'Now is our moment,' Obama tells Berliners

7/24/2008 - 7:31:57 PM

Barack Obama was greeted as a rock star in Berlin tonight as he urged Europe and America to come together "to defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it".

His first international tour saw thousands of supporters waving American flags around Berlin's Victory Column in Tiergarten Park as they waited to catch a glimpse of the Democratic US presidential candidate.

The German press also hailed the arrival of President George Bush's possible successor with tabloid Bild proclaiming "Berlin's New Kennedy!"

The paper went on: "It's like 1963", and described the 46-year-old as "just as young, sexy and charismatic" as John F Kennedy, who famously addressed the city 45 years ago.

A survey released by the Pew Research Centre showed Germans vastly prefer Mr Obama over his Republican rival, John McCain, by a 49-point margin.

In France it is an even wider 51-point margin and in Britain, where he will meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron on Saturday, it is 30.

However, the euphoria surrounding his trip led the conservative US research organisation Citizens United, which provides information on ongoing projects and campaigns, to call for a reality check.

It launched a new television advert to promote its upcoming documentary, which portrays the media as having a love affair with Mr Obama.

David Bossie, executive producer and president of Citizens United, said: "Those that haven't been swept up in hype are wondering who this untested politician is and what he stands for - that's where this film comes in."

The documentary, 'Hype - The Obama Effec't, is backed by an advertising campaign and is due for release in September.

Today, Mr Obama, the first US presidential candidate to deliver a speech in Berlin, shrugged off any comparisons to several US presidents, including John F Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, who have made important addresses in the city.

"I come to Berlin as so many of my countrymen have come before," he told the thousands who had gathered to hear his address, which he insisted was not a political rally on foreign soil.

"Although tonight I speak to you not as a candidate for president, but as a citizen: a proud citizen of the United States and a fellow citizen of the world."

Mr Obama urged Americans and Europeans - and the world - to unite to tackle their common problems.

"People of the world look at Berlin: where a wall came down, a continent came together, and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one," he said.

"While the 20th Century taught us that we share a common destiny, the 21st Century has revealed a world more intertwined than at any time in human history.

"We cannot afford to be divided. No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone. None of us can deny these threats or escape responsibility in meeting them."

He went on: "If we're honest with each other, we know that sometimes, on both sides of the Atlantic, we have drifted apart, forgotten our shared destiny.

"In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help us make it right, has become all too common.

"In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe's role in our security and our future.

"Both views miss the truth."

The senator, who was often interrupted by cheering fans, added: "Partnership and co-operation among nations is not a choice. It is the only way, the one way to protect our common security and advance our common humanity.

"That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another.

"These now are the walls we must tear down.

"Not only have walls come down in Berlin, but they've come down in Belfast, where Protestant and Catholic have found a way to live together."

He talked about tearing down walls between countries, between races, between religions, and working to end the war in Iraq.

To loud cheers from the tens of thousands of people who had gathered, he said: "This is the moment when the world should support the millions of Iraqis who seek to rebuild their lives, even as we pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and finally bring this war to a close."

Earlier, as he prepared to make his speech, Mr Obama drew loud applause as he strode confidently across a large podium erected at the base of the Victory Column in Tiergarten Park in the heart of Berlin.

"People of Berlin, people of the world, this is our moment. This is our time," Mr Obama said as he talked about taking a frayed cross-Atlantic alliance in a new direction after eight years of the Bush administration.

Some of the loudest bursts of applause came when he talked about a world without nuclear weapons and when he called for steps to tackle climate change.

More than 200,000 people were in the park to watch the speech, police spokesman Bernhard Schodrowski said.

Mr Obama's overseas trip was designed to boost his foreign policy credentials and his speech today in Berlin was the first event where he spoke to members of the public, rather than politicians, leaders or troops.

Earlier, he met German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a discussion that ranged across the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, climate change, energy issues and more.

He also admitted today that he was suffering from a lack of sleep after having visited Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Israel and Germany so far this week.