Moves by Germany to Mend Relations Rebuffed by Bush [New York Times: International News]
The newly-elected government of Chancellor Schroeder are suffering the hangover of their ill-judged election tactic of anti-Americanism - an easy card to play, pandering to the cartoon-character, Wild West image of George W presented by the European tabloid press, but not an easy position to back away from. It appears that German-US relations have fundamentally changed, and will not be the same again, despite Chancellor Schroeder's apologies, which have been bluntly, and justifiably, rebuffed.
As an opinion piece by Andrew Gimson in the Daily Telegraph today put it:
Gerhard Schröder has won another four years as chancellor by campaigning against President George W. Bush. He was not just rude to the Americans; he was treacherous. After the attack on the World Trade Centre, he promised them Germany's "unconditional solidarity", yet barely a year later they found him breezily announcing that, in case of war - even a war sanctioned by the UN - the German armoured vehicles in Kuwait will be withdrawn. The purpose of these sealed vehicles is to detect whether biological, chemical or radioactive weapons have been fired by the enemy - now we find that, if and when the first shot is fired, the Germans will scarper.
No wonder Washington is incandescent with rage. As Condoleezza Rice, Mr Bush's national security adviser, said, relations between the two countries have been "poisoned". She particularly objected, as well she might, to the comparison one of Mr Schröder's ministers, Herta Daubler-Gmelin, made between Mr Bush and Hitler.
For the German justice minister to drag the old fiend into the election campaign was quite something. Mr Schröder yesterday dispensed with the services of Mrs Daubler-Gmelin, but relations between Berlin and Washington will never be the same.
How ironic that it is Joschka Fischer, old 1960's radical, anti-Vietnam war protestor, now Foreign Minister and leader of the Greens, whose increased share of the vote made possible the narrow Schroeder win, who now has the task of repairing the relationship:
Mr. Fischer said he expected difficulties in the future. "The years ahead of us will be very, very tough," he said. "History will be very shaky, very bumpy."
It was Mr. Fischer's Greens who delivered victory for the red-green coalition — "the first time in Germany that the left has ever defended a majority," Mr. Fischer noted.
Having led the Greens through an election that made it the third largest party, was Mr. Fischer happy?
"Today is a day of happiness," he said, smiling broadly. "But I know I'll pay a bitter price for this happiness, this one sweet day of happiness."
The Telegraph piece goes on to sensibly fill in the reasons why the anti-American tactic was so successful, and in some sense justified, and leads on to this conclusion:
All this amounts to a healthy growth in German self-confidence, at least in foreign affairs. They got rid of the Russians and now get on well with them, better at the moment than they do with the Americans. Part of the metamorphosis into an independent nation comes from throwing off American tutelage, after which relations can resume on a more grown-up footing.
All this is further evidence that the Atlantic Alliance, which has anchored the US-Europe relationship and been a constant in world affairs as long as I have been alive, since the end of World War II, is irrevocably changing, as has been argued in several thoughtful articles I have linked to in the last few months (like here and here).
How then, to respond to Andrew Sulllivan's interesting piece in the Sunday Times two days ago, describing the special relationship between Tony Blair and George W, and the beneficial influence dear Tony has not only on the US president, but also his liberal opponents in the USA and in Europe? Seems to be counter to the trend, and in Andrew's view, shows just how smart Blair is.
12:27:09 PM 
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