Schroeder airs his Bush reservations

Former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, whose second term was marked by vehement opposition to the war in Iraq, described in his memoirs how he was suspicious of President Bush’s constant references to his Christian faith.

In an excerpt of his upcoming book, “Decisions: My Life in Politics,” published Saturday in the German weekly Der Spiegel, Schroeder recalls the tears in his eyes as he watched television video of people jumping from the burning World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Schroeder wrote that, several months later, during Bush’s 2002 visit to Berlin, he was surprised by what he described as Bush’s “exceptionally mild” speech to the German Parliament.

Although meetings with Bush at that time were friendly, Schroeder said, he could not reconcile himself with the feeling that religion was the driving force behind many of the Bush’s political decisions.

“What bothered me, and in a certain way made me suspicious despite the relaxed atmosphere, was again and again in our discussions how much this president described himself as ‘God-fearing,’ ” Schroeder wrote, adding that he is a firm believer in the separation of church and state.