US allies urge Bush and Brussels to seek consensus

[Rose Siding]

Some of the US's strongest supporters in the war in Iraq are calling for a more conciliatory attitude from Washington in the wake of George W. Bush's re-election, as well as for a more accommodating approach by the European Union.

The UK, Poland and Denmark, which have all sent troops to Iraq, have all signalled their belief that the US has to take a more consensual approach in its dealings with its traditional allies in Europe.

But they also want countries such as France and Germany, the main anti-war states within the EU, to help heal the relationship by contributing more to the reconstruction of Iraq.

“I heard the comments of many heads of government that they underlined the importance of good transatlantic ties,” said Jan Peter Balkenende, Dutch prime minister, who was chairing a EU summit on Thursday. The Netherlands is also a traditionally strong US ally, although it has announced plans to pull its troops out of Iraq next March.

Tony Blair, UK prime minister said: “In particular, Europe and America must build anew their alliance.” Mr Blair's official spokesman said on Thursday that his comments were aimed at the White House, as well as opponents of the Iraq war such as France and Germany.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/a378d374-2e92-11d9-97e3-00000e2511c8.html

[meganmonkey]

1. The rest of the world is coming to grips with this mayhem too

They have to figure out how they're gonna handle 4 more years of these bushco bastards.. The Bushies don't want to look like they're bowing to any pressure from Europe (especially -old- Europe) but they're gonna have to.
Eventually, the UN & EU are going to get feisty with us (I hope so, at least). Our monopoly on power (financial, military, cultural) is mostly an illusion right now.
It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

[aneerkoinos]

2. Bullshit Financial Times

"In a draft joint statement, the EU leaders warmly congratulated President Bush on his re-election.

The leaders said they "look forward to working very closely with President Bush and his new administration to combine efforts, including in multilateral institutions, to promote the rule of law and create a just, democratic and secure world".

But Mr Chirac called for the EU to be more assertive vis-a-vis the US.

"It is obvious that the assertion of strong American policy leads quite naturally to reinforce Europe on political and economic fronts," he said."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3984647.stm

I would say the choise of words in italics is pretty interesting. To me it suggests two possible interpretations of the diplomatic honeydripping lingo:

1) Fuck you, Bush

2) Either you do this, or...

These are naturally not mutually exclusive interpretations. What I don't see any sign of in this joint statement is "building anew the alliance" and Europe willing to compromise and meet US somewhere in the between.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

3. Bush's definition of "consensus"

is "Do it my way."

Let's face it, a guy who says that in the U.S. he's going to reach out "to those who support our agenda" isn't going to give an inch to those damned foreigners.

[neomonkey]

4. Hahahahaha, you fools, all of you

don't you realize Idiot King, Sir George now has a MANDATE and he doesn't have to listen to any of you'ze?

Go on, get going, shoo shoo, back to your smarmy European chateaus!