Focus-Low ebb for U.S.-European ties (Eurinal alert)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Relations between the United States and Europe have sunk to their lowest ebb since President George W. Bush took office, with sharp differences over a new U.N. war crimes court, the Middle East and trade.

In European eyes, transatlantic tensions have worsened because "unilateralist" hawks have gained ascendancy in the U.S. administration, seeking to tear up the international rule-book and sidelining moderates more in tune with European views.

In many American eyes, the Europeans appear wimpish in the "war against terrorism", seek to tie Washington's hands and are complacent about threats from so-called "rogue states" suspected of developing weapons of mass destruction.

"It is time to stop pretending that Europeans and Americans share a common view of the world, or even that they occupy the same world," Robert Kagan of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace wrote in the journal Policy Review.

While the United States believed in the right and need to use power to re-order the world, a militarily feeble Europe was "moving beyond power into a self-contained world of laws and rules and transnational negotiation and cooperation", he said.

Two events in the last two weeks have added to the storm clouds over U.S.-European relations.

Bush's long-awaited keynote Middle East policy speech, which tilted towards Israel by conditioning peace efforts on the replacement of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat by leaders "not compromised by terror", exasperated European governments.

"The Europeans have not bought into the idea that the problems of Palestine and Iraq are part of the war on terror," said Rosemary Hollis, head of the Middle East programme at London's Royal Institute of International Affairs.

And a U.S. attempt to emasculate the new International Criminal Court at birth by demanding immunity for its own soldiers and threatening to veto a U.N. police mission in Bosnia otherwise, stirred outrage in the European Union and beyond.

Even Britain, Washington's closest European ally, has been notably unsupportive of Bush's call to replace Arafat, saying it was up to the Palestinians to choose their leaders, and has firmly opposed the U.S. effort to neuter the ICC.

That has led to the rare sight of Washington and London voting against each other in the U.N. Security Council.

"We think the ICC is the most important advance in international rule of law since the establishment of the U.N. and we are not going to allow anyone to water down our commitment to the principle," European External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten said.

Adding to the transatlantic turbulence are trade disputes over U.S. steel tariffs, export and farm subsidies, and EU efforts to obstruct the import of genetically-modified foods, driven by domestic politics on both sides.

Officially, EU leaders were polite about Bush's Middle East speech, stressing the positive elements of his support for a Palestinian state, talk of ending the Israeli occupation and of freezing Jewish settlements on Arab land.

"America is so powerful and touchy now that no one wants to contradict Bush publicly," one EU diplomat said.

Privately, they were dismayed at the absence of any attempt to restart Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, restrain Israeli forces occupying West Bank cities, or back an international peace conference, to which Washington had previously agreed.

"Frustrations are very high. The biggest frustration is not being able to put together elements of a peace process," said a senior European foreign policy official.

Europeans are depressed at seeing Secretary of State Colin Powell, their main partner in Washington, apparently defeated by pro-Israel hardliners such as Vice President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz.

Many fear this presages more problems if Bush gives military action to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein priority over trying to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which most Europeans see as a far more pressing danger to stability.

"Iraq will be back on the agenda after the U.S. (November congressional) elections," the EU foreign policy official said. The breakdown of talks to put U.N. weapons inspectors back into Iraq makes that concern more acute.

Bush's Middle East speech whetted hawkish U.S. commentators' thirst for a decisive strike against Saddam.

"The president has effectively circumscribed the Israeli-Palestinian distraction. The path he has charted to peace through Palestinian regeneration is a long one. Meanwhile for the president there is, elsewhere, 'the path of action'," conservative columnist George Will wrote in the Washington Post.

Bush upset many Europeans with early decisions to dump the Kyoto treaty to combat global warming, walk away from arms control treaties and build an anti-missile defence.

But Europeans rallied behind him after the September 11 attacks on the United States, offering political solidarity, practical help in tracking suspected terrorists and freezing their assets, and military assistance in Afghanistan.

The triumph of high-tech American power in the Afghan war highlighted a growing transatlantic military capability gap.

To some, it also illustrated a U.S. "hit and run" approach to security problems, delegating to the Europeans the long-term, costly tasks of peacekeeping and "nation building".

Several European governments dissented when Bush lumped together Iraq, Iran and North Korea in an "axis of evil", which the United States would prevent, by acting alone if necessary, from acquiring nuclear arms.

It is time to stop pretending that Europeans and Americans share a common view of the world

Indeed, Europeans need to wake up and see who is trying to kill them and stop this, instead of promoting it!

Just imagine that the US kick Saddam out of power, then to whom would France and Germany sell chemical weapons to? And imagine they kick Arafat out of power, then who the Europeans have to support to ventilate their hate against Jews?

We think the ICC is the most important advance in international rule of law since the establishment of the U.N.

Since the UN did not succeed to destroy the US and Israel, they hope the ICC will!

PS1: And what's wrong with hawkin' about?
PS2: Powell is a traitor.
PS3: Thanks to Mark Steyn for the Eurinal word!

"America is so powerful and touchy now that no one wants to contradict Bush publicly," one EU diplomat said.

Cowards.

PS3: Thanks to Mark Steyn for the Eurinal word!

I stole it first!

The Euro-whine is so pathetic it's becoming amusing. I now look forward to reading it daily in Financial Times. I do think, though, that it's pretty much confined to pseudo-intellectuals, the press and left wing politicos. I believe the typical Brit or European still generally supports what we are doing, although I haven't seen any polling data. Is there any?

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