DER SPIEGEL - Could George W. Bush Be Right?

[RonOnGuitar]

It seems they're finally trying out some rational "logical thinking" rather than "emotional thinking".

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DER SPIEGEL: Could George W. Bush Be Right?



By Claus Christian Malzahn in Berlin



Germany loves to criticize US President George W. Bush's Middle East policies -- just like Germany loved to criticize former President Ronald Reagan. But Reagan, when he demanded that Gorbachev remove the Berlin Wall, turned out to be right. Could history repeat itself?



Quick quiz. He was re-elected as president of the United States despite being largely disliked in the world -- particularly in Europe. The Europeans considered him to be a war-mongerer and liked to accuse him of allowing his deep religious beliefs to become the motor behind his foreign policy. Easy right?



Actually, the answer isn't as obvious as it might seem. President Ronald Reagan's visit to Berlin in 1987 was, in many respects, very similar to President George W. Bush's visit to Mainz on Wednesday. Like Bush's visit, Reagan's trip was likewise accompanied by unprecedented security precautions. A handpicked crowd cheered Reagan in front of the Brandenburg Gate while large parts of the Berlin subway system were shut down. And the Germany Reagan was traveling in, much like today's Germany, was very skeptical of the American president and his foreign policy. When Reagan stood before the Brandenburg Gate -- and the Berlin Wall -- and demanded that Gorbachev "tear down this Wall," he was lampooned the next day on the editorial pages. He is a dreamer, wrote commentators. Realpolitik looks different.



But history has shown that it wasn't Reagan who was the dreamer as he voiced his demand. Rather, it was German politicians who were lacking in imagination -- a group who in 1987 couldn't imagine that there might be an alternative to a divided Germany. Those who spoke of reunification were labelled as nationalists and the entire German left was completely uninterested in a unified Germany.



When George W. Bush requests that Chancellor Schroeder -- who, by the way, was also not entirely complimentary of Reagan's 1987 speech -- and Germany become more engaged in the Middle East, everybody on the German side will nod affably. But despite all of the sugar coating the trans-Atlantic relationship has received in recent days, Germany's foreign policy depends on differentiating itself from the United States. And when Bush leaves Europe, the differences will remain. Indeed, Bush's idea of a Middle Eastern democracy imported at the tip of a bayonet is, for Schroeder's Social Democratic Party and his coalition partner the Green Party, the hysterical offspring off the American neo-cons. Even German conservatives find the idea that Arabic countries could transform themselves into enlightened democracies somewhat absurd.



This, in fact, is likely the largest point of disagreement between Europe and the United States -- and one that a President John Kerry likely would not have made smaller: Europeans today -- just like the Europeans of 1987 -- cannot imagine that the world might change. Maybe we don't want the world to change, because change can, of course, be dangerous. But in a country of immigrants like the United States, one actually pushes for change. In Mainz today, the stagnant Europeans came face to face with the dynamic Americans. We Europeans always want to have the world from yesterday, whereas the Americans strive for the world of tomorrow.



During the Cold War, these differences were covered up by clearly shared security and political interests; now, the gaps are becoming visible. The two continents will continue to drift apart despite all of the smiles exchanged today in Mainz, yesterday in Brussels and tomorrow in Bratislava.



It was difficult not to cringe during Reagan's speech in 1987. He didn't leave a single Berlin cliché out of his script. At the end of it, most experts agreed that his demand for the removal of the Wall was inopportune, utopian and crazy.



Yet three years later, East Germany had disappeared from the map. Gorbachev had a lot to do with it, but it was the East Germans who played the larger role. When analysts are confronted by real people, amazing things can happen. And maybe history can repeat itself. Maybe the people of Syria, Iran or Jordan will get the idea in their heads to free themselves from their oppressive regimes just as the East Germans did. When the voter turnout in Iraq recently exceeded that of many Western nations, the chorus of critique from Iraq alarmists was, at least for a couple of days, quieted. Just as quiet as the chorus of Germany experts on the night of Nov. 9, 1989 when the Wall fell.



Just a thought for Old Europe to chew on: Bush might be right, just like Reagan was then.

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Belgians and Iraqis demonstrated peacefully in front of the US Embassy on Tuesday morning to show their support and gratitude for president Bush and the people of the United States.







Iraqis sing and dance to show their gratitude and support for the coalition that brought democracy and freedom to their country.

Edited by: RonOnGuitar at: 2/24/05 21:36

[ans]

"Maybe the people of Syria, Iran or Jordan will get the idea in their heads to free themselves from their oppressive regimes"



. . . could get bloody

[DreamTone7]

Nice post Ron...but I honestly wish it had come from Mr. Burn.

Melody and Instruments for the soul...

[MIKE BURN]

1st. The pictures above do not show "cheering" Iraqi's in Iraq.

They do show cheering Kurds from Turkey in Europe.



2nd. ...see below...

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Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung



Protesters urge Bush to go home

Polls find Germans distrust president



25. Februar 2005 F.A.Z. Weekly. Away from the secure summit site in Mainz on Wednesday, around 10,000 people gathered to roll out an unwelcome mat for President George W. Bush.



