[Guardian Unlimited, U.K.]

Frankfurter Rundschau, Germany

That Was Bush …

"No tears of good-bye. Bush will be remembered as the president who led the world into a devastating war, based his policies on lies and preached freedom while practicing Guantánamo. His successor will move into the White House in January. Be it Obama or McCain: It can only get better."

By Uwe Vorkötter

Translated By Ulf Behncke

June 10, 2008

Germany - Frankfurter Rundschau - Original Article (German)

This was never going to work. George W. Bush and the Germans. There's not a trace of sympathy to be found, hardly any respect and little political common ground. Bush will be remembered as the president who led the world into a devastating war, based his policies on lies and preached freedom while practicing Guantánamo. When Angela Merkel receives her guest for his farewell visit today [June 10], there will be no reason to shed any tears. We'll be relieved to be rid of the man with the simplistic worldview and the foolish smirk. His successor will be elected in November and move into the White House in January. Be it Obama or McCain: It can only get better.

During the Bush era, the world has come no closer to peace. Quite the contrary. The conflict in the Middle East is farther from being resolved than ever; Israel is not more secure than before. The culture clash between the West and the Muslim world is escalating; American foreign policy is being set by generals rather than diplomats. Oh yes … nearly seven years after September 11th, 2001, bin Laden is alive - somewhere in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Since then, the war on terror has claimed far more victims than the terrorists themselves. Conclusion: in terms of global politics, Bush's years were wasted years.

And not just in terms of global politics. During this period there has been significant damage to German-American as well as European-American relations. This is political collateral damage that will undoubtedly go unmentioned at Merkel's Meseburg guesthouse. We will instead delve deeply into the past, remembering the Berlin Airlift  and the Marshall Plan  without which the German "economic miracle " that occurred after the second world war would have been inconceivable.

Thanks America. But sixty years later it's not enough to rehash old stories on every anniversary and maintain the pathos of the past. Unless one considers the relationship as an affair of elder statesmen who, in more or less intellectual circles, ponder why Europe needs America - and vice versa; and that the demise of the Christian West can only be prevented by working together.

Or one can approach relations between Berlin and Washington the same way as the German chancellor. In yesterday's edition of Süddeutsche Zeitung, Angela Merkel contributed a remarkable guest opinion in which - after dutifully referring to the pathos of the Marshall Plan - gets to what from her point of view is the real point: that a harmonization of safety standards between the E.U. and U.S. would reduce the cost of auto production by up to 7 seven percent. Furthermore, we find out that all sorts of standards should be uniform; that International Financial Reporting Standards  - our chancellor knows the details - must be recognized by the Americans, and that there's room for compromise in the importation of American poultry … This is not the deputy trade secretary. No - this is what matters to the boss. Absurd. 

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

By the way, oil prices are reaching new records almost every day, which is threatening the global economy. Food prices are rising dramatically which is social dynamite in poor countries. The international financial crisis, which originates in America, is far from being overcome. A few of these questions should be brought up again, perhaps even the vexing issue of climate policy, but it's obvious that Merkel and Bush will not do so.

Let us absolve the chancellor, given the fact that Bush is now a lame duck - which is what every U.S. president is called shortly before the end of his term in office - and so is practically impotent in terms of decision-making and can no longer be taken seriously. We can still hope for improvement as of November - or at the latest in January, 2009.

George W. Bush as a "lame duck" - ultimately the image does have its benefits. The president has often threatened to bring his Iraq-war version of peace and freedom to Iran. But oops, he can't do it again. Because his time is nearly up. Finally.

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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US June 15, 12:15pm]