USO president Chapman Cox said he was puzzled by the decision: “I pushed as much as I could, but the Pentagon told me they couldn’t give a reason.” A Pentagon spokesman could not specify the reason but said, “They [higher-ups] were not sure how to designate him. Is he a personality, or a journalist?” The response from U.S. headquarters in Riyadh: Trudea wasn’t barred; his visit was merely postponed “due to logistics and transportation limitations.”
“Doonesbury” is popular among the troops but may have ruffled some feathers by satirizing U.S. gulf policy. Perhaps more important, President Bush will be in Saudi Arabia for Thanksgiving. Bush has often expressed dislike for Trudeau, a frequent critic. A senior administration official denied the White House knew anything of Trudeau’s trip, but added: “If we had known, we would have bumped him, too.”
