ABCDE Sunny, hot 96/71 • Tomorrow: Partly sunny 92/71 • details, B8 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2010


OBAMA SAYS COMBAT IS OVER


President fulfills


a campaign promise BY ANNE E. KORNBLUT


Saying it is “time to turn the MAYA ALLERUZZO/ASSOCIATED PRESS


U.S. soldiers fromACompany, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division stand in formation for a promotion ceremony at Joint Security StationMcHenry, north of Baghdad, on the last day ofU.S. combat operations in Iraq.


Afghan authorities take over largest bank to avoid meltdown


BY JOSHUA PARTLOW AND ANDREW HIGGINS


kabul — Afghanistan’s Central Bank has taken control of the country’s biggest and most politi- cally potent private bank and or- dered its chairman to hand over $160 million worth of luxury vil- las and other real estate pur- chased in Dubai for well-connect- ed insiders, according to Afghan


bankers and officials. The intervention aims to shore


up a key pillar of the Afghan economy and also of the battle against the Taliban — both of which have been marred by ram- pant corruption. KabulBankhandlessalarypay-


ments for Afghan soldiers, police and teachers, and has taken $1.3 billion in deposits from ordinary Afghans. It has said it has $500 million in liquid cash.


Kabul Bank’s wayward lending


practices, real estate speculation in Dubai and weeks of venomous feuding between major share- holders have threatened to wreak economic and political havoc. U.S. officials have long worried


that Kabul Bank, because of its size and unorthodox practices, could trigger financialmayhem, a prospect that would leave Afghan security forces without pay, threaten unrest by angry — and


page” on one of the most divisive chapters in American history, President Obama declared the U.S. war in Iraq over Tuesday night, telling the nation that he was fulfillinghis campaignpledge tostopawarhehadopposedfrom the start. “Tonight, I amannouncingthat


U.S. deaths spike In Afghanistan, the number of


American troops dying is up sharply in recent months. A6


Envoy recalled Kabul’s ambassador to


Washington says he is being removed from the post. A9


often armed — depositors and undermine President Obama's Afghan strategy. Shareholders insisted in inter-


views that Kabul Bank is solvent. The extent of its bad loans, many of them to the families and


afghan continued on A9 On ice and in space, lessons forminers


Tips from disasters could help 33 as they await rescue in Chile


BY DAVID A. FAHRENTHOLD AND MARC KAUFMAN


The lessons that could help


keep 33 trapped Chilean miners safe and sane during their months underground were learned at desperate times in isolated places: ice-bound sailing


ships, prisoner-of-war camps, malfunctioning capsules whiz- zing through space. They include: Don’t over-


promise. Keep track of night and day — even if you can’t see daylight. Encourage friendships — but watch out for cliques. Let everybody have privacy — but don’t let anybody become a loner. And remember the keys to


survival in what psychologists call “extreme environments”: En- tertainment. Structure. Hope. “I’m not a ‘Lord of the Flies’ guy. I’m very optimistic this


Voter mood has Fenty quickly shifting gears on strategy


BY TIM CRAIG ANDNIKITA STEWART Facing bleak poll results and


rising pessimismabout his chanc- es of reelection,Mayor AdrianM. Fenty plans to rebuff advice that he try towin over only key groups of potential supporters and in- stead will use a strategy that worked for him in 2006: wooing voters across the city. He will roll out the broad-ap-


peal approach Wednesday when hemeetshis chief rival,D.C.Coun- cilChairmanVincentC.Gray, fora one-on-one debate. The midday forum,whichwillbestreamedlive onTheWashingtonPost’sWebsite and later broadcast, is one of Fen-


FOOD A summer spit-take


Those who know the taste of a good watermelon say the convenience of the seedless variety comes at a cost. E1


6 onwashingtonpost.com


Watch the mayoral debate, sponsored by Washington Post


Live, at noon Wednesday, streamed live on WashingtonPostLive.com.


ty’s last opportunities to connect with large numbers of voters be- fore the Sept. 14 Democratic pri- mary. ForFenty,wholaggedGrayby17


percentage points among likely voters in a Post poll published Sunday, tactics and tone are cru- cial. Although many of those polledsaidtheywerepleasedwith the direction of the city under his leadership, themayor’spopularity is suffering fromperceptions that he isdisconnectedandaloof. As Fenty has faltered, Gray has


MARVIN JOSEPH/THE WASHINGTON POST


Mayor Adrian M. Fenty greets former H.D.WoodsonHigh School officials during an event to tout a huge construction project there.


gained support from residents whofeeldisaffectedor saytheyare turnedoffbythe39-year-oldFenty and believe that the 67-year-old city official is amoremature, sta-


ble leaderwho canwork to bridge racial andneighborhood rivalries. Themayor has tried to combat


fenty continued on A4 INSIDE METRO ‘It’s annoying’


What’s the buzz at Gallery Place? Only young ears can hear it, and business owners hope it will thwart loitering. B1


