Richard Nixon has always been at his best when he leaves Washington and its bedeviling problems far behind and jets round the globe. Long ago, he called foreign policy his "strong suit" and the high points of his presidency have consisted of opening new and promising chapters in U.S. relations with old enemies. Never a particularly adroit campaigner at home, he has been boffo in such distant places as Peking, Moscow and Bucharest. Thus it is completely in character that the President this week is beginning a pellmell, week-long tour of five Middle East countries, with the hope of cementing friendships in a strategic region that until recent months had been largely hostile toward the U.S.
Beyond question, the President's trip also serves as a tactic in his efforts to ride out Watergate: he hopes to convince the nation that he is the indispensable man to turn America's foes into friends. Henry Kissinger may try to brush the subject aside—"Foreign policy is not conducted in relation to Watergate" —but Nixon knows that a successful tour of the Middle East, splendidly covered by American television, will be a diplomatic extravaganza that will, at least temporarily, divert attention from the impeachment proceedings.
On Course. Still, there are some valid reasons for the President to set out now on a hegira through the Middle East, the first state tour of the Arab nations by any American President. Addressing graduating midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy last week, Nixon noted that the October war of last year made it "clear to us and clear to the moderate leadership of the Arab world that a positive American role was indispensable to achieving a permanent settlement in the Middle East." Referring to Kissinger's successful efforts in breaking the Israeli stalemate with Egypt and Syria, Nixon said: "What seemed to be an insurmountable roadblock has now been removed, and we are determined to stay on course until we have reached our goal of a permanent peace."
Nixon's tour of the Middle East will be a dramatic demonstration of a major turning point in U.S. foreign relations, but White House aides are openly worried about the security risks that the President will be running along the way. One adviser was frank enough to admit: "We may get a grenade or two."
The major threat to Nixon is considered to be those Palestinian terrorists who want to wreck any chance of a peace settlement in the Middle East because they fear that it will ignore their claims to statehood. U.S. intelligence officials report that three planned attempts on Kissinger's life were aborted in Syria during his recent negotiations.
Although most of the details are understandably being kept secret, the host countries are all planning to take extraordinary security precautions, working out arrangements with teams of American experts who were touring the region last week. To guard the President, the U.S. Secret Service will reinforce its normal White House contingent by calling in agents from around the U.S.