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Politics : Israel to U.S. : Now Deal with Syria and Iran -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sea_urchin who wrote (9336)	11/28/2005 4:33:10 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22250

Re: ...I don't know what to make of it all? Why both the UK and the EU are now taking, effectively, a hostile position to Israeli expansion, when they did not do so before, is not clear to me? I'm afraid the "new" EU stance toward Israel is but a smoke screen aimed at defusing Arab countries' misgivings about Europe's shifting geopolitics --especially after Germany's last election... clue: U.S. hopes for German door to EU The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2005 BERLIN The United States is hopeful that Germany's new chancellor, Angela Merkel, will help make all of Europe a more reliable partner for Washington, analysts said here ahead of her foreign minister's first trip to the United States, beginning Monday. Merkel has left no doubt in her first days as chancellor that she intends to mend ties with Washington that were severely strained under her predecessor, Gerhard Schröder, because of his joint opposition with France to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Merkel's foreign minister, however, expressed concern over the weekend about allegations that clandestine CIA flights carrying terror suspects may have passed through Frankfurt's airport. There was no indication whether the foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, would raise the issue on Tuesday, when he is to meet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The German newspaper Berliner Zeitung reported Saturday that CIA aircraft used European airports at least 15 times this year. The newspaper, which did not identify the source of its information, also said the U.S. military's Ramstein Air Base in Germany was a hub for CIA flights from 2002 to 2004. The Council of Europe, Europe's main human rights watchdog, is looking into the reports that the CIA set up secret jails in some European nations and transported terror suspects by covert flights. The council began investigations after reports from The Washington Post and Human Rights Watch. The United States has not confirmed the existence of the secret prisons, and Eastern European countries deny knowledge of covert facilities. Merkel does not intend to reverse German policy on Iraq, but in Brussels a day after taking office, she invited the United States to engage in more dialogue with the European powers through the traditional forum of NATO, which she said was not just a military alliance but also a "political alliance" and "the place where people turn first" to discuss problems, Merkel said. Her stance has reinforced Washington's hopes for improved ties. "Merkel is not going to send troops to Iraq, and nobody expects her to," Gary Smith, the director of the American Academy in Berlin, said. "What Washington cares about is that countries take their share of responsibility in the world." Iran's nuclear program is one example of an area where Washington seems to think it can rely on Germany, and therefore on Europe, to find a multilateral solution. iht.com