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The U.S. strategy for treating troops critically wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq runs counter to what’s intuitive in civilian life: Get them to a hospital, get them stable, but then, get them moving.
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FBI foils elaborate bomb plot in Oregon
SUSPECT SOUGHT JIHAD VIOLENCE
Public square packed for holiday event was the target BY JERRYMARKON
FederalagentsarrestedanOregonman
intent on exploding a bomb and killing thousandsofpeopleatanighttimeChrist- mas tree lighting in Portland’s central square, authorities said Saturday. The ar- rest culminated a sting in which the FBI helped orchestrate the plot and assem- bled the fake bomb that the man twice triedtodetonateFridaynight. The capture of Mohamed Osman Mo-
hamud is the latest indication that the government is increasingly turning toun- dercover operatives to infiltrate extremist cellsandfightwhatauthoritiescallawave ofhomegrownterrorism. Agents arrestedMohamudmoments af-
LINDA DAVIDSON/THE WASHINGTON POST Medical crews attend to wounded troops aboard a C-17 flight from Bagramair base in Afghanistan to Ramstein Air Base inGermany.
TRAUMA TRANSIT O
BY DAVID BROWN AT BAGRAM AIR BASE, AFGHANISTAN
nly the head and feet of Sgt. Diego Solorzano are visible outside his camouflage blanket and below the skyline of medical devices keeping him alive.
Clamped to his litter is an over-the-
legs shelf. On it are three vacuum canis- ters putting gentle suction on wounds in Solorzano’s thighs and abdomen, two IV pumps delivering drugs to his veins, a ventilator breathing for him, and a moni- tor recording his pulse, EKG rhythm and
blood pressure. In the intensive care unit of the
military hospital here, Solorzano—“Sgt. Solo” to the members of Able Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry — has a nurse at his bedside and a doctor never far away.He’s been to the operating room three times in the previous 24 hours.He’s hemorrhaged his entire blood volume five times and had it replaced. He’s unconscious and might not survive. In any U.S. hospital, Solorzano would
be considered too sick to put on an elevator and take to the CT-scan suite. Now he’s about to fly across half of Asia and most of Europe. An Air Force chaplain puts a folded blue-and-white plaid blanket over Solor-
Washington housing costs stretching residents too thin
Even middle-income earners pay more than is considered prudent, an analysis finds
BY CAROL MORELLO AND DAN KEATING
One in five renters and one in seven
homeowners in the Washington area spend more than half their income on housing, according to census figures, a proportion that housing experts consid- er a severe burden. A Washington Post analysis of hous-
ing and income statistics included in the recent American Community Survey for 2009 underscores how affordable hous- ing is particularly scarce not only for lower-income residents, but also for many in themiddle class. In Fairfax County, for example, more
than half the renters with household incomes of $50,000 to $75,000 spent more than 30 percent of their income last year to keep a roof over their heads — exceeding the threshold deemed pru-
APARTMENTS....................H1 ARTS & STYLE....................E1 BUSINESS NEWS...............G1
CLASSIFIEDS.....................K1
COMICS......................INSERT EDITORIALS/LETTERS.....A20
dent by advisers and lenders to pay for shelter, including utilities, real estate taxes, condo fees and other associated costs. By that standard,more than six of 10 homeowners in that income bracket in Prince George’s and Prince William counties also spent too much. In the District,more than half did. In almost every jurisdiction in the
Washington area, the share that lower- and middle-income residents dedicated to housing far exceeded the national average. Some housing experts consider the 30
percent threshold, which has been the widely used rule of thumb for three decades, to be unrealistic, particularly in areas such as Washington, where the census reports that the median house value is $388,000 and the median household income is $85,000. So they often differentiate between
what they call a moderate burden of payments over 30 percent of income and the severe burden of exceeding 50 percent. Washington has hundreds of thou-
housing continued onA18
LOTTERIES.........................C3 OUTLOOK...........................B1 OBITUARIES....................C6-9
