Steve Quayle News Alerts

May 23, 2002
By Dana Milbank, Washington Post Staff Writer

BERLIN, May 23 – President Bush got a genuine taste of the German Bundestag this morning when he received a lecture on his policies from the parliament's president and a protest on the floor of the chamber by communists.

Before Bush's speech to the Bundestag in the rebuilt Reichstag this morning, he was introduced by the Bundestag president, Wolfgang Thierse, who departed from the usual pro-forma introduction.

As Bush sat impassively, Thierse declared that "we need coordinated action" to combat global warming, urging Bush to reconsider his opposition to the Kyoto accord. Bush did not join in the applause that followed. Thierse then scolded Bush's rejection of the International Criminal Court, saying Germany hopes to be "moving forward together with our American friends."

Just a few sentences into Bush's address to the chamber, three demonstrators, wearing black with red armbands, unfurled a banner declaring, in English: "Mr. Bush and Mr. Schroeder, Stop Your Wars." The demonstrators, from the far-left Democratic Socialist Party, were shouted at by the conservative Christian Democrats on the other side of the chamber, who yelled "Out, out!" and blamed Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's party for being "friends" of the demonstrators. That had the effect of interrupting Bush at the point in his speech when he was talking about the importance of staying united. He looked up from his speech and waited.

In his speech, Bush, on his first trip to Germany, recalled famous Cold War speeches in this city by Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, then turned to the current conflict with terrorists. "Those who seek missiles and terrible weapons are also familiar with the map of Europe," he said. "Like the threats of another era, this threat cannot be appeased or cannot be ignored."

Recalling the two World Wars and the Cold War of the 20th century, Bush told the applauding German legislators: "Ours is the first generation in a hundred years that does not expect and does not fear the next European war. And that achievement – your achievement – is one of the greatest in modern times."

Bush said it is his administration's view that NATO membership should be open to "all of Europe's democracies that are ready to share in the responsibilities," and he won applause for stating his support for both a secure Israel and a Palestinian state, a notion Bush mentioned repeatedly today.

He encouraged the Europeans to "throw off old suspicions and realize our common interests with Russia," but the chamber was silent when he pointed out that American withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty did not provoke an arms race, as many here had predicted.

The president dipped briefly into the sensitive area of trade disputes, but he asked the legislators to think more broadly. "The magnitude of our shared responsibilities makes our disagreements look so small," he said. "And those who exaggerate our differences play a shallow game and hold a simplistic view of our relationship."

Earlier, in a press conference with Schroeder, the two leaders stood in hot sunlight with the German Chancellery and a lineup of 18 German, American and European Union flags. It became immediately apparent the two sides had not agreed on a plan of action on Iraq and American plans to topple Saddam Hussein.

"I have taken notice of the fact that His Excellency, the President, does think about all possible alternatives," Schroeder said. "But despite what people occasionally present here in rumors, there are no concrete military plans of attack on Iraq."

Asked about those remarks, Bush said that "what the Chancellor told you is true. . . . I told the Chancellor that I have no war plans on my desk, which is the truth, and that we've got to use all means at our disposal to deal with Saddam Hussein."

Bush said the allies must deal with Iraq's threat in a "respectful" manner. "I will say it again: I promise consultations with our close friend and ally. We will exert a unified diplomatic pressure." But he also made clear that he was waging a battle to defend "freedom," a word he used nine times in the press conference.

The president also indicated that he would press Russian President Vladimir Putin on the issue of nuclear proliferation in Iran. Bush, who after the speech flew to Moscow and will meet Putin on Friday, objects to Russian assistance to Iran. "One way to make the case is that if you arm Iran, you're liable to get the weapons pointed at you; that you've got to be careful in dealing with a country like Iran," Bush said, acknowledging, "We've got a lot of work to do with Russia."

The press conference had light moments, too. When a German reporter asked Bush if he minded being kept out of touch with Berliners because of intense security here, Bush said, "I live in a bubble. That's what happens when you're the president." Bush avoided the same reporter's questions about the Kyoto accord, instead talking about education, health and prosperity. "Yes, the human condition is very important to me," he said.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company

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