Reviews of Bush’s Germany Visit

For the most part, American television viewers and newspaper readers were told that that President’s Bush’s nine-hour visit in Germany was a resounding success. Americans saw smiles and handshakes and heard sounds of reconciliation and mutual admiration. " Schroeder treated Bush to a red-carpet ceremony
in this picturesque town. The welcome took place in the courtyard of
the centuries-old Electoral Palace."  The media by and large neglected to tell us that "the picturesque town" of Mainz had been emptied of its citizens.  No, the prevailing theme is "Bush, Germany Bury the Hatchet." Only occasionally does a discordant note filter through, as in this report from the New York Times:

Mr. Bush spent a total of nine hours in Germany on Wednesday, his
first trip to the country since the invasion of Iraq, and his first
extended meeting with Mr. Schröder since the chancellor had lunch at
the White House in February 2004. The two have had a tense relationship
since Mr. Schröder campaigned for re-election in 2002 on what many in
the White House considered an anti-Bush, anti-American platform.

People
close to Mr. Bush said he had felt personally betrayed. Although the
two leaders now seem to have reached a civil working relationship, the
body language on Wednesday was anything but warm. Mr. Schröder looked
stern and businesslike in his public appearances with Mr. Bush, who
smiled as "The Star Spangled Banner" was played in a military welcoming
ceremony under intermittent snow flurries.

It was this visible frostiness between the two leaders – which couldn’t be obscured by the smiles and nice words – that the German media picked up on.  Typical is Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff in Die Zeit:

Partner können diese beiden Staatsmänner werden, Freunde nicht mehr.
Das wird sogar im formalisierten Ablauf eines Staatsbesuchs deutlich.
Wärme, Zugeneigtheit ist nicht zu spüren. Gesten dementieren alle
Worte. Wenn Georg Bush spricht, liegt Gerhard Schröders
Gesichtslandschaft versteinert da. Er schaut starr in die Menge und
dreht sich dem Präsidenten nicht zu, selbst wenn dessen Körpersprache
nach Zustimmung sucht.

Incidentally, it was almost amusing to watch President Bush assure the Europeans – for the tenth time – that the US "has no intention of invading Iran."  On Tuesday he stated:"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous." Now why would anyone think the United States would undertake a unilateral invasion of another country?  Bush’s comical denials bring to mind a poem in Brecht’s Deutscher Kriegsfibel –  (A German War Primer):

Wenn die Oberen vom Frieden Reden

Weiß das gemeine Volk

Daß es Krieg gibt

Wenn die Oberen den Krieg verfluchen

Sind die Gestellungsbefehle schon ausgeschrieben

WHEN THE LEADERS SPEAK OF PEACE
The common folk know
That war is coming.
When the leaders curse war
The mobilization order is already written out.