Posted on 07/11/2006 7:17:46 AM PDT by Michael81Dus
BERLIN, July 11 (UPI) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel has praised U.S-German relations and emphasized her readiness to critique President Bush if necessary as his arrival nears.
She said she had spoken about her concerns over the U.S.-run military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "at every meeting we had."
Bush had recently said he was willing to close down Guantanamo.
"Its end may of course not lead to renewed terror threats," Merkel said in a lengthy interview with German TV station RTL.
Merkel, who invited Bush and his wife Laura to visit the eastern German state of Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania, in the interview praised the renewed U.S.-German relations.
"I am happy that we can talk about problems openly, sometimes controversially, and sometimes uniformly," she said. "I have the impression that this is good for Germany, Europe and also for the United States."
Merkel added she saw her role in global politics as "bringing together as many countries as possible."
The Bush visit to Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania is seen by analysts as a sign of a strong rapport between the two leaders.
They say the period of strains between the two countries during the second term of Merkel's predecessor in office, Gerhard Schroeder, has been overcome.
Bush will arrive in Germany Wednesday evening and stay for two nights, before he heads to St. Petersburg, Russia, for the Group of Eight summit.
Freedom is indivisible, and when one man isn´t free, all men are not free. Time for a change in North Korea and Iran.
?? This sentence must be interpreted as "terrorists must not be set free when the camp is closed". Good for her, that she added it.
It's less of a prison than the rest of the island.
LOL, the problem is the legal status. I´d rather see them convicted for membership in a terrorist organisation by a regular court. That´s the least one could charge the inmates with.
I like that, and it´s exactly the role I want for Germany - being a honest broker between the reluctant countries (call them weasels) and the US/UK on the other hand.
LOL! Thanks for the translation, because I thought that it was just nonsense!
Do you really not get it? Regardless of how clean and perfect and neat and tidy and well treated the prisoners are Gitmo saps American of its moral authority.
Gitmo is a PR nightmare and even the President knows it.
It symbolises the antithesis of what America stands for in freedom, justice and the rule of law.
I understand the logic behind Gitmo, but think it has caused more harm than it has helped in the WOT.
I have seen Freepers post that giving the enemy a propaganda victory is akin to treason. You will have to search far and wide to find a better propaganda tool than Gitmo.
Gitmo is Ribbentrop looking up Concentration Camp in the Encyclopedia and the definition being British use in the Boehr Wars.
Then it's probably the holyday club some friends of mine have been telling me about.
They even brought me cigars.
But it would be nice if she wouldn't fund these effords with a the highest tax rates in the german history.
Welcome socialism.
Germany has become a socialist Republic under Kohl. He and Mr. Blüm weren´t capable of dealing with the system changes we´re facing on the issues health, pensions and labor.
Schröder developed a strategy how to make things worse, and he did great for 4 years, but October 2002 it all came out.
Merkel - now bound in a coalition between the socialist SPD and the semi-socialist CSU - is acting like a chairwoman, trying to bring the positions together by giving up her position as the CDU-chairwoman. I´m not happy with the politics, but I trust her personally, and I´d choose her about anybody else - the words she said about "let´s dare more freedom" weren´t lies. It´s just that the others don´t want it. I´d love to see a CDU/CSU/FDP coalition! And if you also referred to the EU-finances, well, it was gesture of kindness for Poland, which was not rewarded. Instead, the Polish President throws mud on all of us for a commentary by the worst daily newspaper in Germany.
For foreigners, Cuba is a great place to visit, but the natives can't even get within miles of those nice resorts.
The images foreigners get to see of Cuba, are like the images the Red Cross inspectors got to see at Thereisenstadt.
Yes, and Fidel is their buddy. What's up with that?
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"Gitmo is the most cleanly run prison on Earth."
It's less of a prison than the rest of the island.
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Very, very true!
The first such trial would change your mind, I think.
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I have seen Freepers post that giving the enemy a propaganda victory is akin to treason. You will have to search far and wide to find a better propaganda tool than Gitmo.
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That I'd have to agree with.
I'd love to see the same coalition that you like - but with a more capable figure of leadership.
No not Klinsmann,
I'd love Christian Wulf to do the job.
You think she's a chairwoman ? I don't think so. Her idea of integration is to never say no and don't get caught with a personal attitude. Just like she's learned it in Adlershof. (Her first steps in her carrier)
Some people are just unfit for command.
Schröder was a bastard - he would have gone home if things didn't work out the way he could have lived with - that's AFTER he would have made the life of his political enemies to hell. BTW he backed Chirac and will burn in hell for that - but he lowered the taxes for the german industry. He's closer to republican ecconomics than merkel is.
I don't want him back - but she's a big problem.
Scales are not the same for Cuba and the US I guess.
Maybe that's because the US are known to fight for peoples rights rather then to limit them.
It seems to me that she's very clear in what she says. The 'of course' is added for emphasis.
"Its end may of course not lead to renewed terror threats"
So, what she's saying is, "Its end may not lead to renewed terror threats." It could, certainly the potential is there, but it also might not. Very Kerry.
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