WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Wednesday that Saddam Hussein's capture could help the United States and Europe improve their relations.
"The capture recently of Saddam Hussein is the perfect opportunity for us to pivot a bit and really let the past be the past and move forward to a much better transatlantic future," he said.
Armitage held wide-ranging talks with Javier Solana, European representative for common foreign and security policy, at the State Department Wednesday. He said President Bush was also keen to forget the past.
"I think we have to look forward, not look to the past, and look to the present, to the future. And this is what we are trying to do," said Solana, agreeing with the U.S. deputy secretary.
Relations between the United States and its European partners like France and Germany deteriorated rapidly after the two European nations strongly opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
