Europe's old hostility toward Bush just isn't there

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Although George W. Bush hinted that it might not be his last trip to Europe as president, his weeklong visit there that ended Monday had elements of a farewell tour. And while Bush is not popular with Europeans generally, he is popular with its current leaders, making this visit much different in tone. There were some scattered demonstrations but they lacked their old numbers and passion.In Italy, Bush-friendly Silvio Berlusconi is back in office. Pope Benedict XVI took Bush on a rare tour of his private gardens and study in the restored St. John's Tower. Germany's Angela Merkel feted the first couple at an elegant castle just outside of Berlin. And France's Nicolas Sarkozy gave the president such an effusive toast that Bush joked that Sarkozy was writing "my political obituary."In Great Britain, the Bushes were rare guests of Queen Elizabeth for tea at her private residence, Windsor Castle. Normally official visitors are received at Buckingham Palace.Even British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who seemed a touch frosty toward Bush on taking office, is now counted in the friendly column. "They like each other, they trust each other," said the president's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. And Brown came through for Bush, agreeing to increase the number of British troops in Afghanistan and keep the existing 4,200 troops in southern Iraq with "no artificial timetable" for their withdrawal.In a rare acknowledgment of a mistake, Bush admitted in several interviews that his image in Europe as a cocky, go-it-alone cowboy bent on war may have been due to his own rhetoric -- "dead or alive" and "bring 'em on" -- and that he should have stressed that peace was always his first option.The trip had its serious side. The European Union agreed to another round of tighter sanctions on Iran, and Britain announced it would freeze the assets of Iran's largest bank, to stop Tehran from trying to build nuclear weapons.Bush returned home to low approval ratings and to the limitations of a lame duck presidency. It would be no surprise if he contrived a return trip.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)