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an independent newspaper EDITORIALS


T Al-Qaeda’s Somali branch shows it can mount transnational attacks.


HE HORRIFIC bombings in Uganda of soccer fans watching the World Cup fi- nal marked a breakthrough for the So- mali Islamist group al-Shabab. The movement began as an insurgency


against a Western-backed government in law- less Mogadishu. In the course of the past year it has become a subsidiary of al-Qaeda, led by for- eign militants. The despicable suicide attacks Sunday in Kampala, which killed 74 civilians, marked al-Shabab’s first operation outside of Somalia. It’s not likely to be the last. The danger posed by the al-Qaeda-linked ter- rorist network in Somalia has been growing for some time, just as it has in nearby Yemen. What were once local groups of militants are now commanded by veteran lieutenants of Osama bin Laden. In the case of Somalia, that is Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a native of the Comoros islands who was one of the architects of the 1998 bomb attacks on the U.S. embassies in Ken-


Jobless


benefits, now Congress’s post-holiday priority


agree, before leaving for the holiday, on re- newing a program that provides extended job- less benefits — for a total as long as 99 weeks — during the economic downturn. Lawmakers of both parties say they want to restore the ben- efits but could not agree on whether the $35 bil- lion cost should be financed by adding to the deficit or redirecting previously allocated — al- though at this point unspecified — stimulus funds. This is an unnecessary argument that is inflicting real damage on Americans who find themselves without work through no fault of their own. Drawing the deficit line at additional un- employment benefits is shortsighted, because, if anything, the economy could benefit from more stimulus spending, not less. Unemployment benefits, which are most apt to be immediately plowed back into the economy, are about the most stimulative form of spending. Extending them is both fiscally sensible and morally decent. In theory, longer periods for drawing benefits reduce recipients’ incentives to find work. In the current reality, with jobs scarce and unemploy- ment benefits hardly lavish, the program is probably not discouraging many people from accepting available work. Nearly half the unem- ployed have been out of work for six months or more, and one-fourth have been without work for a year. Unemployment benefits — which average just over $300 a week — are an essential lifeline. The Senate needs to extend them. It should also offer more help to states to pay


C


for Medicaid, the joint federal-state health care program for the poor. There is no good reason to


should be an extension of unemployment pay.


ongress is back from its July 4 recess, and an estimated 2 million Americans have run out of unemployment benefits. The reason is that the Senate failed to


ya and Tanzania. Hundreds of militants have moved to Somalia to join his organization, in- cluding veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and at least 20 U.S. citizens.


Al-Shabab has not quite managed to wipe out Somalia’s current internationally recognized government, which hangs on to a few blocks of Mogadishu, thanks to an African Union peace- keeping force of troops from Uganda and Bu- rundi. But neither has the government deliv- ered on its promises to use the Western aid and training it has been receiving to retake ground from the extremists. The attacks in Uganda look like the beginning of a new campaign by al- Shabab to punish the government’s foreign sup- porters.


Such a campaign poses, at the least, a serious risk to the stability of Uganda, Kenya and Ethio- pia, which all have tried to prevent an al-Shabab takeover in Somalia. Given the U.S. passport holders known to have joined al-Shabab, an at-


tempt to attack the U.S. homeland — such as that attempted by the al-Qaeda affiliate in Yem- en last Christmas — is entirely plausible. The Obama administration hasn’t ignored the dan- ger: In addition to providing aid to the Somali government and army, it has ordered raids by U.S. forces on terrorist targets in Somalia. But Kenya’s foreign minister, Moses Wetan-


gula, was right when he said last week — before the Uganda bombings — that the United States was not doing enough to combat the threat. The Somali government and army need more help, and ideally, more foreign forces; more should be done to stop the flow of weapons into the coun- try. More U.S. counterterrorism operations against al-Shabab leaders should be undertak- en. The situation in Somalia, Mr. Wetangula told the Associated Press, is “very, very dire.” It is time for the United States to recognize that — and to respond before al-Shabab can escalate its foreign attacks.


