Europe to Greet "Toxic Texan" with Barbed Wire Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit News Round-Up: EUROPE ERECTS BARBED WIRE FOR VISIT OF "TOXIC TEXAN" The Guardian - Wednesday May 22, 2002 [This story is accompanied by an amusing photo of an American flag with "God-Less America" scrawled across it. The "B" in "bless" is X'd out.] Bush comes face to face with Europe's distrust President's tour appears unlikely to lift relations from historic low Julian Borger in Washington, Ian Black in Brussels and Patrick Wintour George Bush flies into Berlin tonight to face an array of European allies who have grown increasingly irritated and apprehensive about his leadership. The last time he crossed the Atlantic, he was jeered as the "toxic Texan" for his withdrawal from the Kyoto global warming accord. This time, the stakes are much higher and the chanting crowds of European demonstrators are unlikely to be so polite. Much has changed between last July's Genoa summit and the president's return to Europe today. The US was struck a terrible blow on September 11 and Europe rallied to its side with a degree of solidarity that surprised almost everyone. But the sense of common purpose has crumbled rapidly since the beginning of the year, and now the usually tetchy transatlantic relationship has reached a critical moment. The first loud shots have been fired in a trade war, and there are profound disagreements over US plans to oust Saddam Hussein, and over policy in the Middle East. Europe, meanwhile, has been shocked by Washington's withdrawal from a string of treaties on global warming, missile defence and on the establishment of an international criminal court (ICC). Mutual prejudices have rarely been stronger: American perceptions of rampant anti-Semitism in the old continent are matched by European - especially French - scorn for the death penalty and unbridled capitalism. Hostility to Europe on the American right now matches traditional anti-Americanism on the European left. The mood that awaits President Bush in Berlin is generally agreed to be at its worst since the early 80s, when a similarly gung-ho American president decided to put cruise missiles on European soil. The secretary of state, Colin Powell, managed to joke about it in an interview last week, making the point that there have been tiffs in this marriage before, but they seem like ancient history now. Most observers of the US-European relationship agree, but there is a growing consensus that complacent assumptions about muddling through may not be good enough. The world has changed fundamentally, and the relationship will require creative thinking. It is still not clear what is to become of Nato, the pact that bound the two continents together. The alliance has now fought its first war, in Kosovo, but the Pentagon hated the experience. In Afghanistan, the US military turned down most of Europe's offers of help until most of the fighting was over. The Pentagon's view was that Europe simply had no airpower to speak of, and it would only start second-guessing decisions and getting in the way. Alongside the signing of a nuclear arms reduction treaty in Moscow and the announcement of US-Russian cooperation over missile defence, one of the key moments of this presidential visit will come next Tuesday at a Nato meeting in Rome. Philip Gordon, an analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said: "There's a real question, I think for good reason, about whether the United States thinks Nato is worth anything." Mr Gordon suggested that Washington is pushing for Nato enlargement knowing that a 26-nation alliance of disparate nations will be unwieldy: in fact, the more diluted and hamstrung the alliance becomes, the better. These days, US officials scarcely bother complaining about their European allies' low defence spending. But Gary Schmitt, the head of a conservative Washington thinktank, the New American Century, with close ties to the administration, says silence may be a bad sign. "It sort of reminds me of a marriage, a bad marriage, in which you know a marriage is over not when people are arguing, but when they stop arguing," he said. "It's as though they've decided that, well, it's not worth it." "What really is going on is a fundamental disagreement about strategic matters and how states act on the international stage," he said. At the heart of the matter is the "Bush doctrine", as laid out in the president's state of the union address on January 29. The doctrine perceives the greatest threat on the horizon as the combination of terrorist groups and weapons of mass destruction in the hands of "rogue states". It sees 50 years of agreements on arms control as having failed to block that threat, which is now so potent as to justify pre-emptive military action, most immediately in Iraq. As even Mr Schmitt, a Bush doctrine enthusiast, admitted: "That's a lot to swallow." Philip Gordon of the Brookings Institution said: "You can't unsign the ICC, tear up the Kyoto Treaty, call Sharon a man of peace, talk about the axis of evil, disparage Nato, put protection on steel and agriculture and then go make a speech and say, 'but everything is fine, right?'". The president's itinerary provides little encouragement for new directions in transatlantic dialogue. His visits to Berlin and a US D-Day cemetery in Normandy in particular will be celebrations of US victories, in the cold war and second world war. The former visit will also be a very deliberate reminder of America's role in securing Europe's freedom from fascism. Sensitivities are especially sharp on this issue, with the US media interpreting Jean Marie Le Pen's success in France as a re-run of the 1930s. Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, was moved last week to issue a statement rebutting US concerns about anti-semitism. Chris Patten, the British commissioner for external relations, is publicly scathing about the Bush administration's "unilateralist overdrive" and tolerance of Ariel Sharon. He has reacted with outrage to the attacks in the US media. Mr Powell dismisses the newspaper polemics as the work of pundits with too much time on their hands. But they have effects in the real world. The poisonous atmosphere makes it harder for both sides to halt a looming trade war. The EU is set to impose sanctions on US goods from next month if Washington does not agree to compensation for the steel tariffs it has imposed on foreign imports. This is all bad news for Tony Blair. He prides himself on his ability to interpret Europe and America to one another. But in recent months, Mr Blair's role has clearly been becoming ever more awkward as EU and US interests diverge. Downing Street insists that the prime minister exerts a restraining influence over President Bush. Prodding him in the direction of smart sanctions on Iraq, for example, or a conference on the Middle East, prevents the US-European faultlines from becoming an unbridgeable divide. However, the European demand that Mr Blair choose between the EU and America is being made more frequently. That tension is only likely to grow as EU partners demand that Blair make the fateful decision over the euro, and as Washington puts pressure on London to back a military strike on Iraq. None of this will be resolved by President Bush's week-long visit, which is designed to celebrate US successes, from D-Day to the new relationship with Vladimir Putin. But the vocabulary and body language used by both sides will help to determine whether Europe can emerge as a constructive and equal partner to the US, or whether the old continent is doomed to degrade into just another quibbling and resentful satellite of the world's sole superpower. * Times of London - May 22, 2002 Thousands of Berlin police in Bush alert From Roger Boyes in Berlin GERMAN police, who are mounting their biggest security operation in Berlin since the Nazi era, said yesterday that militants were planning widespread disruption during the visit of President Bush. By last night more than 10,000 police, including divers to search the canals and sewers, had sealed off the administrative heart of the city. Tens of thousands of demonstrators were already on the march yesterday, their banners urging 'Bush Go Home' -- although he is not actually due in Berlin, the first stop of his European tour, until tonight. Even on the fringes of the legally registered demonstrations, pamphlets were being passed around, outlining how to prepare for a clash with the police. Every protester, it said, should have precise change to make two telephone calls. Instructions to demonstrators being broadcast on a pirate radio station and the Internet included 'Don't use moisturising creams, they will reinforce the effects of tear gas' and 'Write key telephone numbers on your forearm, rather than on the palm of your hand ' sweat will wipe out the writing'. Provisional prisoner committees have been set up to negotiate the release of rioters or arrange lawyers. A network of sympathisers has been set up to offer beds to demonstrators in any brief interval between rioting. Police fear that the militants -- the so-called 'autonomous groups' -- will attack soft American targets such as fast-food chains to deflect police efforts from action elsewhere. Explosive charges have already been found in a branch of Wal-Mart, the American supermarket chain. A huge presence of 600 US Secret Service agents, carefully tracking the German police units, provided a reminder that this was the President's first big trip abroad since the terrorist attacks of September 11. Armoured cars and barbed wire sealed off access to the US Embassy and Berliners were told to keep their windows shut in case a flash of sun on glass set off an elaborate commando operation. The US Embassy and, indeed, the British Embassy, which was recently peppered by stones hurled by pro-Palestinian protesters, are in the top security zone. Many other 'American' buildings, however, are in the suburbs of southwest Berlin, under guard but very dispersed. The American School, branches of McDonald's and US Airlines have all been put on alert. 'Anybody who tries to protect everything protects nothing,' a police commander said. 