Gerhard Schroeder did not exactly have warm relations with the U.S. — especially concerning the Iraq war. It appears that his successor, Angela Merkel, may be trying to soften Germany’s stance on the trans-Atlantic alliance:

Angela Merkel reached out Wednesday to the United States in her first foreign trip as German chancellor, saying it was time to heal the trans-Atlantic rift caused by Germany’s opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

After meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Merkel praised the alliance’s role in solving world problems and spoke of closer relations with the Bush administration.

“I believe the ties between the United States and Germany can be developed further,” she said.

This is a good start, but she added a footnote:

However, she also said she would not allow Germans to train Iraqi troops inside Iraq, sticking with the policy of her predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, who was a strong foe of the war. She said Germany would still provide such training in other countries in the Middle East.

No doubt Merkel fears that Germany would become the target of Islamist terror attacks, as Spain did for having troops in Iraq. This is too bad, as Germany could help the new Iraqi democracy get on its own feet, thus obviating the need for a continued presence of foreign troops.

This is a Catch-22. Abandon Iraqis to the terrorists, and keep Germany safe. But feeding Iraqis to the dogs allows Iraq to become another al-Qaeda stronghold — for exporting terror to countries like Germany.