Europeans Ask: Is Bush a Wolf in a Granny's Suit?

Spiegelonline: US President George W. Bush's goodwill spin through Europe garners all the news with commentators searching behind the platitudes for girth. How much of what this president - known for his knack for hyperbole - says will translate into deeds? And what of the looming crises in Iran, Iraq and over the EU's desire to lift its Chinese weapons embargo?

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe famously said, "When ideas fail, words come in very handy." The iconic, albeit very dead German writer would have had a field day in Brussels on Monday, where US President George W. Bush delivered his first speech abroad since his second term began. The speech, billed as a chance to address Europe and start mending ties broken over the Iraq war and other policy conflicts took place in an 18th century bourgeois salon in front of a hand-picked crowd of 300 pro-Bush supporters. It was laced with grand verbiage, but not with new ideas. By far, the president's favorite word of the night was "freedom," although "liberty" also got its fair play. Bush stood before the crowd and acted almost blissfully ignorant of the depth of Europe's frustration with him and his first administration. At one point, he went so far as to say that "no power on Earth will ever divide" Europe and America.
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