Bush Is Silent About Israeli Offensive
Aides Say President Confers With National Security Staff, Monitors Developments
Saturday, March 30, 2002
CRAWFORD, Tex., March 29 -- As Israeli troops and tanks stormed Yasser Arafat's compound today, President Bush played with his dogs, went for a jog and worked around his ranch.
With tensions rising and other world leaders speaking out, Bush's aides stalled, initially saying they were deciding what to say, then declaring in their first official statement that they were monitoring and assessing the situation. At the White House's West Wing and the National Security Council, some senior officials stuck with plans to spend Good Friday with their families.
Bush's absence from the public debate presented a flashback to the relative disengagement from the Middle East that marked his presidency until early this month, when he sent a special envoy, Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, back to the region before a visit by Vice President Cheney.
Aides said the president's conspicuous silence today reflected his style of making big decisions, then delegating the details and execution to others. The aides said Bush had no interest in talking for talking's sake. These aides said the president was well aware that his posture would be questioned, and was completely unconcerned about that possibility.
Officials also said they did not want to associate Bush any more than necessary with an unpredictable and possibly disastrous situation.
"This is not a president who worries about, listens to, or sweats criticism all that much," a White House official said. "He has confidence he will be judged on the results, not the process."
And that's precisely the risk he now takes, critics contend. Although Bush is the first U.S. president to endorse a Palestinian state, his generally hands-off approach left him vulnerable to second-guessing as the region exploded and the path to peace talks disappeared. The critics say the White House should have worked more actively to calm the region and nudge the peace process along, although some Mideast authorities say no amount of U.S. involvement would have produced certain results.
A national security official from a previous Republican administration said Bush's initial aloofness resulted from a combination of other priorities, as well as loyalty to Israel and a reaction to what the administration saw as President Bill Clinton's over-involvement, with little to show for his efforts. Bush told friends he didn't want to jump in until he could make a difference.
"They didn't have a clue about a policy which might work," the former official said.
Michael E. O'Hanlon, a senior foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution, said Bush's early disengagement resulted partly from his "inclination not to become any more heavily involved in issues than necessary."
"It was a mistake," O'Hanlon said. "But I'm not sure he was any more wrong than Clinton, who raised expectations and engaged so intensively, then failed."
The only activity visible from outside Bush's 1,600-acre Prairie Chapel Ranch today was the delivery of a tractor, as workers tilled fields in lush green countryside. Inside, Bush participated by secure video-conference in a morning National Security Council meeting that lasted more than an hour -- longer than usual, his aides noted.
The White House released a photo of a concerned-looking Bush talking by phone to national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, who was in Washington. "Dr. Rice and [Bush's] national security team are in touch with the president when they need to pass on information to him," spokesman Gordon Johndroe told White House reporters. Johndroe said the Middle East "is a topic the president and his top advisers and Cabinet members are focused on right now."
An official described Bush as "calm and focused," his aides' stock description in tense times. Senior officials staying at the ranch included Deputy Chief of Staff Joseph Hagin and the third-ranking National Security Council official, Executive Secretary Stephen E. Biegun.
Officials said Bush received no updates between 9 p.m. Thursday and his intelligence briefing this morning. The officials said he made no telephone calls to the Middle East today, although Secretary of State Colin L. Powell spoke to Arafat, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and five other officials. Rice called Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Salih, and Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage made calls to the region, the officials said. Bush's spokesmen did not elaborate on his activities beyond "outdoor projects" and "enjoying the great outdoors."
White House officials said they recognize that the fast-moving Mideast events might not allow Bush to remain in seclusion through Sunday, when he is scheduled to return to Washington. As preparation for a possible presidential statement, aides brought out the "Western White House" logo, which has not been used since briefings related to Bush's August decision to permit federal funding for limited lines of stem cells from human embryos.
But the logo went unused. At 1:55 p.m. Eastern time, White House officials announced they would have no other news for the day.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
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