European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 6, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday december 6, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary Donald m. . Won t be free of hostage experience the image of Haggard and helpless american hostages Tore at the nation s soul and shaped its politics through three presidential elections. Wednesday the nation was celebrating the release of journalist Terry Anderson the last Ana longest held of the Reagan Era hostages. Andersons Freedom Marks the end of an ordeal both personal and National. It also suggests the beginning of an Era in which Iran the principal sponsor of Middle East hostage taking will break out of its self imposed isolation. There will be no Rush to resume diplomatic ties Between the United states and Iran. But the wanning of relations Between the United states and Syria could offer a Model for the future. The hostage experience brought Home to americans the agony and cruelty of Middle East politics and reaffirmed the Vietnam lesson of the limits of american Power. It began not with the kidnapping of associated press correspondent Anderson in March 1985, but with the takeover of the . Embassy in Tehran on nov. 4, 1979. Americans watched with horror and anger the television pictures of blindfolded . Diplomats being held at gunpoint. Sixty diplomats were captured 52 of them held until Jan. 20, 1981, the Day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated president. The Tehran diplomats were Jimmy Carters hostages. Ironically their ordeal assured Carters renomination Over the Challenge from sen. Edward m. Kennedy but doomed the presidents chances to prevail Over Reagan in the general election. Reagan understood the frustration of the american people Over the nations inability to demand and win the Freedom of the Tehran hostages. He hammered Home his belief that America needed to rebuild its military Power to make Clear to any potential challenger that they would act at their peril. Reagan ran for re election in 1984 on the theme that the nation had recovered from the malaise of the Carter years. The Economy had rebounded from the inflationary shocks of 1980 and the recession of Reagan a first two years in office. Quot of bless you sirs a thank you thank you thank thu Rufe and the democrats could not shake the memory of the Tehran hostage ordeal of the image that somehow under their stewardship the nation had become weak and vulnerable to terrorist acts. But by the time Reagan turned Over the White House to George Bush in january 1989, there was a new group of americans held captive. These including Anderson were Ronald Reagan a hostages. No More than Carter was Reagan Able to win the Freedom of americans held by Muslim extremists convinced that hostage taking was a Way to change the political Power balance of the Middle East. This time the setting was ravaged Lebanon. But the key sponsor of the kidnappers remained Iran. Like Carter Reagan vowed not to negotiate with terrorists while doing just that. A skillful politician with an uncanny sense of the of Blic mood Reagan made an extraordinary miscalculation that deeply scarred his presidency when he approved the Sale of arms to Iran As part of an Effort to win the Freedom of americans held in Lebanon. The disclosure that the White House had sold arms to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini the bearded iranian cleric who was the villain of the Tehran hostage ordeal generated new Waves of anger among americans. Bush a dream of succeeding Reagan was threatened As he was confronted with demands to disclose his involvement in the Naffah he admitted knowledge of the arms sales to Iran but denied any role in diversion of funds from those sales to the nicaraguan contras. Bush survived through a combination of the skill of his Campaign and the ineptitude of the democratic Challenge. Nearly a decade after the Tehran hostage taking the democrats were unable to shake the image that they  Cope with foreign challenges. Now that All the hostages Are free will the nation be free of the hostage experience questions linger. Congress is preparing an investigation into allegations that Reagan Campaign officials interceded with Iran in 1980 in an Effort to prevent Early release of the Tehran hostages. And the 1992 Campaign is Likely to revive the questions about Bush a role in the Iran Contra affair. C the associated pres Susan Page getting on Bush s problem list finished Sununu the White House chief of staff John h. Sununu shouted Down Cabinet members. He froze out some of president Bush a political advisers of longest standing. He treated members of Congress with the same dismissive attitude he had once used with new Hampshire s part time state legislators. So what surprised some Republican insiders tuesday was not that Sununu announced he was leaving the top Job but that he had lasted three years. A any chief of staff makes enemies and John a As Brilliant As he is in policy matters and intellectually a does not suffer fools gladly a said Charles Black a Republican consultant expected to play a senior role in Bush a re election Campaign. A the probably made a few More enemies than some other people might. And a lot of people were refusing to work with him in the forthcoming Campaign. A it was cumulative a a senior adviser to Bush said discussing the forces that led to Sununu a not entirely voluntary departure. A there was no Reservoir of Good will left anywhere. I done to know that anybody was in there defending  a top White House official who reports to Sununu said a in Washington after a while when somebody comes under attack there becomes a Point of no return and i think we had passed  Sununu 52, an Engineer by training who once served As governor of new Hampshire used to Call himself a a pussycat a but others were More Likely to describe him As a pit Bull. He is by nature Blunt combative and acerbic and he did not hesitate to make it Clear that he thought he was smarter than most of those with whom he was forced to Deal. Indeed the line of those mourning the blustery chief of staffs departure was notably Short including mostly such conservatives As House Republican whip Newt Gingrich r-ga., who saw Sununu As More ideologically reliable than the president. But when Sununu moves out of the chief of staffs big Corner office this month a he departs from the 848 web ooh White House entirely next March a Bush will name a new top staffer who lacks Sununu a scars and enemies. He also has cleared the Way to announce in Short order the members of his top re election team perhaps As Early As later this week. Both moves come at a critical time for Bush. He is preparing to launch a re election Campaign with his approval rating sinking to near 50 percent for the first time in his presidency. The Economy has flattened after initial signs of recovery. There is a drumbeat of criticism from democrats and others that he lacks a Domestic Agenda something that is part of the chief of staff s Purview. Sununu who had survived an ethical scandal Over his misuse of government planes found himself on the Way out the door once he became an item on the presidents lengthening list of troubles. Bush had been clearly reluctant to move against Sununu. He might not have won the presidency without Sununu a concerted support during the critical new Hampshire primary in 1988, when Bush was reeling from his third place finish in the Iowa caucuses. Sununu a Tough Guy routine As chief of staff also meant he took some criticism that might otherwise have been directed Bush a Way. A the has taken a lot of hard shots that would have landed on my Chin a Bush said late tuesday standing beside Sununu on air Force one. But As Sununu conceded in his extraordinary five Page Handwritten letter of resignation he had become a political drag or Bush. A Republican who worked in the Reagan White House likened it to the forced resignation of chief of staff Donald Regan at a time when president Reagan was floundering in the Wake of the Iran Contra scandal. A it was the Don Regan syndrome All Over again Only a different member of the family appeared to Nave brokered the Deal a the former official said. First lady Nancy Reagan reportedly engineered reganus departure. Bush a eldest son George w. Bush was instrumental in bringing about Sununu s. The president recently dispatched his son a Dallas businessman who had played a senior role in the 1988 Campaign to Confer with key republicans about their View of Sununu. What he found sources said was bitterness and anger Over Sununu a High handed ways. C new Day