'Despite all our preparations, we will need a fair bit of luck to get through these days.' This is not the kind of reception that American Presidents usually receive in Berlin; until now, they have been greeted as heroes. When John F. Kennedy came in 1963 to deliver his Ich bin ein Berliner speech, he rode in the back of an open Lincoln. Stones were thrown at Richard Nixon's convoy in 1969, but only a snowball hit his car and he promptly climbed on the boot and shook hands with the crowd. Nevertheless, presidential popularity has deteriorated over the decades. When Jimmy Carter visited West Berlin in 1978 to hold a 'town meeting', police arrested 80 demonstrators. The bumpiest ride came in June 1987 when Ronald Reagan called on Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. About 50,000 people demonstrated against American Cruise missiles and rioters set fire to cars. Tucher's, the book-lined restaurant requisitioned for a dinner for Mr Bush and Gerhard Schroeder, the German Chancellor, today, has been cut off from the rest of the city. Police have been vetting all waiters, the chef and the dishwashers. The two leaders and their wives will eat alone, a sad testimony to an anxious modern world. The area around the Brandenburg Gate, where 100,000 Germans staged a sympathy rally for the United States after the September 11 attacks, was occupied yesterday only by police commandos with machineguns, watched by US secret service agents. In the distance it was just possible to hear the pulse of a big bass drum and the megaphoned chanting of the demonstrators, who were still in carnival spirit. "Pretzels for Bush!" was one of their slogans. President Bush once briefly lost consciousness after choking on a pretzel. * Times of London - May 22, 2002 US hopes to reassure Europeans By Giles Whittell in Washington and Roger Boyes PRESIDENT BUSH will arrive in Europe tonight determined to reassure the Continent that the United States remains its friend, despite the series of disputes that have soured transatlantic relations. 'There's so much more that we have in common with our European allies, there's so much more that unites us than the occasional issues about which we or the people of Europe may differ,' Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, said. 'That is the spirit in which the President goes to Europe. He goes as an optimist. He goes as somebody who sees so much that we and Europe have done together to help protect the world and so much that we have in common.' Mr Bush is expected to use his speech to the Bundestag tomorrow to address the issues that have divided the US and Europe. Those include his determination to oust President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, his robust support for Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, and his imposition of 30 per cent tariffs on imported steel to protect American producers. Fuelling charges of American unilateralism, the Bush Administration has also withdrawn from the Kyoto global warming accords and rejected a treaty setting up an international criminal court lest it be used against US military service personnel. Mr Bush is expected to argue that the relationship is too important to let such disputes hamper much broader goals, such as the War on Terror, bringing peace to the Middle East and helping to overcome Aids in Africa. During the Berlin leg of his tour, Mr Bush will also attempt to resolve disagreements between Europe and the United States on how to track down terrorist suspects.The US leader -- under fire at home for not reacting more quickly to advance warnings about the September 11 attacks -- is also determined to show Gerhard Schroeder, the German Chancellor, and other Europeans that he is in command of the strategy and detail of the War on Terror. One priority will be to end a transatlantic argument on how lists of terrorist suspects are drawn up. Europeans have become suspicious of lists provided by the FBI because they do not take into account the evidence needed to convince prosecutors. However, Washington is impatient with the slow progress of the European crackdown on terrorists. Closer co-operation on terrorism is, though, an easier theme for a short summit meeting than attacking Iraq. Laura Bush, the First Lady, shrugged off the prospect of large anti-American protests in Berlin. She told reporters during a tour in Prague: 'I think there are people around the world who protest at every big meeting where world leaders are. I'd like to encourage these people . . . to use their energy and their enthusiasm to do something specific to help other people.' * BBC Online - May 21, 2002 Bush faces protests in Germany US President George W Bush's tour of Europe, designed to bolster support for US military action, is in danger of being overshadowed by street protests. When Mr Bush arrives in Germany on Wednesday, 10,000 police officers will be on duty to combat the threat of violent demonstrations. The rally, organised by around 240 separate groups, passed off peacefully, although a small march by the coalition Green Party was broken up by radical anti-globalization campaigners. The police restored order but the BBC's Berlin correspondent Rob Broomby says the incident has highlighted the fear that peaceful protests can easily be a cover for more serious disruption. Officials fear that a hard core of 2,000 protesters in Berlin could hijack peaceful left-wing demonstrations. On Tuesday, about 10,000 protesters took to the streets, mostly to protest against American foreign policy. Seeking support Mr Bush - who is also visiting Russia, France, and Italy - is expected to use his European tour to seek support for possible US action against Iraq. This is a prospect which has caused anxiety among some European governments. His visit to Germany will include talks with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. He is also