U.S. Envoys Red-Faced : Bush Staff’s Diplomatic Gaffes Amaze Jordanians

The problems began several weeks ago, when the advance team for the Middle East visit by Vice President George Bush first sat down with their Jordanian hosts.

The Bush staff demanded helicopters to ferry Bush, his staff and Secret Service detail, as well as the entire entourage of traveling press, to this remote Jordanian army base near the junctions of Jordan, Israel and Syria.

The Jordanians protested that their tiny air force does not have enough helicopters for so many people and suggested that the press travel by car instead.

According to well-informed U.S. diplomats, a Bush aide then turned to the Jordanians and suggested that if they could not provide the helicopters they should borrow them from the better-equipped Israeli air force.

The Jordanians went slack-jawed with astonishment, according to the diplomats. An Arab country, Jordan has been in a technical state of war with Israel since 1967, when Israeli forces seized the West Bank of the Jordan River, and has twice endured the humiliation of having its requests for arms purchases rejected by the U.S. Congress.

The Bush party arrived here early Friday in a flotilla of Jordanian Sikorsky S-76 helicopters, including five aircraft procured for the visiting press. But the insult to Jordanian sensibilities was but one in a series of gaffes that has left the Jordanians cringing with humiliation and U.S. diplomats red-faced with embarrassment.

“Bush’s people came in here like the Russians,” said one diplomat, “with all the insensitivity and oafishness that image brings to mind.”

Members of the advance team demanded military helicopters to ferry them from Amman to Aqaba in preparation for the trip, until the U.S. Embassy protested that the government airline provides daily commercial service between the two cities. The advance team eventually took such a flight.

The helicopter question was particularly galling for the Jordanians because during a trip to the United States last spring, the Jordanians requested a helicopter to ferry King Hussein from one school in New England to another and the Reagan Administration refused the request.

“The advance people do everything in the name of ‘the boss’ but you really have to wonder if the vice president of the United States insisted that the second deputy press secretary attend all the talks with the king,” said a diplomat.

Media Event

From the start, U.S. officials noted, the visit has seemed more of a media event than a diplomatic initiative. Some officials have suggested that the trip is being used, in part, to serve as a prelude for an expected run by Bush for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination.

During Bush’s stop in Israel at the start of the tour, Bush had 35 separate “photo opportunities,” which is White House jargon for times when an official is made available to be photographed, but not questioned, at some photogenic moment.

During the Israeli leg, Bush brought along a private film crew to videotape his appearances. The crew members, who wore baseball caps emblazoned “Shooters, Inc.,” were not brought on the remainder of the tour, said one official, “because there is nothing to be gained showing him schmoozing with Arabs.”

According to knowledgeable U.S. officials, the visit to the Arab world was planned primarily from the standpoint of providing the “best camera angles and interesting backdrops” for Bush to be photographed.

Wanted Camels

For example, said one diplomat, the Bush party demanded that camels be present at every stop on Bush’s itinerary, even though they are rarely seen in Jordan except at remote locales.

Another Bush aide, after viewing historical photographs of the Jordanian army, suggested that the army band change its uniforms from white to red, a diplomat said. The precision-trained marching band, complete with bagpipes, is an emblem of Jordanian pride, and the government refused to change uniforms.

“Things are pretty unsubstantive when the negotiations are over the color of the band’s uniform,” said the disgruntled diplomat.

Despite some bruised egos, the Jordanians have acquiesced in such other matters as moving furniture around royal palaces to provide better camera angles for Bush.

Hussein and Queen Noor provided a sumptuous free lunch to journalists, which included imported caviar and smoked salmon. But a “briefing guide” provided by the Bush advance team had warned the travelers about Jordan, “You should assume all food is contaminated and requires special attention before consumption.”

Hosts Are Gracious

“Luckily the Jordanians are gracious hosts and are taking this all with a sense of humor,” said one diplomat. A State Department official repeatedly stopped in front of groups of journalists on the trip and muttered, “What a circus!”

Bush himself rankled the Jordanians by suggesting publicly while in Israel that Hussein should meet in direct talks with the Israelis, as was just done by Morocco’s King Hassan II.

The Jordanians have been at pains to convince other Arab states, particularly Syria, that the king is not planning to go into direct negotiations without consultations. The king summoned a rare press conference of Jordanian journalists to reject the Bush suggestion.

The most serious gaffes by Bush’s party occurred during the planning for the brief visit Bush paid to the army base, which overlooks Israel and the occupied Golan Heights of Syria.

The Bush party suggested that Jordan stage military maneuvers during the Bush visit, providing dramatic photos of churning tanks and firing cannons as the vice president looked on.

Ideas Vetoed

But the U.S. Embassy reportedly vetoed the idea after the Jordanians protested that such an operation might be misconstrued by Israel or Syria, causing real hostilities to break out.

Another suggestion, also vetoed by the embassy, according to diplomats, was for the Jordanians to hoist the American flag over the base.

Bush received a short briefing on the military situation Friday, and aides wanted to have him photographed peering through binoculars at “enemy territory.” The State Department suggested dropping this because the “enemy” in question is Israel, and Bush looked at the empty Golan Heights instead.

After the briefing was over, Bush turned to his host, the Jordanian commander in chief, Lt. Gen. Zeid Bin Shaker.

“Tell me, general, how dead is the Dead Sea?” Bush asked.

“Very dead, sir,” the general replied.