zano’s feet. A few minutes later, Maj. Michael Gonzalez, the doctor who’s just taken over his care, says, “Okay, I think we’re ready to go.” Six people wheel him out of the ICU,
down a hall and out a door to a loading zone. They put him and three other critical patients on a specially fitted bus that will drive several hundred yards onto a runway. There, a hulking C-17 jet waits, its tail ramp down, spilling light in the pre-dawn darkness. If the soldier’s condition worsens dur-
ing the flight, Gonzalez and the nurse and respiratory therapist helping him will have to count on having the knowl- edge, tests, drugs and equipment to “advance his care” just as they would in
INSIDE AHN YOUNG-JOON/ASSOCIATED PRESS THEWORLD Tension builds
after Korea strike War games involving the USS George Washington signal resolve on the part of Washington and Seoul to respond to North Korean aggression. A10
Haiti’s chance for change
Voters find it difficult to get an ID card ahead of Sunday’s election. A10
POLITICS&THENATION A window for climate talks
Progress in Cancun could salvage negotiations for a global pact. A3
STOCKS..........................G6-8 TRAVEL..............................F1 WORLD NEWS.............A10-17
Printed using recycled fiber E
ter he tried to detonate a van he thought waspackedwithexplosives inthe crowded public square Friday night, the JusticeDe- partment said. As he was taken away,Mo- hamud, 19, kicked agents and screamed “AllahuAkbar!”—Arabic for “Godisgreat,’’ officials said. The bomb was an elaborate dud,assembledbyFBI technicians. Mohamud, a Somali-born naturalized
the ICU he’s leaving. The U.S. military’s ability — not to mention its willingness — to take a critically ill soldier on the equivalent of a seven-hour elevator ride epitomizes an essential feature of the doctrine for treating war wounds in the 21st century: Keep the patient moving. In the civilian world, victims of car accidents and gunshots hope to get to a hospital that can save their life — and then stay there. The military strategy is pretty much the opposite — and is, paradoxically, part of the reason the care of soldiers wounded in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars has been so successful.
flight continued onA8
U.S. citizen and formerOregon StateUni- versity student, is expected to appear in federalcourtMonday.Hefacesuptolifein prison if convicted of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Neither an attorney forMohamudorhis family could be locatedSaturday. Although the FBI’s tactics of using un-
dercover operatives have been controver- sial among Muslims, officials say they have successfully broken up numerous recent plots, including the attempted bombing of Metro stations in Northern Virginia and a plan to blow up a Dallas skyscraper. And it was a tip from the Muslim community that led the FBI to Mohamud, federal officials said. Unlike other high-profile cases such as
the attempted Times Square bombing in May, federal law enforcement officials said there is no evidence that a foreign terrorist group was behind the averted
oregon continued onA6
Mexican cartels emerge as top source for U.S. meth
Gangs import medicines from across globe to make drug BYWILLIAM BOOTH
AND ANNE-MARIE O’CONNOR IN VERACRUZ, MEXICO
xploiting loopholes in the global economy, Mexican crime syndi- cates are importing mass quanti-
ties of the cold medicines and common chemicals used to manufacturemetham- phetamine—turningMexico into theNo. 1 source for all meth sold in the United States, lawenforcement agents say. Nearly three years ago, the Mexican
government appeared on the verge of controlling the sale of chemicals used to make the drugs, but the syndicates have since moved to the top of the drug trade. Cartels have quickly learned to use
dummy corporations and false labeling and take advantage of lax customs en- forcement in China, India and Bangla- desh to smuggle tons of the pills into Mexico for conversion intomethamphet- amine. Ordinary cold, flu and allergy medicine used to make methamphet- amine — pills banned in Mexico and
DAILY CODE Details, C2
6 3 8 0 200 150 100 50 0
Meth lab seizures in Mexico
215
’02
’04
’06 SOURCE: Drug Enforcement Administration THE WASHINGTON POST
restricted in the United States—are still widely available in many countries. In the past 18 months,Mexican armed
forces have raided more than 325 sophis- ticated factories capable of producing a million pounds of potent methamphet-
mexico continued onA17
The Washington Post Year 133, No. 358
CONTENT © 2010
’08 ’09
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