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In Germany, Bush Protests Lose Appeal | |
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BERLIN — The young anarchists, middle-aged peace activists and established left-wing politicians here have at least one thing in common: none bothered to keep a six-year tradition alive by organizing a protest against President Bush’s arrival here Tuesday. “Bush is not even popular in the role of the enemy anymore,” wrote Der Tagesspiegel newspaper. As in many other parts of Europe, Mr. Bush was a popular villain here even before the Iraq invasion, in part because of his steadfast rejection of the Kyoto Protocol limits on greenhouse-gas emissions. His visits to Germany have reliably drawn thousands into the streets to denounce him and his policies, beginning with his first visit to Berlin in May 2002. In February 2005, the police essentially shut down the city of Mainz for Mr. Bush’s visit, closing six highways and stopping river traffic on the Rhine, out of fear of enormous demonstrations. Two summers ago, Mr. Bush came for a barbecue with Chancellor Angela Merkel in her east German electoral district, Stralsund, and almost exactly a year ago he attended the Group of 8 summit meeting at the Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm. The protesters turned out in force both times. Monty Schädel, one of the organizers behind both the Stralsund and the Heiligendamm protests, said the absence of public protests this time went beyond Mr. Bush’s often-cited lame-duck status. There has been a noticeable shift here, he said, toward wrestling with German issues rather than focusing judgment on the United States. “The theme of U.S. war policy is no longer the biggest one,” Mr. Schädel said, emphasizing German deployments to Afghanistan rather than American troops in Iraq. “German war policy is now the most important. We need to return to our own doorstep.” Yet local residents say Berlin has lost none of its radical heartbeat. “We’re constantly demonstrating,” said Zara Blumenstingl, 30, a D.J., as she walked down Schlesische Street in the longtime counterculture neighborhood of Kreuzberg. Ms. Blumenstingl said she protested repeatedly against the opening last year of a McDonald’s here and is part of the group fighting a development of nearby office buildings along the Spree River. “That affects our everyday life,” she said. Instead of painting banners on Tuesday, Berliners were enjoying the cloudless skies, sunbathing and bicycling and debating the tournament for the European soccer championship that began over the weekend. Mr. Bush, it seemed, was an afterthought, if that. “It just isn’t worth it anymore,” said Mike Steuer, 30, a student at Berlin’s Technical University and a Bush opponent, as he soaked up the rays with a friend on a bench in Görlitzer Park in Kreuzberg. “He isn’t president much longer anyway.” Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company |
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Departure | |
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Member of the Board of the German Left Party, Wolfgang Gehrcke, comments on the farewell visit of US President George W. Bush. Bush says goodbye in Germany. No wading into the crowd, no handshakes, no publicity. It's a departure through the back door – and it's not surprising. Bush is unpopular in Germany. The political parties know it. A public meeting with Bush costs them votes. That's why Angela Merkel would go no further than to meet Bush in the government's guest house [in Meseberg, about 36 miles north of Berlin]. President Bush is not known for his honesty. His government took the world into wars under false pretenses. In his presidency the US gained a reputation as a state which uses torture and he is personally responsible for abductions and secret prisons. President Bush and his government are responsible for hundreds of thousands of dead and injured persons and for millions of refugees through wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Bush is a president who initiated gigantic armament programs and new weapons systems. There is no reason to shed a single tear for his departure. He was supported in varying degrees by the German chancellors. Gerhard Schroeder called for "unlimited solidarity" and Angela Merkel favored sending German soldiers into the Iraq war. Both chancellors have entangled Germany in the war in Afghanistan in order to unburden the US in the Middle East. DIE LINKE [The Left] wants to partner with Americans to fight worldwide hunger, poverty, and underdevelopment. The Left appeals to the US: Stop the plans of President Bush to end his term in office with a war against Iran. "Good bye," Mr. President [English in original] and we have one request upon your leaving: On your way out take the US nuclear weapons with you! |
