoritarian and 
religious regimes.  The rule of law is our greatest achievement and 
we must not ignore it simply because it is inconvenient.  It is even 
worse that Obama's caving in is welcomed on our side of the 
Atlantic.  Unlike supporters of military tribunals claim, there is 
an alternative to them." 
 
4.   VP Biden in Bosnia 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine stated in a lengthy report on "U.S. Vice 
President Biden's voyage through southeastern Europe" that "his 
itinerary alone is a political issue.  The fact that he begins his 
talks in the Bosnia-Herzegovina capital is seen as contempt of the 
Serbian claim to be the key country in the region.  The fact that 
the guest from the West is also travelling to Kosovo, which Serbia 
views as a non-state and a renegade Serbian province, will not make 
Biden's talks easier.  However, it is right to focus more on Bosnia 
since Kosovo's declaration of independence last year got off so 
lightly.  American and European diplomacy has seriously neglected 
the three-nation state in recent years." 
 
5.   End of Sri Lankan Civil War 
 
Frankfurter Rundschau argued: "Now the Tamils can not only bury 
their dream of their own state, but they are even more defenseless 
in their home than before the war.  Their fate is now in the hands 
of the Singhalese government, which can be described with all kinds 
of adjectives, but not with the term trustworthy.  But Premier 
Mahinda Rajapakse could easily demonstrate greatness in the moment 
of triumph and extend his hand to the Tamils.  He has the chance to 
do so this Tuesday when he will deliver his victory address....  The 
most important means of pressure the world now has to help the 
Tamils is money.  For the time being, the U.S. has blocked a loan 
with the IMF.  This was good.  It must link its 'yes' to forcing the 
Sri Lankan government to allow the Tamils a life in dignity.  But 
this view can succeed only if Japan and China, the two biggest 
donors for Sri Lanka, back this policy.  Thus far, they do not seem 
to care about the fate of the Tamils." 
 
In an editorial Financial Times Deutschland judged: "President 
Rajapakse waged this war with partly inhumane cynicism.  For this 
victory, he sacrificed not only the lives of thousands of Tamil 
civilians but partly also the freedom of the entire population.  In 
Sri Lanka, the freedom of the press and other democratic rights were 
ignored.  Even in the moment of triumph, the West must name such 
human rights violations and strongly condemn them.  If the West 
wants to be taken seriously in Colombo, this criticism should not 
only be noble and naove.  Especially a country such as Sri Lanka, 
which has a strong democratic tradition, cannot afford a relapse 
into barbarism.  This war also focuses on values.  The problem is 
that the island has suffered for a long time from the barbaric 
terror of the Tamil rebels, and it now has a partner in China that 
is not interested in human rights." 
 
Regional daily Stuttgarter Zeitung opined: "There are almost no 
indications for the hope that the state will now integrate the 
Tamils.  The treatment of the Tamils beyond the former LTTE areas, 
especially in the refugee camps...was and continues to be inhumane. 
The prime minister, who has always ridden on the ticket of 
nationalists, will hardly change his understanding of the state. 
The insight from many parts of the world ranging from Northern 
Ireland, the Basque Provinces, Kosovo to Aceh and East Timor that 
minorities deserve rights instead of bullets in the 21st century 
will have wait for quite some time to be realized in Sri Lanka.  The 
military struggle has now been decided, but the Tamil conflict has 
by no means been resolved." 
 
According to die tageszeitung, "the death of rebel leader 
Prabhakaran should increase the chances to make peace.  But in view 
of the inhumane way with which this victory was achieved on the back 
of hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians, that does not allow us 
to expect the end of the violence.  The leadership of the war and 
its political, propagandistic accompaniment again demonstrated that 
the Tamils have every reason to revolt against the dominant 
Singhalese policy.  Thus far the government has not sent any signals 
of placing ethnic relations on a new basis.  But this would be 
necessary to open the Tamils a promising way to achieve autonomy and 
equal rights." 
 