STYLE1 Obama’s new digs


The Oval Office got a makeover in advance of the speech. D1


BUSINESS NEWS..............A10 CLASSIFIEDS......................F1 COMICS.............................C8


EDITORIALS/LETTERS.....A16 FED PAGE.........................A15 GOING OUT GUIDE.............C3


LOTTERIES.........................B4 MOVIES..............................C5 OBITUARIES.......................B6


KIDSPOST........................C12 BOOK WORLD....................C6 WORLD NEWS....................A6


Printed using recycled fiber


DAILY CODE Details, B2


REDSKINS Wide receiver sidelined


Malcolm Kelly is placed on injured reserve, narrowing Donovan McNabb’s options. D1, D6 NATIONALS


“ It’s time to call a halt to the stages of —Thomas Boswell, D1 8 5 9 3 


Strasburg grieving. In baseball, always so annoyingly lifelike, there’s another game every day. So it’s necessary to reach acceptance in a hurry.”


group will be able to stay stable for a long time,” said Col. Thomas A. Kolditz,who heads the depart- ment of behavioral sciences and leadership at the U.S. Military Academy. But, Kolditz said, the potential


for conflict and violence is always there. “Have you ever been in an airport where the airplanes were stuck and the airlines weren’t giving them any information? If you take that and magnify that many times over, that’s an exam- ple of what can happen,” he said. On Tuesday, NASA, which was


called in to consult because of its experience in preparing astro- nauts for isolation, said it was working with Chilean officials on a plan that would, among other measures, enlist celebrities to help brighten theminers’ spirits. The men — trapped in a series


of tunnels deep underground since a collapse at the San Jose mine Aug. 5 — have spoken remotely with a national soccer star and Chilean President Sebas- tian Pinera. NASA officials said


miners continued on A5


the American combat mission in Iraqhasended,”Obamasaidinhis second prime-time address from the Oval Office. He heralded his belief “thatoutof the ashesofwar, a newbeginning could be born in this cradle of civilization.” In his speech, the president


sought to unshackle the nation fromamilitaryinvasion,begunby his predecessor, that was sup- posed to swiftly depose a dictator, seize hidden weapons of mass destruction and leave behind a democratic government. Instead, it dragged on formore


than seven years as U.S. troops battled a growing insurgency.The war became a recruiting tool and training ground for al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Obama noted the “huge price” the United States paid during the


6


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‘Time to turn the page’ on the Iraq war


An uneasy farewell Iraqis express fear and


frustration on the last day of the United States’ official combat presence in their country. A8


What Obama said Excerpts from the speech. A8


onwashingtonpost.com


Rewind and review Obama’s speech at postpolitics.com.


long,wrenching conflict.Over the course of the war, 1.5 million troops served in Iraq, many of them returning for multiple tours. More than 4,400 died, and 32,000werewounded. The demands of the war


stretched the limits of American military readiness, and its $740 billioncost far outpaced the origi- nal estimates. After making the case in his


remarks for withdrawing combat troops, Obama quickly pivoted to his other priorities. He said re- sources couldnowshift to thewar in Afghanistan and to boosting the economy, which he labeled “ourmost urgent task.” Before his speech, Obama


calledformerpresidentGeorgeW. Bush, whose legacy is largely de- fined by the invasion and its con- troversial underpinnings. Aides would not saywhat the two presi- dents discussed, or whether Obama gave Bush credit for his decision, as sectarian divisions exploded and thewar dragged on,


address continued on A8


Alaska senator concedes defeat Sen. Lisa Murkowski declares “tea party”-backed challenger Joe Miller


the winner of last week’s Republican primary, as the counting of absentee and other outstanding ballots fails to erase his thin lead. A3


Want a government job? Check here first.


Annual rankings of federal workplaces put NRC at top


BY ED O'KEEFE AND LISA REIN


It’s something every worker


can relate to: Your office isn’t meeting its goals, customers aren’t happy, there’s turmoil at the top—andmorale isplummet- ing. It happens in the federal gov- ernment, too, where agencies fac- ing intense public scrutiny, shift- ing priorities and unstable lead- ership can see nose dives in work- er satisfaction. Both the Securities and Exchange Com- mission, a critical player in this battered economy, and the Office of Management and Budget, the agency responsible for imple- menting President Obama’s gov- ernment reforms — hit the skids in the fifth “Best Places toWork” rankings, a closely watched re- port of federal employees. Their plunges are dramatic ex- ceptions to the overall results that show federal workers are the most satisfied with their employ- er — up 2.7 percent from 2009 — an encouraging sign as the gov- ernment continues to woo appli-


cants for hundreds of thousands of new positions. The survey, the fifth since 2003, is the first rank- and-file report card on the Obama administration. The rankings account for the perceptions ofmorethan 263,000 workers at 290 federal organiza- tions. It is compiled by the Part- nership for Public Service, a non- partisan think tank devoted to promoting public sector careers, andAmericanUniversity’s School of Public Affairs. Overall, 65 percent of workers


were satisfied with the federal government as an employer and would recommend it as a place to work, the survey said. Almost 79 percent were satisfied that their jobs match their agency’s mis- sion; 63 percent were pleased with their pay; and 61 percent were satisfied with training and development opportunities. Just 36 percent of workers think the government is giving them enough flexibility to work from home or telecommute as they try to raise families. The primary factor in job satis-


agencies continued on A12


The Washington Post Year 133, No. 270


CONTENT © 2010


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