Despite the unpleasant things they have said about each other lately, former US President George W. Bush and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder used to get along relatively well. Both men shared a dislike of the formal aspect of politics and liked to loosen things up with brash remarks or little jokes. Once, when someone mentioned the possibility of smoking a cigar with a glass of red wine after an early dinner at the White House, the German chancellor asked the president whether he had Cuban cigars. It was obvious that he didn't, given the fact that the United States imposed an embargo on the socialist island nation almost 50 years ago, but the two macho leaders had themselves a good laugh over Schröder's comment.
That episode took place on Jan. 31, 2002, a date that has taken on near-historic significance after the fact. The former US president argues that deep rift between the United States and Germany over the campaign against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was created on that day. In his just-published memoirs, Bush mentions the meeting and accuses Schröder of breaking his promise. According to Bush, it was on that day that the German chancellor had promised him that his country would support Bush in a war against Iraq, just as it had in Afghanistan. Bush claims that Schröder distanced himself from that pledge later on, during the next election campaign. Once that trust was violated," he writes, "it was hard to have a constructive relationship."
Not true, says Schröder, who insists that he never made any such commitment to Bush or broke his word. Indeed, Schröder says, Bush is "not telling the truth" in his memoirs.
In a court of law, it would be Schröder's word against Bush's. But which one of them is right?
Read the rest of the story at
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,729047,00.html
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