Sixty years ago today, on D-Day 156,000 Allied servicemen, including 57,000 US troops landed on the beaches of Normandy in the world’s largest ever sea-borne invasion. So began the assault on Northern Europe which ten months later led to the utter defeat of Nazi Germany.

European, Canadian and Americans leaders, soldiers and diplomats are gathering at the celebrations today because it is likely to be the last time that significant numbers of veterans will be able to make the pilgrimage. Ten years from now most will have joined their colleagues who did not make it off the beaches or fell in the subsequent fighting across Europe. For the first time ever, a German deputation led by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is standing alongside Allied representatives to remember what is certainly one of the most significant days in the twentieth century. It is an important symbol of a new, reconciled and peaceful Europe,

For George W. Bush, meanwhile, today is also a chance to mend fences. For a few brief hours, the spotlight has shifted from the difficult debate on the Iraq resolution in the UN Security Council to the shared remembrance of a momentous day. There is much fence-mending to be done. Americans have been hurt and angered by the refusal of France and Germany to support the overthrow of Saddam. In Europe there is a strong feeling that its great military and economic strength has made America arrogant and blind to good advice. The rivalry between Europe and the United States has flowed over from diplomacy into trade issues and led both sides toward extreme positions. The French in particular are seen as taking malign pleasure in Washington’s difficulties in Iraq.

There are, however, some historical facts which cannot be ignored. The Nazis could not have been defeated without the United States, just as Soviet communism was only held in check from Western Europe by American power exerted through NATO. This US military umbrella allowed Europe to concentrate on economic recovery while spending a much lower proportion of its wealth than the Americans on defense. Europe meanwhile has a long and not always unhappy experience of engaging with the world. It possesses considerable knowledge and understanding from which a wise US administration should seek to benefit.

At this crucial moment when terrorism threatens everywhere, relations between Europe and America must return to an even keel. That certainly does not mean that one side should capitulate to the other. It means rather that each should try and listen to and debate the others’ point of view and look for workable compromises. The Americans have made serious mistakes over Iraq and Palestine but now is not the time for Europeans to do nothing more helpful than say, “ We told you so.”