From: <a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/spesial/wikileaksdokumenter/article3965565.ece">Aftenposten</a><br>
Date: 2006-09-29
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S E C R E T COPENHAGEN 001327
SIPDIS
NOFORN SIPDIS
E.O. 12958:
DECL: 09/27/2016
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PTER, DA
SUBJECT: CARTOON ANNIVERSARY: DANISH PAPER DECIDES AGAINST
REPRINTING MOHAMMED DRAWINGS
Classified By: Ambassador James P. Cain, reasons 1.4b,d

1. (S/NF)
Summary: To mark the one-year anniversary this weekend of its 
publication of Mohammed cartoons, the Danish daily "Jyllands-Posten" 
weighed, but ultimately decided against reprinting the caricatures, at 
least so soon after the controversy stirred by the Pope´s speech. Our 
discreet discussions with the paper and with senior Danish government 
officials underscore both how close we came to another potential crisis 
and how much the defense of free speech and domestic political 
calculations remain paramount for the government and for many Danes. End
summary.

Another Cartoon Crisis Averted 
------------------------------

2. (S/NF)
Post´s public affairs 
counselor learned from a "Jyllands-Posten" journalist (strictly protect)
last week that the paper was considering several options to commemorate
the cartoons´ first anniversary September 30, including re-publishing 
the original cartoons or running new ones on the subject. The paper,s 
fiery cultural editor, Flemming Rose, had recently resumed his job, 
after several months in the U.S., and was reportedly pushing for 
re-publication. The Ambassador called Prime Minister Rasmussen´s 
national security advisor, Bo Lidegaard, to ask if this was true and to 
find out how the government was going to handle the issue. If we 
believed the paper was going to re-publish the cartoons, the Ambassador 
stressed, we would need to notify our government and help prepare our 
embassies around the world for possible reaction. Lidegaard was clearly 
surprised by the question, stunned that the paper would consider such 
provocation.

3. (S/NF)
In a subsequent conversation with the 
Ambassador September 26, Lidegaard confirmed that "Jyllands-Posten" was 
weighing a second run of the cartoons but indicated that the government 
did not want to get directly involved in the matter. So sensitive was 
the issue, Lidegaard told the Ambassador confidentially, that the prime 
minister´s office had made a conscious decision not to alert the foreign
ministry or the intelligence services. (RAO´s sounding of a senior 
intelligence official days earlier suggested that the service was not 
paying any attention to the looming anniversary.) Furthermore, Lidegaard
explicitly warned against any attempt by us to openly influence the 
paper´s decision, which, if made public, the prime minister would have 
to condemn, he said. Lidegaard agreed, however, that no harm would come 
from a straightforward query from us to "Jyllands-Posten" about their 
plans.

4. (S/NF)
With that, the Ambassador telephoned 
"Jyllands-Posten" editor-in-chief Carsten Juste, and asked straight out 
about his paper´s intentions for commemorating the anniversary. Juste 
told the Ambassador that he and his team had been considering 
re-publication, but concluded that such a move would be unwise, 
especially so soon after the controversy caused by the Pope´s Regensburg
remarks. The Ambassador welcomed this news, noting that none of us 
wanted a repeat of the crisis earlier this year. Lidegaard was 
demonstrably relieved when the Ambassador reported this exchange a short
time later.

How Could It Happen Again? 
--------------------------

5. (C)
For all the shock of the 
cartoon crisis and Denmark´s heightened sensitivity to the Islamic 
world´s concerns and the challenges of better integrating its own 
200,000-strong Muslim population, there are still a lot of Danes who 
welcome confrontation with those they consider extremists and oppose any
sign of retreat on core values such as free speech. The 
anti-immigration Danish People´s Party, which votes with the government 
coalition, may be the most vocal on the subject (as well as the party 
that gained the most politically from the crisis). There are also many 
within the governing Liberal and Conservative parties who remain highly 
motivated in defense of free speech and Western culture. More broadly, 
Danes are conflicted, if not divided, recognizing the challenges posed 
by radical Islam to traditional Danish values but holding fast to their 
image of themselves as committed to tolerance and multiculturalism.


6. (C)
In the wake of the cartoon crisis, free speech has become, more 
than ever before, a "third rail" issue in Danish politics. Even the 
government´s principal rivals cannot bring themselves to fault the prime
minister for more than tactical missteps in his handling of the crisis,
while Rasmussen himself remains convinced that a firm, no-concessions 
approach in defense of free speech is the winning course. A poll 
published September 28 shows that a year later, despite the worldwide 
violence attributed to their publication, 46.7 percent of Danes support 
the original decision to publish the cartoons. A popular book published 
earlier this month, "Islamists and Naivists," written by two prominent 
Danish commentators, sees the cartoon crisis as part of the overall 
threat to Western values from Islamic radicalism. PM Rasmussen continues
to view the cartoon issue first and foremost as a domestic political 
issue, certainly more aware of the international implications but no 
more inclined to put them before the reaction at home.

7. (C/NF)
When, then, the newspaper that ignited Denmark´s worst foreign policy 
crisis in sixty years essentially threatened to do it all over again, 
the prime minister apparently concluded that the potential costs of 
being seen to intervene against free speech outweighed even the risk of 
another uproar. The Danish government might not have been able to 
dissuade the paper´s editors in any case; one could also argue that 
another such provocation is inevitable. It seems clear from this 
episode, though, that Rasmussen´s first priority was to stay on the 
right side of the free speech issue and avoid any suggestion of 
concession.

Comment
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8. (C/NF)
Comment: This 
episode illustrates that the Danes have drawn mixed lessons from their 
experience in the cartoon crisis. These lessons have positive and 
negative implications for the U.S. On the good side, the Danes have 
stepped up engagement in promotion of democracy and reform abroad, 
especially in the Middle East. They now recognize the need to improve 
integration and outreach to the country´s immigrant communities. Since 
the cartoon crisis, they have extended troop mandates in Iraq and 
Afghanistan. On the negative side, though, this popular center-right 
government has hardened its views on the absolute primacy of free 
speech. The prime minister appeared willing to let Jyllands-Posten 
dictate the timing of the next Islam vs. West confrontation without 
question or open discussion within the government. While this 
particularly vulnerable moment of the cartoon anniversary may pass 
without violence, our discussions this past week remind us that the 
Danish front in what they see as a clash of civilizations could reopen 
at any time.

CAIN
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