Bush Back in U.S. in Upbeat Mood, Says ‘We Must Get to Work to End Cold War’

President Bush, upbeat but ready for a day off, returned Friday to the United States after an eight-day tour of Europe that patched the fraying fabric of the Atlantic Alliance and declared: “We must get to work now to end the Cold War.”

Reflecting the sunny finale of the NATO summit in Brussels, and his quick follow-up stops in Bonn and London, Bush told a welcoming crowd at Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, N.H., that “we are ready to help shape a new world.”

Returning with what he said was “a message of hope” at a time of ferment in the Soviet Bloc, the President said: “We have a great and historic opportunity to shape the changes that are transforming Europe.

“Working with our allies in Europe, we set a course for the future,” he said. “And we must move to fulfill that promise, moving beyond containment, moving beyond the era of conflict and Cold War that the world has known for more than 40 years, because keeping the peace in Europe means keeping the peace for America. Our alliance seeks a less militarized Europe--a safer world for all of us.”

Note of Caution

With the President and his senior aides unanimous in their assessment of the summit’s success--and a parade of senior officials marching aft on Air Force One to recount to reporters the moments of summit triumphs--the only note of caution was sounded by Brent Scowcroft, Bush’s assistant for national security affairs.

Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One as the President flew from London to New Hampshire, Scowcroft replied with a tart “no” when asked whether the Soviets could be trusted.

But, he said, the President’s proposal to reduce the conventional, or non-nuclear, military forces of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization “is not built on trust,” which he said “is the last thing that comes between opposing sides.”

Rather, Scowcroft said, such an arms reduction agreement “is built on mutual self-interest. We trust in their self-interest.”

Cuts in Forces

In Brussels, Bush won NATO approval for a proposal that East and West agree to equal levels of military personnel, combat planes, helicopters, tanks and personnel carriers in Europe. The levels specified by Bush would bring deep cuts in Warsaw Pact forces, lesser cuts on the part of the Atlantic Alliance--which maintains fewer troops in Europe--and would, Bush said, “transform the military map of Europe.”

While Bush told reporters Friday that he had not yet received a response from Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze has described the proposal’s limits on Western forces as “a serious step in the right direction.”

Scowcroft said the Administration views the Soviets’ initial reaction as “very encouraging.”

In his own conversation with reporters aboard the aircraft, Bush said he is “determined to kick our bureaucracy and the NATO bureaucracy as best I can” to flesh out his conventional arms proposal. He has said he would like to see an agreement negotiated within six months to a year and put into effect by 1992 or 1993.

The trip had been viewed in Europe and the United States with some trepidation before it began, out of concern that differences over the future role of short-range nuclear weapons in Europe could play havoc with allied unity. But its upbeat finish, stemming from support for the President’s conventional arms control proposal, left the entire Administration team proclaiming the Atlantic Alliance in better shape than at any point in its past 40 years.

“In this period of historic change, the NATO alliance has never been more united, never been stronger,” Bush said in his remarks at the air force base. “The summit was a triumph for the alliance, a triumph of ideas, and most of all, it was a triumph of hope.

“While keeping our defenses up and our eyes wide open, we must go forward,” he said. “We must stay on the offensive. We must get to work now to end the Cold War.”

As for Bush’s own well-being, political and physical, there is always a tendency to credit a President after a successful foreign trip with a handful of political points to be cashed in at home--and a need to relax after the grueling pace of the journey.

So, he was asked as he was about to land, did he think he gained in respect back in the United States?

“You mean along like Rodney Dangerfield kind of thing?” he jested with reporters. “I’ve not suffered from lack of respect. These fellows have all been very pleasant. Haven’t you guys? Thank you very much.”

As for the fatigue of the four-nation tour, the President confessed when asked how he felt, “Feel pretty good. Feel pretty good. Can’t wait to take a day off.”

So, hours after arriving home from London, he headed out into the Atlantic aboard his boat, cast a fishing line into the chilly waters, and came up with a mackerel.