In what President George W. Bush said was a "spirited" but respectful one-on-one Oval Office session on Friday, the new German chancellor, Angela Merkel, challenged U.S. treatment of terror suspects but lent strong support to joint diplomatic efforts to defuse the nuclear standoff with Iran. Almost formally declaring an end to the tensions that divided the two allies over the Iraq war, Merkel pronounced the opening of a "new chapter" in U.S.-German relations. Bush appeared to agree.  Merkel, in her first White House visit since she took office on Nov. 22, said she had raised the question of detainee treatment at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, with the president. But she appeared to do so in a carefully nonconfrontational way, saying that Europeans critical of such treatment needed to suggest reasonable alternatives for dealing with lawless terrorists. (...) Bush said that Merkel had raised the Guantánamo issue with him, and he again defended it as a necessary way to seek information from terror suspects. (...)  The White House appears particularly reassured by her free-market inclinations and the fact that, having grown up in East Germany, she has an inherent skepticism about Russia stronger than that of the former chancellor, Gerhard Schröder.

What infuriated the Bush administration about Mr. Schroeder was that he opportunistically used America-bashing to win votes even as he was cozying up to President Vladimir Putin and trying to lift the European Union's arms embargo against China. Mrs. Merkel has not done that. If she feels strongly about the disgrace of Guantánamo, as all honest people should, she also feels strongly about the importance of trans-Atlantic relations.

President Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday urged the United Nations to take a firm line in dealing with Iranian officials who have defied international concern over Iran's nuclear program. After an Oval Office one-on-one session, Bush and Merkel said their nations are in lockstep concerning Iran, something that was not true about Iraq. "We will certainly not be intimidated by a country such as Iran," said Merkel, on her first White House visit since taking office in November. Bush said, "It's logical that a country which has rejected diplomatic efforts," led by Germany, France and Great Britain, should be referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

Merkel's apparent willingness to work with Bush on trying to stop Iran's nuclear program, as well as in other areas, could be the start of a special closeness. Granted, both Bush and Merkel alluded to their private 45-minute White House meeting Friday as having its "candid'' moments, a diplomatic reference to differences of view. But there was far more harmony evident than discord. (... ) The budding ties between Bush and Merkel may be magnified by the known distaste Merkel's predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, and Bush had for each other, particularly over the Iraq war. It got to the point that Bush refused to telephone Schroeder with congratulations on winning the chancellorship in 2002 and even would not take a call a week later when Schroeder tried to get in touch.

She is the first European head of government to issue clear demands on specific issues, be it the treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo, the abduction of suspects or the establishing of secret CIA prisons. Specific criticism rather than blanket condemnation is something even George Bush can deal with -- especially since Merkel always combines her remarks with a commitment to German-American friendship.

Washington ist darauf angewiesen, Partner zu finden, die bei der Problemlösung behilflich sind: Vom Iran über den Irak bis nach Afghanistan. Angela Merkel hat sich angeboten, ohne sich anzudienen - das ist klug und im Interesse Deutschlands.