6.   Burmese Trial against Aung San Suu Kyi 
 
"Burma's Icon, Unbroken," is the headline in Frankfurter Rundschau 
which reports: "Despite her 13 years under house arrest, Burma's 
Peace Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is unbroken.  According to 
opposition sources, the 63-year old woman did not show any trace of 
tiredness, weakness or despair at the beginning of her trial on 
Monday.  Right from the start she put the military regime on the 
defensive." 
 
Die Welt carried a report under the headline: "Burma's National Hero 
Demonstrates Combative Behavior before Court," and writes: "The 
internationally criticized trial against opposition leader Aung San 
Suu Kyi has been postponed right after its beginning. At the 
beginning of the trial, the 63-year-old woman demonstrated a 
combative behavior and she refused to enter the court room because 
the prosecutors did not call her by her full name.  Foreign Minister 
Steinmeier called for an end to the trial and the immediate release 
of the Burmese politician.  He said: 'The renewed arrest and the 
trial against Aung San Suu Kyi is evidence of the continued 
disrespect of the most elementary human rights in Myanmar.'" 
 
Frankfurter Rundschau noted: "The wrong play has now begun and the 
regime in Burma seems to be determined to play it until the bitter 
end.  The accusations are as ridiculous as the attempts of the 
military to give the macabre trial the disguise of the rule of law. 
Maybe the generals like to show to the world how powerless they 
really are.  Neighboring India, the biggest democracy in the world, 
did not express any criticism...and the United States has not come 
up with anything else but new sanctions.  This looks as helpless as 
the attempt by European diplomats to observe the trial in the Insein 
prison to 'make a stand.'  They were refused entry without turning a 
hair." 
 
Die Welt observed: "What the outside world thinks [about Aung San 
Suu Kyi's trial] does not matter.  A fragile 63-year-old woman is 
fighting the power apparatus with no other weapon than her moral 
authority, the dignity of suffering and the quiet understanding of 
the majority of the oppressed.  On the one hand, the powers-that-be 
feel safe, because China is supporting them thanks to Burma's oil 
and strategic resources.  On the other hand, they have transferred 
their capital far into the North as if they were fleeing.  Give or 
take the Nobel Peace prize, these are nothing but insignificant 
concerns of the West." 
 
7.   U.S.-Russian Disarmament Talks 
 
Frankfurter Allgemeine carried a report headlined: "A New Start 
Attempt in Russian-U.S. Relations," and reported: "A success of the 
disarmament talks could be considered a confirmation for the success 
of a new beginning in U.S.-Russian relations which considerably 
cooled down over the past few years.  At the moment, both sides at 
least seem to agree that a new disarmament treaty must focus to the 
same extent on warheads and on carrier systems.  Russian statements 
before the talks also show that the problems that led to the failure 
of previous attempts for a new disarmament agreement are still 
virulent.  In view of the problems, there is skepticism in Moscow 
that the negotiations will succeed." 
 
Handelsblatt argued that "from a formal point of view, the issue is 
to save the START Treaty.  But when the U.S. and Russian envoys meet 
in Moscow this week, then more will be on the table: the treatment 
of Iran, the missile defense shield, non-proliferation and far away 
on the horizon, a world without nuclear weapons.  Six weeks before 
the meeting between Barack Obama and Dmitrij Medvedev, at least the 
American wants to remove as many obstacles as possible.  And this 
fits the policy that Vice President Biden announced after the change 
of power: a new beginning in relations with Russia.  However, the 
new Russian security doctrine is heading in a different direction. 
It is true that it avoids the doctrine of the Cold War, but the 
Russian authors continue to focus on the fact that Moscow is not 
negotiating at eye level with Washington.  The doctrine gives plenty 
of room to the restoration of this former state.  Even 20 years 
after the fall of the Wall, the Russian cosmos in security policy is 
still focusing on the bipolar world between Moscow and Washington. 
But the path to cooperation has fewer stumbling blocks than just a 
few weeks ago.  Basically the chances are good that the disarmament 
talks will not exhaust themselves in counting warheads but will 
really focus on a new start of U.S.-Russian relations.  Making this 
happen will depend primarily on one person: Dmitrij Medvedev." 
 
KOENIG