TOM TOLES


TUESDAY, JULY 13, 2010


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR dletters@washpost.com


Time to end the Cuba travel ban


As a sponsor of legislation to end the ban on travel by Americans to Cuba, I noted a glaring omission in the July 9 editorial “Cuba’s gesture.” While recogniz- ing the Cuban government’s promised prisoner re- lease as a victory for hunger-striking pro-democracy activist Guillermo Fariñas, the editorial implied sup- port for the travel ban — even though Mr. Fariñas has called for an end to such restrictions. In fact, many of Cuba’s pro-democracy activists, independent jour- nalists and bloggers, including Yoani Sanchez, argue that ending the travel ban would help their efforts and improve the lives of ordinary Cubans. The U.S. government does not use its citizens’ right


to travel as a bargaining chip when dealing with re- pressive regimes such asNorth Korea, Iran, Sudan or Burma — just Cuba. Arguing that Americans should not visit Cuba unless the Castro government makes concessions is essentially advocating that the Cuban regime should determine when and how Americans travel. And it ignores the wishes of Cuban pro- democracy activists. I agree that Havana should immediately release American Alan Gross as well as all Cubans detained for their political views. But, like Mr. Fariñas and oth- ers in Cuba’s opposition, I believe ending the travel ban will help the Cuban people more than it will help their government.


BILLDELAHUNT, Washington


The writer, a Democrat, represents Massachusetts’ 10th Congressional District and is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.


Selective reporting, selective criticism I am grateful to Charles Krauthammer, as I’m sure


many other readers are, for his July 9 op-ed column, “The selective modesty of Barack Obama,” because he mentioned a story that The Post, the New York Times and most of the “important” media have not reported: NASA Administrator Charles Bolden’s bi- zarre interview with al-Jazeera, in which he said Mr. Obama gave him the mission to “reach out to the Muslim world” and “help them feel good about their historic contribution to science and math and engi- neering.” Mr. Bolden also said he was asked to “re- inspire” children to do well in science and math. I suspect any halfway intelligent Muslim would be of- fended by such laughable condescension. Apart from regretting such feel-good nonsense from a once-great space agency, I would ask The Post: How was this story not newsworthy? Didn’t Post editors realize that word of these inane state- ments would eventually reach the hordes of Post readers? And that some of them might wonder why The Post hasn’t reported it already? PETERKENNY, Glenn Dale


 I find it odd that Charles Krauthammer objects to


President Obama’s use of “my” in talking about his administration. It has always been common par- lance to talk about the Obama administration, the Bush administration, the Clinton administration. If it is the Obama national security team, then the use of “my” team is appropriate. Was Mr. Krauthammer just as concerned on the frequent occasions when President Bush talked about “my government”? That, to me, was arrogance. A president has an ad- ministration. The people have a government. VICKIHARTLEY, Cleveland, Miss.


The House’s hard fiscal choices


oppose this help and every reason to offer it. The cost has been trimmed from $24 billion to $16 billion. It is fully paid for, as is the rest of the measure, which would extend expiring tax breaks and renew a particularly effective pro- gram to provide jobs to unemployed low-income parents. States are staggering under the impact of the


economic slump, with revenue down and de- mand for social services up. Some 30 states were counting on the Medicaid money to balance their budgets, as required by law. The other cuts they would be forced to make if the Medicaid funds are not forthcoming would further slow the economic recovery. Passing this package is the right thing to do, and fiscally prudent too.


Travesty in Switzerland Director Roman Polanski escapes accountability for raping a 13-year-old. S


WISS OFFICIALS who refused to ex- tradite director Roman Polanski to the United States to face punishment for a long-ago sex crime said they didn’t have


enough information. Maybe they neglected to read the undisputed testimony of a 13-year-old detailing how Mr. Polanski drugged, raped and sodomized her. Maybe they overlooked the tran- script of Mr. Polanski’s court hearing in which, pleading guilty to a lesser charge, he acknowl- edged knowing his victim had yet to turn 14. Or perhaps they missed his unsettling explanation to probation officers of how sex with the girl “was very spontaneous.” Maybe in Switzerland the law is not offended when a criminal flees be- fore sentencing. The Swiss Justice Ministry announced Mon-


day that it was denying the U.S. request for ex- tradition and that Mr. Polanski, who had been under house arrest, was free. As part of a plea agreement with Los Angeles prosecutors, Mr. Polanski pleaded guilty in 1977 to having sex with a 13-year-old girl to satisfy far more serious charges of rape and sodomy; he fled the country in 1978 when he feared the sentencing judge might send him to jail. The director, acclaimed for his filmmaking skills, lived with impunity abroad until he flew to Switzerland to pick up an award in September and California au- thorities seized the opportunity to seek his ex- tradition. His native France, where he lives, does not extradite its citizens. The Swiss rejection of the U.S. request, which cannot be appealed, was a surprise. The govern-


ment grants the vast majority of extradition pe- titions, and even Mr. Polanski’s lawyer said the decision was “not expected.” Switzerland Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf blamed U.S. authorities for failing to provide confidential testimony about sentencing procedures used at the time of the case. This technicality essentially proved a convenient excuse for a Swiss govern- ment caught up in a wave of protest from Euro- pean intellectual and political figures sympa- thetic to Mr. Polanski. French Culture Minister Frédéric Mitterand said that Mr. Polanski was being “thrown to the lions for an old story that doesn’t really make any sense.”He’s made terrif- ic movies, in other words; he’s one of us; why can’t the Americans get past this obsession with holding child rapists accountable?


