What Makes Dad Clench His Jaw

By Hugh Sidey

Do the Bushes talk about Iraq when they walk along the paths covered with wood chips that wind through the trees of Camp David? Or when they drift away from shore in the little fishing boat they use at Kennebunkport? Or in the early morning at Walker's Point when George W. wanders into his parents' bedroom with a cup of coffee?

In the first place, George H.W. Bush does not voluntarily tell his son George W. Bush what he should do on Iraq or anything else more profound than a dockside suggestion like "Try this new lure to hook the stripers." The father would consider it an insult to his son's abilities. Besides, the elder Bush has told almost anybody willing to listen that the world of power and technology has moved beyond him. "I'm not plugged in."

In the second place, President George W. would never ask his father, "What'll I do about Iraq?" The son would consider that inappropriate, unwise and unfair for both of them. George W. knows all about how his father handled Desert Storm. He does not need to be told again. He does talk with the former President about people and events in the world.

Anybody with an ear to the ground has heard the echoes of the former President saying, "Of course I would like to see Saddam ousted. And I want the U.S. President to have as much worldwide support as possible. But I want to do it the way the President wants it done. If he decides we must act alone, I'm with him all the way."

Conspiracy buffs might imagine a family intrigue with George H.W. as the master puppeteer, pulling the strings on his former Administration members Brent Scowcroft, Larry Eagleburger, James Baker and Colin Powell to get the wayward son to restrain his war preparations and tough talk. But the reality has no strings. All those men have gone public with cautionary suggestions for the current President, but the former President did not talk to any of them or review their texts before they wrote and broadcast. Since they left the White House, the elder Bush has treated them as senior statesmen with the right and duty to take part in public debates on the big issues. New time, new struggle, new thoughts abound with everybody.

Perhaps the toughest challenge for the former President is to stay silent as commentators traffic in the cliche that the coming confrontation with Saddam is the result of a Bush failing "to finish the job the last time," the son trying to avenge his father's loss of nerve. If anything, Bush is even more convinced these days that Desert Storm was fought properly and ended properly. He points out that the objectives were set, the war fought and won, and to world acclaim America went home, avoiding what could have been an endless and bloody bog. "Finishing the job" would have meant a huge and perhaps unsuccessful search for Saddam, the breakup of the coalition of Arab states and strain among European allies. And the body-bag specter, so big back then, is conveniently forgotten.

So the senior Bush has turned aside invitations to appear at all the highbrow conferences. He has turned down dozens of TV-interview requests. Almost every word he utters has the potential to spark another session of public psychoanalysis about father and son. He does get angry. But his jaw is locked, his faith in his son undiminished.