In Qatar, A Blend Of Pride, Prudence
President Tempers Claims on Iraqi Arms
URL:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21359-2003Jun5.html?nav=hptop_tb
By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 6, 2003; Page A21
CAMP AL-SAYLIYAH, Qatar, June 5 -- President Bush pledged today to "reveal the truth" about deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, then rode Air Force One into Iraqi airspace en route home from a week-long trip to the Middle East and Europe.
As the jet passed over Baghdad, Bush pointed out landmarks on the ground, including the site of a bombing early in the war that had targeted Hussein, according to spokesman Ari Fleischer.
The pilot dipped the wings in a gesture of triumph as the plane flew at 31,000 feet for an hour and six minutes over the country now occupied by U.S. forces. Two F/A-18 fighter jets flew off each wing.
A senior administration official said the detour was intended "to show that Iraq is now free."
Addressing troops earlier in the day at the forward headquarters of the U.S. Central Command, from which Gen. Tommy R. Franks ran the war, Bush showed new caution in his remarks alleging that the former Iraqi government possessed illegal weapons of mass destruction. The president has been facing mounting criticism for the military's failure to find such weapons.
Today, he omitted his usual claim that actual weapons will be found and focused instead on the discovery of two trailers that the CIA has said could have been used to make biological weapons.
"We recently found two mobile biological-weapons facilities which were capable of producing biological agents," Bush said. "This is the man who spent decades hiding tools of mass murder. He knew the inspectors were looking for them. You know better than me he's got a big country in which to hide them. We're on the look. We'll reveal the truth."
Last week, Bush asserted in Poland that the government had "found the weapons of mass destruction," but in elaborating he mentioned only the trailers. No biological agents have been identified on the trailers.
On Capitol Hill, Republicans and Democrats alike are looking into the intelligence behind the administration's repeated claims that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that posed an imminent threat to the United States. Those claims were the prime public justification for the war.
Bush's partner in the war, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is also facing accusations that he exaggerated the evidence.
On the last day of a week-long trip that took Bush to Europe and the Middle East, White House aides began to appear a bit giddy, perhaps from exhaustion, perhaps merely from relief that Wednesday's Israeli-Palestinian summit had gone well.
On the flight here from Aqaba, Jordan, Bush told reporters on Air Force One that he came away from his three-way meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas with the firm belief that they had had "a good beginning" in their pursuit of peace.
"I've spent enough time with Ariel Sharon to know he's the kind of guy, when he says something, he means it," Bush said. "I'm getting the same sense about Prime Minister Abbas."
Summoning reporters to his conference room on the modified Boeing 747 for the first time in his presidency, Bush gave an unusually introspective account of the style he plans to employ in the quest for peace. He said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the road ahead.
"I'm cautious," Bush said. "I'm cautious because history tells you to be cautious."
He spoke repeatedly about what he sees as a secret of his success -- his unwillingness to micromanage anything, even Middle East peace talks. "I'm a great delegator," Bush told reporters.
The president described his role as partly disciplinarian. "I show up when they need me to call people to account, to praise or to say, 'Wait a minute. You told me in Jordan that you would do this. You haven't done it. Why?' "
Suggesting that the most useful conversations are often the casual ones, Bush noted that he is "not a very formal guy to begin with," then added: "I'm also not very analytical. You know I don't spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things."
Before Bush's appearance here at Camp al-Sayliyah, the Central Command regional headquarters near Qatar's capital, Doha, the senior enlisted adviser to Franks, Sgt. Maj. Dwight Brown, told the more than 1,000 troops assembled: "I don't want any damn catcalls from the crowd. We have the president of the United States coming to tell us what a great job we did destroying those heathen up in northern Iraq."
Bush received a thunderous welcome from the troops. As he left, the president put on a red baseball cap that a soldier had thrust at him, then doffed it with a grand sweep.
Soldiers in the audience said they were not discouraged by continuing civil disorder in Iraq and the occupation force's failure to find weapons of mass destruction. "It's a large process and Iraq is a large place," said Army Maj. Thomas J. Toomer, 35, in an interview. "We're doing the best we can do with the forces we have in the country."
Also this morning, Bush called on a key Arab ally in the war. The emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Thani, wore white robes as he greeted Bush in his home, a white-marble palace encircled by a double wall. The scent of incense filled the air and fountains gurgled, according to witnesses.
In his greeting, the emir noted that Bush is the first sitting U.S. president to visit Qatar, although Bush's father had visited before becoming president. Bush called the emir "a steadfast friend of the United States" in the receiving ceremony.
As Bush shook hands with the troops, senior adviser Karl Rove whipped out a camera and began taking pictures of soldiers posing with Bush's outgoing press secretary and his national security adviser.
"Step right up," Rove boomed, unrecognized by the guests. "Get your photo with Ari Fleischer -- get 'em while they're hot. Get your Condi Rice."
© 2003 The Washington Post Company |
