Germany's Iron lady

This interesting assesment of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is from the Washington Times:

To call Mrs. Merkel a breath of fresh air is an understatement. Addressing German legislators on March 29, she shocked Berlin's staid foreign-policy establishment with a stirring address outlining a tough-minded determination to stand up for German principles abroad. She cited the case of Abdul Rahman, the Afghan convert to Christianity who faced the death penalty. (Rahman is now safely in Italy.) Mrs. Merkel was among those applying the most diplomatic pressure on the Afghan regime, along with officials in the United States and Italy. Mrs. Merkel declared it "appalling" and was among the first to telephone Afghan president Hamid Karzai and twist some arms diplomatically.
Regarding Iran's nuclear program, Mrs. Merkel has taken a much tougher line than her predecessor. She compared Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Adolf Hitler.

And on America's good relations with Europe:

Tony Blair remains prime minister of Britain; whether he retires in the coming months or further in the future, his successor, Gordon Brown, will find many aspects of the Bush-Blair partnership locked in. Silvio Berlusconi has a good chance of re-election in Italy on April 9, and even his center-left opponent admits his foreign policy on Iraq will be indistinguishable from the current policy, a gradual withdrawal based on the Iraqi government's requests. And many Europeans, after witnessing the violent reaction in the Islamic world over some Danish cartoons, are realizing that the U.S. aim to stomp out Islamist terrorist groups around the globe isn't just the PR cover for some sinister conspiracy tied to oil interests. And now, with Mrs. Merkel restoring good relations with Washington, the anti-American chief executives in Europe are fewer.