Baghdad, Jerusalem Attacks Test Bush Policy
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New Questions Raised About U.S. Resolve in Iraq, 'Road Map' to Peace Between Israelis, Palestinians
By Amy Goldstein and Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
CRAWFORD, Tex. -- President Bush was on the front nine of the Ridgewood Country Club's golf course when the call came from his national security adviser, telling him a truck bomb had hit U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.
The bucolic setting in which Bush received the grim news served as a symbolic reminder to the president: There is no escape from Middle East violence. Bush cut short his golf game and returned to his ranch -- where, in the afternoon, he received word of a second bombing, this one on a Jerusalem bus.
The combined blows killed at least 35 people, including the U.N. envoy to Iraq whom Bush had known personally, and jeopardized two vital pieces of Bush's foreign policy. The bombings, coming at a time when violence was already escalating in Afghanistan, raised fresh doubts about the administration's peace "road map" for Israelis and Palestinians and tested the resolve of the U.S. occupation force in Iraq. Yet Bush's aides, while horrified by the violence, were not surprised.
"It was the routine of it that struck me more than anything," said one senior official who monitored events from the White House. "It's unfortunately what we're dealing with and will be for a long time."
Indeed, the administration is becoming sadly proficient in responding to grisly news from the Middle East. A year ago, Bush was criticized for commenting on the bloodshed in one breath and boasting about his golf swing in another; this time, he was whisked from the golf course and put on a jacket and tie before he faced the cameras. There was no talk of Bush cutting short his month-long visit to his ranch; he and his aides have by now become comfortable handling the never-ending Middle East crisis from any location.
Bush called U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, to coordinate the response to the U.N. bombing. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell called Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to express U.S. condolences for the victims of the Jerusalem bombing and the Bush administration's determination to push ahead with the Middle East peace process.
Administration officials sent signals to the Israelis that Bush would have no objection to an Israeli decision to freeze the talks on the handover of four West Bank cities. Powell planned to call Mahmoud Abbas to put new pressure on the Palestinian prime minister to restrain the terrorists.
Publicly and privately, Bush and his lieutenants said there will be no wavering on U.S. policy. "Terrorists are testing our will," Bush said in a hastily arranged appearance in a helicopter hangar at the ranch after the first bombing. "Across the world, they are finding that our will cannot be shaken."
Bush teed off at about 7:30 a.m. CDT, 15 minutes before the Baghdad bomb exploded. Bush was driving his own golf cart and joshing with photographers. Less than two hours and 11 holes after he began, Bush decided to cut the game short and board his black Suburban sport-utility vehicle for the 20-minute ride back to his ranch.
By the time Bush reappeared before reporters, he had traded his golf shirt for a blazer and a tie, and his relaxed demeanor for a stony expression. The White House staff had moved swiftly so that no images of a golf course would detract from the president's vow: "These killers will not determine the future of Iraq."
Not long after that appearance, Bush was given word of the Jerusalem attack by deputy national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, who was with Bush at the ranch.
The rhythm of world events does not always mesh smoothly with Bush's penchant for month-long August vacations at his beloved Prairie Chapel Ranch. His aides call these sojourns "working vacations," and the White House has taken pains to reinforce that image, importing the president's senior defense advisers for a meeting during his first week here and his economic team for several hours last Wednesday. Though the president has had no public duties or appearances since he returned Friday evening from a two-day trip to California, the White House scrambled to ward off any appearance that the president was at play while trouble was deepening in the Middle East.
Today was the second day in a week that the president's itinerary was jarred by catastrophe. Last week, Bush was in San Diego, appearing at a Marine base to praise U.S. troops, when the largest blackout in North American history knocked out power to parts of the Northeast, the Midwest and Canada. On that day, the damage to the energy grid did little to alter his public appearances and words. In a response that Democrats have criticized as too slow, Bush did not speak publicly about the blackout until 41/2 hours after it occurred -- timing that his aides have said reflected prudence in an effort to rule out terrorism. Today, the White House's response was prompt.
In contrast to the Bush administration's studied calm, Bush's opponents raised alarms today about the president's policies. Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.), a presidential candidate, suggested that the Baghdad bombing might have been avoided "had the president pursued the war on terrorism prior to initiating military action against Saddam Hussein."
Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), another Bush challenger, issued a statement saying that the Bush administration should "reassess" its Iraq policy. "It is becoming increasingly clear each day that the administration misread the situation on the ground in Iraq," he said.
Middle East combatants, meanwhile, issued ominous warnings that the Jerusalem bus bombing could mean the end of the U.S. peace plan. An Israeli diplomat said the "whole road map" is in danger of failing if the Palestinian Authority cannot crack down immediately on terrorist groups.
But White House officials saw no cause for panic. They spoke of a "new sense of urgency" in the Israeli-Palestinian standoff, but referred to the bombing as typical. "Everybody understands there are going to be setbacks the closer we get to a true political solution," a top official said.
Milbank reported from Washington. Staff writer Michael Dobbs contributed to this report.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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