Decency demanded that the right tone be struck during the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the
D-Day landings yesterday. No head of state let down the veterans who had come, perhaps for the last time, to remember and honour fallen comrades. It was a day for all to pay tribute to the Allied troops who gave their lives at the beginning of the final push to rid the world of fascism. It was a common effort, a burden shared, as George W Bush and Jacques Chirac recognised in their tributes yesterday. They were both at pains to emphasise that bonds cemented in the heat of battle endured to this day, despite fundamental differences over the invasion of Iraq.
For Mr Bush, the nations that fought across Europe would become trusted partners in the cause of peace. America, his country, honoured all who fought on the side of liberty and would fight again for its friends if necessary. For Mr Chirac, France, his country, would never forget its debt to America. The United States was, he went on, France's eternal ally.
It was not a day for mentioning the I word. Fortunately, Mr Bush also resisted the temptation to repeat
earlier - erroneous and unjustifed - assertions that comparisons could be drawn between the invasion of Iraq and the Allied effort during the Second World War. To have done so would not only have opened up recent sores. It would also have done a great disservice to the D-Day veterans (indeed, everyone who fought on the Allied side) and their families.
Despite the warm words exchanged by the US and French presidents, differences remain over Iraq. However, even here there is hope of reconciliation and progress between the Bush/ Blair camp and ''Old Europe''.
According to Colin Powell yesterday, agreement is close on the resolution to be put to the UN security council in the coming days on the transfer of power to Iraq's new government. A compromise has apparently been reached on the one outstanding sticking point - how US-led military operations in Iraq can be subject to review should the government of prime minister Iyad Allawi disapprove.
Details of the compromise are scant but if it satisfies all parties an important step towards Iraq becoming genuinely sovereign, responsible for its own constitution founded on a commitment to democracy and pluralism, will have been taken. The wider issue of the case for war in the first place cannot, and should not, be forgotten. But it would be a fitting tribute to the D-Day veterans if perhaps their final contribution was to help to bring world leaders
closer in the name of freedom in another part of the world.
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