A Thorn in Bush’s Side

A little over four years ago, a dark blue Ford SUV careened through a stop sign at 4:30 a.m. on a December night in Bucharest, Romania, broadsiding an oncoming taxicab and inflicting fatal head injuries on the passenger riding in the cab's back seat. The accident probably would have faded into obscurity had that passenger not been 50-year-old Teofil Peter, a beloved local rock star--often likened to a Romanian Bruce Springsteen--and had the driver of the U.S. government-owned SUV not been 31-year-old S/Sgt. Christopher VanGoethem, a U.S. Marine serving as the commander of the U.S. Embassy security detail, who had been drinking that night.

Four years later, following a series of frustrations that have roiled fans and Romanian government leaders alike, the issue is popping up again--at an especially inopportune time for U.S. officials. Newspapers throughout Romania last week were plastered with headlines announcing the musician's family's intention to protest what they see as the "insultingly" poor U.S. management of both VanGoethem's court martial and a subsequent civil suit at the April 2-4 NATO summit in Bucharest, where President Bush, who arrived in Romania late Tuesday night, is hoping to shore up his foreign-policy legacy. The family has since backed down from its threaten protest, reluctant to get caught up in the circus atmosphere of demonstrations often in evidence at multinational summits, according to their lawyer. But they are far from finished in pressing for the attention of U.S. leaders.

The issue is hardly the thorniest matter facing the Bush administration officials at the summit. NATO's members are bracing for fiery debates over the faltering war effort in Afghanistan; bids for membership in the alliance by Georgia and Ukraine, over the objections of Moscow, and a Greek-led spat over Macedonia's name, among other topics. But the unresolved diplomatic dispute is just one more sore spot for an American administration in need of some good news. Romanian President Traian Basescu raised the issue in a bilateral meeting with President Bush on Wednesday afternoon, just before the start of the summit, noting in a joint press conference soon afterward that he believed Bush would try to "find as fast as possible a reasonable solution acceptable for the family of Teo Peter."

The dispute could have broader strategic implications. Romania has been a key tactical ally in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans since joining NATO in 2004 and has figured prominently in recent Russian and American maneuvering to restructure a rapidly developing post-Soviet power dynamic in Eastern Europe. While the Romanian public has remained largely supportive of the country's cooperation with Washington, the relationship has not been without controversy; sticking points have included the U.S. military bases established on Romanian territory and the Romanian government's participation in the now-infamous system of secret CIA prisons.

The Peter case has been controversial from the outset. Because VanGoethem was working for the embassy--and was therefore covered by the same Vienna Convention diplomatic immunity clauses extended to other support staff--he was spirited out of Romania the day after the accident, igniting Romanian anger.

VanGoethem was found not guilty of negligent homicide and adultery in a military trial that ended Jan. 31, 2006, but guilty of obstruction of justice and making false statements. While U.S. officials insist the trial was conducted fairly, many Romanians saw the verdict as a rubber-stamp judgment rendered by a military justice system rigged to protect its own. Top Romanian officials publicly committed to assisting the Peter family with the cost of filing a civil suit. The family has since pressed the U.S. government for compensation for their loss but considers the offers made so far to be insultingly low, said John Gurley, a Washington-based international trade lawyer who is representing the Peter family. Romanian officials have brought their complaints directly to the attention of two former U.S. ambassadors to Romania, former secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Bush. But, according to Romanian Embassy spokeswoman Ilinca Ilie, the Romanians are unaware of any developments in the case since 2006.