TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/051490/0514105.000

Text File | 1992-08-28 | 3.8 KB | 85 lines

                                                                                NATION, Page 31

THE PRESIDENCY

Crafting a "No-Deal Deal"


By Hugh Sidey


    In the stuffy White House briefing room, George Bush sparred
with the hostage tar baby last Thursday, anguish shadowing his
eyes at each of a dozen questions that have no satisfactory
answers. Does the situation look brighter? "I welcome the
release of [Robert] Polhill and [Frank] Reed," Bush answered.
"But I can't rejoice and say that my heart is full of great
goodwill as long as six others are held hostage."

    Wasn't the South Lawn ceremony with Polhill a hero's welcome
for a man who disregarded U.S. warnings against staying in
Beirut? And didn't Polhill's secret message to Bush suggest to
terrorists that this was a way to communicate with the
President? "I don't worry so much as to the message," said
Bush. "What I do worry about is if anybody perceives that we're
putting a higher price on some human being by all of this . .
. I sorted it out and did my best."

    For more than ten years Presidents have failed to sort it
out. Jimmy Carter was driven from office by the hostage
tragedy, and Ronald Reagan's futile attempt to swap arms for
hostages blighted his presidency. Bush has steadily followed
the recommendation of his own 1985 task force not to negotiate
with terrorists and to cut out the hoopla, the yellow ribbons
and prayer vigils, events that did raise the worth of the
hostages.

    But still, every act or failure to act brings criticism.
John Root, a young New York City lawyer whose wife perished on
Pan Am Flight 103, a bombing with a suspected link to Tehran,
was incensed to hear Bush's "thanks" to Iran and Syria for
their help in freeing Polhill and Reed. Thanks for a tiny lapse
from barbarism? "We can't go by the Marquis of Queensberry
rules," says Root, although he acknowledges sympathy for Bush
and his impossible equation.

    Bush fights with himself. Compromise and accommodation are
in his nature. He has fought off aides who whispered that the
men who maneuvered for the release of Polhill and Reed must
show they can get something in return. Bush has spawned what
is now called the "no-deal deal." This includes his vague
thanks, subtle pressure on Israel to release Shi`ite prisoners,
hints that $1 billion of frozen Iranian assets will be freed
faster. The U.S. will increase its efforts to learn the fate
of four Iranians who disappeared in Lebanon in 1982. There is
more imagery and body language in all of that than there is
substance -- yet.

    Bush runs his own show, another lesson from the Reagan
calamity. When the word came that Polhill's deliverance was
imminent, the President was fishing off Key Largo, Fla. He got
Ambassador to Syria Ed Djerejian on the phone before Djerejian
was to pick up Polhill from the Syrian couriers. "Tell them
that any improvement in relations is dependent on the release
of all the hostages," Bush cautioned. Within five minutes of
that phone call, Djerejian, who once worked in the Reagan White
House, had Polhill in his car, heading back to the U.S.embassy.


    In Washington Bush meticulously designed a low-key White
House meeting with Polhill, who had asked to see the President.
There was to be only one photo opportunity; private talk, no
press conferences. The coincidental release of Reed changed the
script, and Bush felt compelled to surface for reporters with
Polhill and give his thanks.

    By week's end the hostage case was back in the shadows.
Something was moving, but it was not on paper and not in the
diplomatic cables and not visibly near the top of George Bush's
agenda. Bush plays this dreadful game for the wasting lives of
six Americans -- and perhaps his own political health.