Bush: Into the lion's den

Bush meets with NATO Secretary-General George Robertston

By CNN's Wolf Blitzer

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Before we get carried away with the generally negative European attitude toward President Bush, let's remember that the Europeans often have had a rocky relationship with U.S. presidents.

That has been the case since World War II. In part, it's the result of traditional cultural and political differences that divide the allies. It might also partially be the result of jealousy. Still, despite those differences, the NATO alliance remains strong and reliable. CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour reported from her base in London that the European press is having a field day with Mr. Bush. Among the newspaper headlines: "Mr. Death Penalty," "The Toxic Texan" and "The Man of the Three B's: Bible, Baseball and Barbecue."

Christiane's comment: "Basically, it gives you an idea of the deep skepticism and sort of astonishment that President Bush is viewed, certainly by the media."

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But what about government leaders? Christiane's take: "They want to have a real dialogue on all these issues, from environment to missile defense, and try to explain why they believe that the foreign policy positions that the United States has held up until now should be the ones to move forward."

She says Europeans find the president "personally a very charming and a warm person," but she says it remains to be seen whether he can bridge the very substantive gaps that exist between his administration and the Europeans during his current six-day, five-nation visit.

Mr. Bush will be busy between now and Saturday. At his joint news conference in Madrid with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, the president acknowledged some serious differences with the Europeans on missile defense, global warming and the death penalty.

But he insisted that the United States and its European allies agree on so many more issues, including trade. Even while on European soil and in the face of some strident criticism, the president certainly did not back away from any of his bottom-line positions.

On missile defense, he bluntly said the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty is "a relic of the past." He added: "It prevents freedom-loving people from exploring the future, and that's why we've got to lay it aside." The Europeans, of course, fear that breaking the treaty will lead to a new international arms race.

On global warming, Mr. Bush said the 1997 Kyoto Protocol -- which imposed limits on gas emissions on the United States and other major industrialized nations -- "is a flawed treaty." He added: "I think that it set unscientific goals. It didn't include developing countries." That was a reference to China and India, which are off the hook as far as the Kyoto Treaty is concerned. The Europeans strongly disagree with Bush's assessment.

And on the death penalty, the president said it "is the will of the people of the United States." He acknowledged that the Europeans, almost uniformly, oppose capital punishment. "That doesn't mean we can't be friends," he said. "That doesn't mean we can't work in common areas of importance to our people. And that's the spirit in which I come to Europe."

The last time an American president was greeted with such skepticism in Europe was probably 20 years ago, when Ronald Reagan was in the White House. The Europeans saw him as a "cowboy," unschooled in the more traditional ways of the world. They were afraid of his tough rhetoric about the Soviet Union. They thought he would escalate Cold War tensions.

Instead, as we now know, he not only reduced those tensions, but he helped to end the Cold War. The Soviet Union crumbled in 1991 during the first Bush administration. But Ronald Reagan certainly helped to set the stage for the end of 74 years of communist rule in Russia.

I have had some discussions in recent days with European diplomats based here in Washington. For the most part, their message to me has been consistent. Their people back home, and most of the governmental leaders as well, probably underestimate President Bush. They did the same thing with President Reagan.

One European told me that Mr. Bush may eventually succeed with the Europeans just as he did with the Congress when it came to tax cuts. We shall see.