Steering Clear of Damage

By JAMES CARNEY AND JOHN F. DICKERSON/WASHINGTON

When George W. Bush learned that the nation's immigration service had approved the student visas of two Sept. 11 hijackers six months after their attack, he was, by his own description, "plenty hot." In the past few weeks, the FBI has suffered even more spectacular embarrassments--missed signals that pointed to the coming attack, accusations of a cover-up, the public airing of infighting--yet the needle on Bush's thermostat has barely fluttered. Instead, he mildly conceded that "the FBI was an organization full of fine people that loved America" but "it needed to change." Even in private, advisers say, Bush has kept his cool amid revelations that have led some to call for Director Robert Mueller's head. As Bob Dole used to wonder, "Where's the outrage?"

Not at the White House, where Bush, aides claim, isn't interested in placing blame. "The President is focused on how we prevent a future attack," says communications director Dan Bartlett. "Armchair quarterbacking won't undo history." He and others add that Mueller became FBI chief just a week before the hit. But keeping calm on the sidelines serves another presidential purpose. Ever since it leaked that Bush had been briefed in August on the possibility that al-Qaeda might employ hijacking to advance its terrorist aims, the White House has carefully tried to insulate the President from suggestions that the FBI's failures were his failures as well. Better to keep him out of the story, the thinking goes, and direct attention--and blame--toward the bureau.

So the White House was content to watch last week as searchlights shone on FBI headquarters. Mueller played his best Janet ("The buck stops with me") Reno, admitting to "misstatements" about what the FBI knew before 9/11 and announcing plans to reorganize the sclerotic bureau into a nimble, terrorist-foiling machine. Was the White House concerned that Mueller may have gone too far? "Our goal was to position him as the reformer," says a senior White House aide. Which explains why the words reform and reformer kept tripping off the lips of Administration spinners as they refuted charges--from FBI whistle-blower Coleen Rowley as well as from senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill--that Mueller has been more focused on protecting the bureau than fixing it.

So far, the White House strategy of distancing the President from FBI problems seems to be working. Though the rash of disclosures about missed clues before Sept. 11 and the warnings about future attacks have soured the public view of the war's progress, Bush has not suffered. Last week a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll indicated that 41% of Americans believe the U.S. is winning the war on terror, down from 66% in January. Yet 77% of Americans say they approve of Bush's job as Commander in Chief. As long as new disclosures are limited, the White House does not see FBI troubles becoming an issue for its party in the 2002 campaign.

Bush's actions last week reaffirm his trust in what he calls "good men." Since taking office, he has stuck by CIA Director George Tenet, Attorney General John Ashcroft and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, all alumni of Washington's political target-of-the-month club. But Bush's promise to hold his appointees "accountable" suggests there's a limit to his loyalty. Last week Mueller bought a pass for earlier FBI failures by taking the blame and promising to make sure they never happen again. But if they do, some outrage may rise in the White House at last.

--By James Carney and John F. Dickerson/Washington