Falling in Love Again

Washington has begun a new charm offensive in Germany with President Bush giving an exclusive interview to Germany’s Bild am Sonntag. But before I touch on that, let’s look at Merkel’s trip to Washington a few days ago. Foreign Policy’s Blog predicted that Merkel will step up and take the lead on Iran, acting as an honest broker between the West and Iran. Merkely was recently in Russia pressing Putin to take a harder line. FP Passport notes:

Since Merkel took office, Germany has made strengthening ties with the U.S. a priority, and it has earned the trust of the current administration on the issue of Iran. As a part of the EU-3 pressure against Iran nuclear proliferation and a strong opponent of the Iraq war, Germany has credibility as a firm negotiator on Iran without being tainted by too close an association with the United States. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it enjoys some of the closest economic ties with Iran, and support for punitive measures lets Iran know that economics won’t trump security concerns.

Indeed, according to the CIA, Germany is Iran’s biggest import partner, accounting for 12.8 of its trade. German sanctions would sting. During Merkel’s visit to the US, she and Bush gave a speech at the 100th anniversary of the American Jewish Committe.

Merkel directly confronted the “reign of terror” of Nazi Germany, saying that the Holocaust made it Germany’s duty to combat anti- Semitism, racism and xenophobia. She also praised the AJC for building bridges between American Jews and her country.

[...] Merkel also used the high-profile appearance before the American Jewish community to underscore Germany’s commitment on foreign-policy issues important to Israel. She said Iran cannot be allowed to develop nuclear weapons and that Hamas must recognize Israel’s right to exist and renounce terrorism.

Their talk was an important step in German-US relations and against Iran. Bush tones down the threats a little, emphasizing diplomacy and multilateralism while showing Americans that he didn’t ruin our relations with Europe and instead that Europe is coming back to us. Merkel scores points at home for helping to “tame” American rhetoric while emphasizing Germany’s wish to rely on diplomacy, but as before, was able to make veiled threats of force to please America and show that Europe won’t bend over as Schröder and Chirac would want.

As for Bush, his interview yesterday in a German newspaper consisted largely of regurgitated lines from the past but contained a very very important message aimed at the German public. Below is my translation of the German text.

Bild: Do the Americans have the feeling that they were abandoned by the Germans in the war against Saddam Hussein?

I’ve slowly realized that part of the nature of the German people is that they detest war. The Germans just don’t like war, regardless of where they stand on the political spectrum. And I can understand that. There’s a generation of people whose lives were destroyed by it.

I made by decision at the time fully conscious that threats must be met head on, before they become a reality. And I fully understood that not everyone would agree on that. So, we created a meaningful alliance and followed through on this difficult decision.

Now its not important what happened in the past but rather how we can work together to reach important goals. One such goal is democracy in Iraq and I’m very thankful for the support of the German government, the previous and current, in helping the Iraqis rebuild their lives. Training missions are important as well as the debt forgiveness. Gerhard Schröder forgave Iraq of its debts.

All of these gestures are very meaningful. They show that the Germans, despite not agreeing with the decision to go to war with Iraq, understand that the success of democracy in Iraq is extremely important. That’s how I see our relationship.

Click for Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview (German). He also went on to discuss Iran and that we should take its threats seriously.

However, the underlined passage is key. The German public still feels shunned (not that it matters they did it to us first) because of Iraq and that the US has simply brushed them aside and forgotten about them due to their opposition to the war. I can’t stress enough how essential that first statement was. The Germans never believed that the US really understood why the German public was against the war and this is a clear message to everyday Germans that America understands you, we know why you you were against this war and any other war, and we aren’t holding a grudge (like Germans are!).

Bush has made up in fairly clear language and called for a fresh start in US-German relations. Ask yourself why this interview wasn’t with a French newspaper, or Russian. Merkel is meant to take point on Iran. The ball is in Germany’s court and we can expect Chancellor Markel to take it and run.

NOTE:The disgusting excuse for news, Spiegel, has tried to put a negative spin on this with the headline that “Bush forgives Germany for their opposition to the war.” As usual, David’s Medienkritik shows you the blatantly incorrect translation.