Europe can’t leave it to him

As someone who was in the US on 11 September 2001, I witnessed first hand the dramatic impact it had on American politics and society. The deserted streets that afternoon, the rush to buy American flags, the bewilderment that turned to anger and a desire for revenge. Europeans instinctively supported the US in its hour of tragedy. They also supported the measured US response in ridding Afghanistan of the Taliban regime.

But then things started to go wrong. Many Europeans had hoped that 9/11 would turn the Bush administration back towards multilateralism, something the president’s father had argued for in the immediate aftermath of the attacks on the Twin Towers. Instead, the neo-cons seized the moment to push their own agenda of toppling Saddam Hussein. The rhetoric of the Bush administration began to grate on Europeans - "the coalition of the willing", "you are either with us or against" culminating in the strategy of pre-emptive strikes.

For the EU, there could hardly have been a more difficult security issue to deal with than Iraq, one that involved the world’s only superpower, a regional dictator, alleged weapons of mass destruction and pre-emptive military action. It also came at a time when Europe was finalising the biggest enlargement ever, with most of the newcomers staunch Atlanticists and struggling over rival ideas and texts of the EU constitution. Regrettably the EU split along predictable lines with Tony Blair acting as deputy sheriff for Bush, and Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schröder bearing the brunt of US scorn. Rumsfeld seemed to take positive delight in pouring oil on troubled waters with his barbs about "old and new Europe".

The EU did salvage something from the Iraq debacle. Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, produced the first- ever European security strategy. There was a deal on the defence part of the constitutional treaty, and France, the UK and Germany resolved to work together in future security crises. So far the Big Three have stuck together on Iran.

Politicians and officials on both sides were keen to repair the damage to transatlantic relations caused by Iraq. Bush made his first overseas trip of his second administration to Europe and there was a change in US rhetoric. Washington now supported the EU line on Iran and even sat down with North Korea in the six-party talks. But these changes made little impact on European public opinion where polls showed a vast majority opposed to Bush’s foreign policy.

Five years after 9/11 it is impossible to make the case that the world is a safer place as a result of Bush’s response. There are more terrorists than ever with Iraq and Afghanistan, a continuing magnet for jihadists, willing to attack American and European targets. Bush and Blair continue to state that their enemies are opposed to democracy and freedom. This may be true but there would be much less hostility if the US were not so hypocritical in its approach. Many suspect, for example, that the reason Washington does not push its democracy agenda in Saudi Arabia, the home of most of the 9/11 hijackers, is oil. If one adds the American military presence elsewhere in the Middle East and the uncritical US support for Israel then you have motives enough for the al-Qaeda recruiters.

What can the EU do? America is too important a partner for it to ignore, especially given the prominence Washington attaches to the ‘war on terrorism’. But the EU can continue to insist, as Solana and Wolfgang Schüssel, the Austrian chancellor, did in Vienna in June, that you cannot fight terrorism by compromising on human rights. Europe can also remind the US that there are other priorities including unfinished business in the Balkans and reviving the Doha round. Above all the EU must play a stronger role in the search for a Middle East peace settlement. In the aftermath of Lebanon, and with the US bogged down in Iraq and obsessed by Iran, there is an opportunity for the EU to play a more active role, even if it upsets some lobbies in Washington. Five years after 9/11 this would be the most important contribution that Europe could make to a long-term improvement in transatlantic relations.

• Fraser Cameron is a senior adviser to the European Policy Centre and author of US Foreign Policy after the Cold War. He writes here in a personal capacity.

As someone who was in the US on 11 September 2001, I witnessed first hand the dramatic impact it had on American politics and society. The deserted streets that afternoon, the rush to buy American flags, the bewilderment that turned to anger and a desire for revenge. Europeans instinctively supported the US in its hour of tragedy. They also supported the measured US response in ridding Afghanistan of the Taliban regime.