”Mr. Bush, you are not welcome in Germany,” said Jürgen Grässlin, a spokesman for the German Peace Association. The protests were a reflection of the anger Bush has caused in Germany since he began pushing in 2002 to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein.



And some of the protesters said they rejected the attempts of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, another opponent of the war, to repair relations with the United States. ”We don't want to come anywhere near these policies,” said Malte Kreutzfeldt, a member of the anti-globalization group Attac. ”That would be a step in the wrong direction.”



An American from New York also joined the protests. ”The United States should withdraw from Iraq. Otherwise, we will have a second Vietnam,” said Matthew Specter, who works in Frankfurt. The demonstrations were held several hundred yards from the castle where Bush and Schröder met.



Polls conducted before Bush's visit showed many Germans were wary of the president. A survey by the institute Infratest Dimap showed that three-quarters of the 500 people interviewed said they distrusted the president.



A separate survey conducted for the newspaper Die Welt found that 67 percent of Germans surveyed said they no longer felt any gratitude to the United States for its rebuilding of Germany after World War II and its support of reunification in 1990. The level of support fell with the age of the people surveyed, the poll showed.

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[MIKE BURN]

Quote:

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DER SPIEGEL



During his trip to Germany on Wednesday, the main highlight of George W. Bush's trip was meant to be a "town hall"-style meeting with average Germans. But with the German government unwilling to permit a scripted event with questions approved in advance, the White House has quietly put the event on ice. Was Bush afraid the event might focus on prickly questions about Iraq and Iran rather than the rosy future he's been touting in Europe this week?



The much-touted American-style "town hall" meeting the White House has been planning with "normal Germans" of everyday walks of life will be missing during his visit to the Rhine River hamlet of Mainz this afternoon. A few weeks ago, the Bush administration had declared that the chat -- which could have brought together tradesmen, butchers, bank employees, students and all other types to discuss trans-Atlantic relations -- would be the cornerstone of President George W. Bush's brief trip to Germany.



State Department diplomats said the meeting would help the president get in touch with the people who he most needs to convince of his policies. Bush's invasion of Iraq and his diplomatic handling of the nuclear dispute with Iran has drawn widespread concern and criticism among the German public. And during a press conference two weeks ago, Bush said Washington is still terribly misunderstood in Europe. All the more reason, it would seem, for him to be pleased about talking to people here.



But on Wednesday, that town hall meeting will be nowhere on the agenda -- it's been cancelled. Neither the White House nor the German Foreign Ministry has offered any official explanation, but Foreign Ministry sources say the town hall meeting has been nixed for scheduling reasons -- a typical development for a visit like this with many ideas but very little time. That, at least, is the diplomats' line. Behind the scenes, there appears to be another explanation: the White House got cold feet. Bush's strategists felt an uncontrolled encounter with the German public would be too unpredictable.



To avoid that messy scenario, the White House requested that rules similar to those applied during Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit two weeks ago also be used in Mainz. Before meeting with students at Paris's Institute of Political Sciences, which preens the country's elite youth for future roles in government, Rice's staff insisted on screening and approving any questions to be asked by students. One question rejected was that of Benjamin Barnier, the 24-year-old son of France's foreign minister, who wanted to ask: "George Bush is not particularly well perceived in the world, particularly in the Middle East. Can you do something to change that?" Instead, the only question of Barnier's that got approval was the question of whether Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority might create a theocratic government based on the Iranian model?



The Germans, though, insisted that a free forum should be exactly that. Wolfgang Ischinger, Germany's Ambassador to the United States, explained to the New York Times last week: "We told them, don't get upset with us if they ask angry questions."



In the end, the town hall meeting was never officially dropped from the agenda of the trip -- instead it was dealt with in polished diplomatic style -- both sides just stopped talking about it.

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[MIKE BURN]

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Thursday, 24 February, 2005, 20:32 GMT



By Paul Reynolds , World Affairs correspondent, BBC News



He came, he saw, but he did not conquer.



Instead, on his visit to Europe, President Bush managed to achieve an uneasy truce.



The White House will be pleased that there were no major rows and that a confident president got his views over without giving too much ground.



For Mr Bush, this visit was about getting over the divisions of the past and projecting his vision of the future - "planting the flag of freedom" around the world, as he puts it.



But the empty streets in the German city of Mainz, which cheered Mr Bush's father as president in 1989, spoke volumes about how this American leader is perceived in parts of old Europe.



He did better in Bratislava, capital of Slovakia. His speech there, sprinkled with his usual references to freedom and liberty - 24 of one and seven of the other - did win applause from the crowd.



This was new Europe after all.

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[HKRockChick]

This is more like the news we're seeing on TV here. That there were huge but peaceful protests.



Is there really much of a chance of "They hate Bush" being in the US papers?

[HKRockChick]

I saw one protester waving a banner that said "We want more trees, not Bushes"!!!!!!!!



hahahahaha we were in splits.

[Galmin]

Quote:

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It seems they're finally trying out some rational "logical thinking" rather than "emotional thinking".

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Ever read Malzahn's other , uh, masterpiece; "crazy about Bush"?