Posted on 06/02/2003 4:37:30 PM PDT by Pokey78
Mr Bush left world leaders digesting his new terms for the Washington relationship
PRESIDENT BUSH came to Europe to mend fences, his aides said. What they omitted was that this would not be a simple patch-up job. Before he swept out of Evian yesterday, Mr Bush had torn down the remains of the old Western alliance and dumped on the table radical proposals for an entirely new set of dividing lines.
As he left the G8 economic summit for the Middle East, Mr Bush left a group of world leaders still digesting his new terms for a good relationship with Washington.
In a post-Iraq world, shared values will no longer be enough to guarantee world leaders favoured status in the White House or an invitation to the Oval Office, aides say. Mr Bush is looking beyond a common heritage, for actions and results.
Travelling around Europe, Mr Bush has been subtly but assuredly extending his doctrine of “you’re with us or you’re against us”. It had been crafted at the outset of the War on Terror to round up as large a coalition as possible.
The approach will no longer be confined to the battle against al-Qaeda or nations harbouring a terrorist problem. It will govern Washington’s view of its “allies” across the board.
Furthermore, US officials say, there will be no tears shed if traditional Western friends, such as France and Germany, fail to come up to the mark. “If they don’t sign up, they don’t sign up. We’ll move on,” one official said.
It is unclear to what extent foreign capitals have grasped the scope of the change, which has been prompted by the opposition to the Iraq war.
One French official said that Paris had not yet caught up with Mr Bush’s speech in Wawel Castle, Cracow, on Saturday, such was the dizzying swirl of world leaders travelling to St Petersburg’s weekend 300th anniversary celebrations and on to Evian.
In Poland, Mr Bush committed the United States to “a strong Atlantic alliance”, but stopped short of defining it as the centrepiece of US foreign policymaking.
Instead, he mapped out a sweeping agenda of unflinching resolve in the face of terror while extending the tone of his domestic compassionate conservativism into global affairs.
Arresting al-Qaeda operatives and choking off terror financing are no longer the sole rule of US friendship. Effective investment in Third World development, combating Aids in Africa and improving conditions in developing countries will matter as much.
“The ultimate answer to hatred is hope. And as we fight the forces of terror, we must also change the conditions in which terror can take root,” he said, before challenging US allies to step up their commitment.
The rhetoric is likely to infuriate many European powers, particularly the call from Mr Bush, who rejected the Kyoto global climate treaty, for Europe to work harder at developing hydrogen-powered cars and other new technologies “that will improve our air and water quality, and protect the health of the world’s people”.
US officials say that any allied irritation will be shrugged off in Washington. Mr Bush was “an agent for change”, one official said, and would pursue his agenda of moral leadership come what may. “He stakes out positions and invites others to follow,” the official said. The President himself said that he had “accepted a mission” to fight terror and that “every civilised nation has a stake in the outcome”.
The invitation is open to all-comers, who will be judged on effort and co-operation as much as anything. “This is not necessarily about dollars,” one presidential aide said. America was looking for “like-minded allies”, a senior Administration official said, suggesting that Iraq had wiped clean the pre-war network of friends.
US officials said that Mr Bush’s new agenda “may or may not affect the relationship” with other allies. The unspoken message was that if it did, that was their problem.
Body language alone at Evian suggested that Mr Bush has already made up his mind about who his friends are at the top table.
At the initial informal meeting of G8 leaders, Mr Bush greeted Silvio Berlusconi by cupping the Italian Prime Minister’s neck in his hand in locker-room familiarity. Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese Prime Minister, received a full-swing slap on his back, the kind of welcome reserved for team-mates.
Tony Blair and Mr Bush limited their body contact to a knowing handshake of mutual respect.
By comparison, the staged handshakes with President Chirac and Gerhard Schröder lacked any appearance of genuine warmth.
Mr Bush offered warm words to M Chirac, saying that the pair had disagreed, “but that doesn’t mean we have to be disagreeable to each other”.
But US officials made clear that Mr Bush was not out to invest time on M Chirac and Herr Schröder simply because of history. Reflecting on the harm inflicted by the Iraq war, one official said: “We’ll see how long it takes to heal. Some may take longer than others.”
When he gets to the next leg of his visit, he better have someone pat that pali scumbag down real good before he gets too close.
What's that old saying, "revenge is a dish best served...cold"
Yeah..Kahn had that one right :)
Is it just me, or does Koizumi look like that dude from "Iron Chef"?
I like that concept.
What?? No mutual pat on the @ss??
The wheel has turned ......
And he'll do it too ..
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