Cablegate: Media Reaction: President Obama's Address On Afghanistan

VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #1425 3380822
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 040822Z DEC 09
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2859
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 9560
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0951

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001425

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/P, EAP/PD - THOMAS HAMM
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S ADDRESS ON AFGHANISTAN

Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused news
coverage December 4 on the lead-up to the city mayors' and county
magistrates' elections scheduled for December 5; and on a
Taiwan-born fashion designer, who won the award in the Gen Art's
Styles International Design Competition's "avant-gardes" category in
New York on Wednesday . In terms of editorials and commentaries, a
column in the KMT-leaning "China Times" discussed U.S. President
Barack Obama's Tuesday address on Afghanistan and questioned the
viability of Obama's plan to duplicate the United States' strategy
in Iraq and use it in Afghanistan. End summary.

"Is It Viable to Duplicate the 'Iraq Strategy' in Afghanistan?"

The "International Lookout" column in the KMT-leaning "China Times"
[circulation: 120,000] wrote (12/4):

"It appears that the U.S. government is moving the strategy it
implemented in Iraq 'to pretend to move ahead in order to hide its
intention to retreat' to Afghanistan. Should this be the case, it
is perhaps because [U.S. President Barack] Obama failed to come up
with any better resolution and will just give this a try for the
time being. But the strategy 'to pretend to move ahead in order to
hide its intention to retreat' only produced effects in Iraq for a
while and cannot resolve the problem completely. Besides,
Afghanistan is no Iraq; will it really work if one uses pain killers
for a headache to cure diarrhea? ...

"In Afghanistan, Obama is also thinking of sending more troops there
in the short run, and has urged other 'allies' to do the same. But
unlike the armed groups scattered within the boundary of Iraq, the
Taliban is an organized armed force with rich combat experience.
The armed groups in Iraq aim to push the U.S. troops out of its
territory by encircling and harassing them. But the goal of the
Taliban is to regain political power in Afghanistan, and with the
support of some of the Afghanistan people, particularly the
Pashtuns, it will be difficult for the United States to undermine
and isolate it. ... What about Afghanistan? One can use 'a great
mess' to sum up the recent presidential election in Afghanistan,
where those in charge of election matters were involved in
fraudulent practices and the opposition factions did not recognize
the legitimacy of the election results. Even the United States
could not do anything about it; all it could do was to force itself
to recognize the corrupt Karzai administration. Will this
administration be able to rule Afghanistan for the United States?"

STANTON

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