Bush Counsels Patience as He Delves Into Details of Conflict

Surrounded by his war council, President Bush has hunched over maps of Iraq to review bombing targets and monitor the progress of U.S. forces.

In the privacy of his study, he has kept abreast of the latest developments on television -- to a greater extent than White House officials initially let on. Throughout the day, aides provide him updates -- such as a heads-up on the daring mission that rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch. And before leaving the Oval Office each evening, Bush checks in with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Senior White House officials say that the president sets the overall strategy, and then gets out of the generals’ way. Still, associates say that, as a wartime leader, Bush is utterly engaged in his myriad duties as commander in chief -- a notable metamorphosis for an avowed delegator with little use for messy details.

Along the way, he has largely tamed, at least for now, his storied impatience, according to aides. It is Bush who now counsels others to remain patient, they say, while deriding as “hand-wringers” those who express doubts about the war plan or its progress.

“The president has made it very clear ... Tommy Franks makes the calls about the tactics and the timing of the operations,” said one top White House official, referring to the Army general who heads U.S. Central Command. And that includes a decision on when to take Baghdad, the official said.

Nevertheless, by most accounts Bush is all but engrossed in the particulars of the conflict with Iraq -- so much so that he is neglecting the list of Al Qaeda leaders that he keeps in his desk drawer, according to one senior staffer.

At the height of the Afghan campaign against Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network, Bush regularly updated that list, crossing out those who were captured or killed. But after Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a top Al Qaeda operative, was captured March 1, Bush didn’t bother crossing him off the list, telling one aide that he was now keeping track mentally.

Despite the demands of his job these days, the president has tried mightily to keep to his routine, aides said. He still gets to bed by about 10 p.m. and rises before dawn. Although aides prepare a stack of news clippings for him to peruse in the morning, the president prefers to scan the morning newspapers -- after letting the dogs out and fetching coffee for First Lady Laura Bush. Almost without variation, he reaches the Oval Office before 7 a.m. -- after reading a passage from the Bible.

That early hour is usually the most convenient time of day for Bush to telephone foreign leaders. On Friday, he spoke with South Korea President Roh Moo Hyun to thank him for dispatching engineering units to Iraq for humanitarian operations. After such calls, Bush receives briefings from the FBI and CIA. Included is a daily “threat assessment” -- the government’s latest intelligence on terrorist threats to the United States.

The president also meets each day with Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They brief him on the war and what will probably develop in the hours ahead.

“He asks questions about what is happening -- to enforce accountability, to make certain that people are doing the things that they said they were going to do,” White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said. “But when it comes to running the war, the president believes that it’s best left in the hands of the people who are expert at running the war.”

On Friday, Bush met with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who had just returned from a trip to mend relations with Turkey. The president also convened a National Security Council meeting and later had lunch with Vice President Dick Cheney. By 3:30 p.m., Bush departed -- for the third consecutive weekend -- for Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains.

Despite the press of business, the president still makes time for exercise, whether it be free weights, a treadmill or an elliptical trainer. In hopes of improving his pace of 7 1/2 minutes per mile, Bush has given up sweets -- and reportedly has made progress.

Most afternoons, “policy time” can still be found on his schedule, devoted to domestic issues. Last Wednesday, for instance, Bush used the time to discuss his economic agenda with 13 Wall Street economists.

Throughout the week, Bush visits with friends, sometimes over the telephone but often in person, either at the White House or at Camp David. Recent guests have reported sitting around with the president watching sports as well as war updates on television and doing jigsaw puzzles.

Although he has been annoyed by the incessant commentary on television -- often by retired officers who at times have questioned the war strategy -- Bush remains largely focused on the task at hand, the aides said.

“The president has always felt that what is important, particularly in war, is to be steady at the helm, and to lead and to do what he thought was right and to implement the plan that he always felt was on progress,” Fleischer said Friday. “He understood that there were going to be some criticisms.”

Bush may be impatient by nature, a longtime associate conceded. “But on the big problems, the big issues, he has very long-range vision,” the friend added.