The Road To Indecision

Deep misgivings:

By the time Christopher returned to Washington, the mood was grim. His aides had warned him of a weakening of resolve in the White House. Could it be that political consultants had gotten to the president and warned him to back off Bosnia? "We don't mess around with foreign-policy decisions," insists Mandy Grunwald, an informal adviser. "Nobody is saying, 'You've got an economic program to worry about, don't do this'." But other sources say the most important adviser of all-Hillary Rodham Clinton-has deep misgivings. "She regards this as a Vietnam that would compromise health-care reform," says a friend.

Over doughnuts in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Christopher presented the results of his trip in harsh terms, saying he met with "stiff resistance" from the allies to the president's plan. It was still "doable," he said, but would require Clinton to get on the phone to the allies and the Russians. The president reportedly asked the opinion of everyone in the room-including Gore, Aspin, Lake and Powell. The consensus was that Clinton should not take the lead, and that the task of salesmanship should remain with Christopher. Support for the lift-and-strike plan was clearly crumbling. Someone suggested a second look at the airstrikes-only option. Another resurrected an idea from the Bush erasending U.S. troops to Macedonia and monitors to Kosovo. Clinton asked a lot of questions but was noncommittal. It took him more than a week to decide on Bosnia II.

That indecision worries not just the allies but even politicians within Clinton's own party. One Democratic senator recently returned from a briefing on Capitol Hill "freaked," says an aide, by the administration's amateurishness on the most basic "what if" questions about U.S. involvement in the Balkans. The senator wondered if the president's foreign-policy grasp extended beyond the thought that "bad things are happening to good people." The latest idea, to ring the borders of the former Yugoslavia with troops, gives the White House a chance to develop a broad policy for the region. But the plan already has the feel of impermanence, "particularly with this president," says a senior administration official. Eventually, Clinton may choose a course-and stick to it.

MARGARET GARRARD WARNER And ELEANOR CLIFT

© 1993