THE LORD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS

'Bush knows Europe better' (News 24.com, October 27th, 2004)

Europe's top-selling newspaper, Germany's tabloid daily Bild, endorsed George W Bush for United States president on Tuesday, saying he would do a better job fighting terror and not ask Berlin to send troops to Iraq. Bild, in what a spokesperson said was likely the first US election endorsement in its 51-year history, said Bush was a known quantity in Europe and had a better sense than Democratic challenger John Kerry of what Washington could expect from its transatlantic partners.

"Bush knows that Europe and Germany do not have the military capacity for a significantly larger commitment of troops beyond their current deployments abroad," Bild journalist Hugo Mueller-Vogg said in the editorial.

"Thus he will not request a contribution. But Kerry would do just that and add a further burden to the already damaged German-American relationship." Mueller-Vogg, a former publisher of the respected Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, wrote.

Germany's centre-left government fiercely opposed the war in Iraq and has refused to send soldiers to lighten the load on the US-led coalition.

The conservative daily said the incumbent president now knew from his experiences in Iraq that he needed the support of a broad base of partners and would foster those alliances more than in his first term.

"Bush has learned that America can conquer any country militarily but cannot win the peace by going it alone. That is why he will focus more on international co-operation in his second term," he said.

The tabloid said that Kerry would wage a weaker war on terror than Bush and had done little to explain how he would lead the United States on the world stage.

"Bush has learned the lessons of history. Good words do not help against violent fanatics, only military strength. With him, as opposed to Kerry, there is no waffling," it said.