BILD Interview with Bush

President Bush was so pleased with his meeting with Chancellor Merkel earlier this week that he granted a rare exclusive interview with a German newspaper: no surprise here, the Springer-owned BILD am SONNTAG. Let’s not forget, BILD was the only German newspaper to endorse Bush for the 2004 election. In the interview, President Bush continues his charm offensive which started as soon as Angela Merkel assumed the chancellory.  He speaks in glowing terms about the personal relationship between the two leaders and how impressed he is with her life story:

Ich war sehr fasziniert davon, einer sehr starken Frau zu begegnen, die in einem kommunistischen Land erzogen worden ist. Ich habe einige Zeit mit Angela Merkel oben in unserem privaten Eßzimmer hier im Weißen Haus verbracht und habe ihr zugehört. Ich habe sie gefragt, wie es war, als Kind dort aufzuwachsen. Interessanterweise hat sie zunächst ihre Mutter und ihren Vater beschrieben. Das hat mir viel darüber gesagt, was für ein Mensch sie ist. Sie sprach von ihrem Vater, dem Pastor, und von ihrer Mutter. Sie erzählte von ihrer Schulzeit in einem kommunistischen System. Und sie lud mich zu sich nach Hause ein. Wo ich herkomme, ist eine Einladung zu sich nach Hause eine Geste der Großzügigkeit. Das ist ausgesprochen gastfreundlich. Und ich freue mich sehr darauf.

I’m not sure what Chancellor Merkel told Bush about her childhood, but she was hardly the oppressed girl yearning for freedom from communist tyranny.  Did she mention that her family was afforded numerous privileges not available to most people in the DDR?

During the interview Bush plays down any past disagreement over the Iraq invasion, and the reasons for this are clear.  Iraq is lost: the world knows this, and the American people know this.  But Bush desperately needs Merkel’s support for his next adventure: Iran.  And he likes what he hears from her thus far.  Today’s Washington Post reports that it is all but over for the Bush administration: it has lost all popular support, and the Republican Party stands a real chance of losing both houses of Congress in the mid-term elections.  Bush’s only option to revive his own failed presidency and the fortunes of his party is to launch a pre-emptive military attack against Iran – even though the best estimates are that Iran is at least a decade away from having even the potential capacity to build a nuclear weapon. He needs to move quickly, and with Angela Merkel leading a new Coalition of the Willing he has a chance to salvage what is seen by many as the worst presidency in history.

Merkel Germany Iran War on Terror