US embassy cable - 03HARARE2196

UNCLAS HARARE 002196 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS 
IRAQ PD FOR SMITH, PINESS AND ROOKARD 
AF FOR RAYNOR 
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, KMDR, ZI 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REPORT KANSTEINER UNDER FIRE; HARARE 
 
 
  1.   Under headline "Kansteiner: from C-130 to Carrots" the 
      government-controlled daily "The Herald" (11/02), 
      circulation 55 to 70,000, carried the following op-ed by 
      Nathaniel Manheru, a. k. a. Jonathan Moyo (Information 
      Minister), under his regular column "The Other Side" in 
      which he brags about Robert Mugabe's make-believe 
      invincibility against the United States, before taking a 
      jab at the outgoing Assistant Secretary of State for 
      African Affairs, Walter Kansteiner, saying " he bows out 
      with the limp of a defeated man whose instigatory advice on 
      Zimbabwe has yielded a hefty policy failure for the Bush 
      administration."  Excerpts: 
 
  2.   "Talking about the Americans, Assistant Secretary of 
      State for African Affairs, Walter Kansteiner has 
      called it quits, but not before conceding in his 
      valedictory interview that President Mugabe has been 
      an impossible nut for America to crack.  Far from 
      coming across as a bellicose proponent of `regime 
      change' and `challenge to Zimbabwe's sovereignty,' 
      the man whimpers about using `a combination of 
      carrots and sticks,' not even on the President and 
      his government, but `on all players.'  Admitting 
      that the opposition which he euphemistically terms 
      `the civil society' is `hanging on by a thread,' 
      Kansteiner comes across much softer, as almost 
      unaware of America's weapons of shock and awe, C-130 
      included, which he once threatened America would 
      deploy to challenge Zimbabwe's sovereignty.  Like 
      his predecessor Chester Crooker, he bows out with 
      the limp of a defeated man whose instigatory advice 
      on Zimbabwe has yielded a hefty policy failure for 
      the Bush administration.  After all, while George 
      may get sticks in the Bush, he certainly has no 
      carrots.  And even if he had them, he would soon 
      discover that the world does not live on carrots 
      alone.  Let him ask his buffeted men in Iraq. 
      Meanwhile I say, to Kansteiner: kwaheri the mourned 
      one.  As you tread softly into complete oblivion, 
      Studio 7 whispers its own epitaph and together you 
      shall be where America buries its defeated cold 
      warriors." 
 
SULLIVAN