Word: friendships
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...ceremony of reconciliation at a military cemetery in Bitburg, climaxed a drama that could hardly have been more unexpected or perverse. What began as a ceremonial addendum to his duties at the economic summit in Bonn had escalated into the most passionate dispute of his presidency. A gesture of friendship had instead revived memories of the Holocaust and World War II, strained relations between the U.S. and West Germany, and provoked worldwide debate. As the tumult raged on all last week, Reagan and his West German host, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, moved gamely through their appointed rounds, more the prisoners than...
Reagan and Kohl next flew to the western town of Bitburg for the reconciliation ceremony. It was this act, symbolizing the restoration of friendship, that stood at the heart of the controversy roiling around them. Buried in the soil of Bitburg were the remains not only of ordinary German fighting men but also of 49 members of the Waffen SS, a branch of the elite Nazi guard that ran the death camps, though the Waffen SS did not serve in that capacity...
...both Reagan and Kohl were determined to keep the wreath laying there as low-key as possible. They succeeded. Air Force One carried the two leaders into a U.S. air base on the outskirts of Bitburg, a pleasant town in the Eifel hills where 11,000 Americans live in friendship with a roughly equal number of Germans. A motorcade took them through open country, then into a residential area and to the small cemetery. There the flat markers, arranged in 32 rows, had been polished for the visit, and flowers were placed at each stone...
There was disagreement over whether Bitburg had hurt the alliance as a whole. Said one U.S. diplomat: "Not only have we not achieved a symbol of reconciliation, but we've cast doubt on something that everyone had counted on for years as a firm friendship." Others were not so sure about the long-range effects. Said a Kohl aide: "We still need each other." One consequence is almost sure to linger, a politically weakened Kohl. Admitted this official: "There will be some wonder over whether this Chancellor is really such a good crisis manager...
Next stop is Strasbourg, where Reagan is to deliver the keynote speech on V- E day before the European Parliament. In a lyrical ode to friendship and freedom, he plans to celebrate the survival and triumph of democracy in Western Europe after it was almost snuffed out during World War II. Strasbourg, however, is not without its own petty imbroglios. Reagan was initially invited to lunch by French President Francois Mitterrand, but when the European Parliament's president, Pierre Pflimlin, a longtime opponent of Mitterrand's Socialists, issued Reagan an official counterinvitation, a miffed Mitterrand withdrew...