expected to deliver what has been described as an historical speech to the German parliament, the Bundestag, focusing on the war on terror. More than 100 separate protests, involving more than 200 diverse groups, are planned during his visit to Germany. The anti-American protesters argue that US foreign policy has already gone too far, and is increasingly unilateral. The protest "is not against Bush or his visit, but his war policy," said protester Christa Peter, a 46-year-old teacher from Berlin. "This theory of the 'axis of evil' is dangerous, and allies like Germany need to take this opportunity to warn him." Huge police presence Anti-globalisation protests are also expected, and separate action by pro-American demonstrators is planned. In Berlin, the 10,000-strong force of officers will be the highest number ever deployed for a post-war state visitor. "We have indications from a variety of sources that violent left-wing extremists will attempt disruption either from within the rallies or at locations out of the city centre," police spokesman Carsten Graefe said. "The police are ready. We will be on red alert. There will be massive areas closed off...so that there will be no danger to the state's visitor." Sewers are being welded shut, police divers will search waterways for hidden explosives, and large areas around government buildings will be completely closed to the public. Airspace is also being closed. German Foreign Minister Joschke Fischer backed the right of people to protest peacefully, but appealed for violence to be avoided. "It is in everyone's interest that the demonstrations remain peaceful, otherwise the message transported will be different from the one intended," Mr Fischer said on German Radio. "Ugly anti-American images would be sent across the Atlantic." And Chancellor Schroeder warned that police would deal firmly with violence. "Anyone who confuses the freedom to demonstrate with brawling will run into the decisive and very hard resistance of the police," Mr Schroeder told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. Mr Bush will be in Germany until Thursday, staying at a luxury hotel on the Unter Den Linden in what was East Berlin. He will travel on to Moscow on Thursday afternoon. His six-day trip will culminate in a Nato summit in Italy. * Backgrounder: BBC Online - 12 February 2002 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1816000/1816395.stm Germany warns US against unilateralism German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has become the latest in a series of senior Europeans to warn the US against unilateral action in the war on terror. "Without compelling evidence, it will not be a good idea to launch something that will mean going it alone," Mr Fischer told the Die Welt newspaper. "The international coalition against terror does not provide a basis for doing just anything against anybody - and certainly not by going it alone. This is the view of every European foreign minister." His comments come a day after Russian President Vladimir warned the US against launching an attack on Iraq, one of the country's labelled by President Bush as forming an "axis of evil". Mr Fischer said that a peaceful future could not be guaranteed by the world's greatest power acting alone. "I utterly reject anti-Americanism. But, for all the differences in size and weight, alliance partnerships between free democracies cannot be reduced to obedience," he said. "Alliance partners are not satellites." Mr Fischer criticised President Bush's decision to lump Iran, North Korea and Iraq together under the "axis of evil" label, saying it did not "take us further". The coalition against terror began with solid support from across Europe, from the EU to Russia. For weeks no-one broke ranks, but as talk grew of widening the war beyond Afghanistan, concerns started to emerge. Criticism of US policy has come from several key figures: * President Putin said any use of force by the US against Iraq "should be justified" and have the backing of the international community * French Foreign Affairs Minister Hubert Vedrine accused Washington of a "simplistic" approach to foreign affairs * French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin called on the US not to resort to unilateralism or become fixated with the war against terrorism * EU external affairs commissioner Chris Patten said European governments should speak up before the US went into "unilateralist overdrive" * Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called Mr Bush's "axis of evil" comments "a big mistake". Mr Fischer said Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was playing "a brutal, cynical game" with his population, but said non-military options should be considered. And he said "frank" discussions were needed with the US on the future of global security. "If large-scale rearmament is now signalled, this will not lead to a reduction in potential acts of desperation throughout the world," he told the paper. "What we need is a new concept of security, particularly an equitable shaping of globalisation. "A dollar or euro can only be spent once. The money will be missed elsewhere in the world, and this will increase the potential for acts of desperation, and hence the threats to security," he said. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytrad-05.22.02-02:51:37-23489