David S. Broder’s explanation of the House’s one- year budget enforcement resolution, and of our na- tion’s fiscal challenge, was at best superficial and at worst misleading [“A dereliction of fiscal duty,” op- ed, July 8]. Mr. Broder failed to mention the resolu- tion’s fiscal-responsibility measures: strengthening the pay-as-you-go law; reducing discretionary spending $7 billion below President Obama’s re- quest; and reaffirming Congress’s commitment to vote on the recommendations of the president’s bi- partisan fiscal commission, with all savings dedi- cated to deficit reduction. Mr. Broder also drastically overstated the role of a


five-year budget in tackling our debt and ignored the real source of fiscal danger. Our long-term debt is the product of exploding entitlements, growing defense spending, and taxes too low to pay for the policies Americans want — and a five-year budget would absolutely not guarantee a solution. The only way out of debt is a bipartisan compromise that be- gins with all of our options on the table. And the par- tisan debate over a traditional budget would have unhelpfully and preemptively taken options off of the commission’s table. Far from being an excuse to put off hard choices, the commission is an attempt to build support for them. Democrats pushed for the commission’s crea- tion and have been speaking out about the need for a real budget compromise. But Republicans are more interested in laying out the aspects of a com- promise they will categorically not support. STENYH. HOYER,Washington


The writer, a Maryland Democrat, is House majority leader.


What the Tea Party really wants I commend Stephen Budiansky [“Dunking on the


LOCAL OPINIONS 3Join the debate at washingtonpost.com/localopinions


Gov. O’Malley’s radio ads: Just the facts The July 3 editorial “Crude smear” criticized


Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s recent radio ads that highlighted former Maryland governor Robert L. Ehrlich’s paid “government affairs” work since leaving office in 2007. No one can dispute the facts regarding Mr.


Ehrlich’s work since leaving office in 2007. As the self-proclaimed “rainmaker” for the Balti- more office of Womble Carlyle, Mr. Ehrlich says he made “a lot of money.” That money was made by representing clients that include oil compa- nies, banks that took bailout money, a proposed slots parlor in Anne Arundel County and RJR Tobacco in a lawsuit for marketing its products to Maryland children. Mr. Ehrlich, who announced that he was tak- ing a leave of absence earlier this month, was


advertised by Womble Carlyle as a “government affairs” expert who could assist clients in influ- encing legislative debates. Mr. Ehrlich has said he didn’t register as a lobbyist, but his firm was very clear about the work for which he was hired. We commend The Post, however, for its in-


vestigative work in the July 4 news story “A sticky business tie for Md. GOP.” While Mr. Ehr- lich has refused to answer questions about his clients over the past three years, he has also re- fused to address a federal investigation and law- suit involving alleged fraud by a company owned by his running mate’s husband. TOMRUSSELL, Baltimore


The writer is campaign manager for Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D).


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Tea Party,” letters, July 7] for nailing the true history of the Constitutional Convention. Since I spoke to The Post’s Amy Gardner for 10 minutes about the Tea Party’s feelings on the Constitution — a con- versation reduced to a mere 10 words in print [“On the Fourth, it’s back to school,” July 5] — I am not surprised that as complicated an issue as states’ rights vs. an overbearing federal government would be misconstrued. What many of us “Tea Party activists” are con- cerned about are the same issues that were debated at the Constitutional Convention, in the Federalist Papers, at the state ratification conventions and fi- nally in the local pubs across the then 13 fledgling states in 1787-88. How strong should the federal gov- ernment be, and how much control should be main- tained by the states? The Federalists believed in a strong central government. It was the Anti-Federal- ists who forced the addition of the Bill of Rights, which includes limitations on the federal govern- ment (10th Amendment) and guarantees freedom of the press and freedom of speech (First Amendment). Over the years the federal government has be- come the powerful central government the Anti- Federalists feared. Issues such as mandatory health care, expanding welfare programs, government takeover of private industry and an insurmountable national debt created by our elected representatives have Tea Party members as mad as hornets. RICKBUCHANAN, Bealeton


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