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On Capitol Hill, concern over Afghan war grows
by Karen DeYoung and Greg Jaffe
A series of political and military set- backs in Afghanistan has fed anxiety over the war effort in the past few weeks, shaking supporters of President Oba- ma’s counterinsurgency strategy and confirming the pessimism of those who had doubts about it from the start. The concerns, fed largely by unease over military operations in southern Af- ghanistan that are progressing slower than anticipated, spurred lawmakers to
schedule last-minute hearings this week to assess progress on the battlefield and within the Afghan government. Gen. David H. Petraeus, head of the
Central Command, and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michèle A. Flour- noy are to appear Tuesday in the Senate and Wednesday in the House to answer questions about the offensives in Hel- mand and Kandahar provinces, and about what many see as the continuing erratic behavior of Afghan President Ha- mid Karzai.
“I think we are all concerned,” said Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.), a member of
TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2010 Iraqi parliament convenes
A new legislative session begins inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, but a big question remains on hold: Who will lead the government? A6
the House Armed Services Committee who visited Afghanistan last month. “The hearing is an attempt to find out
what is going on in Kandahar,” said a Senate Armed Services Committee aide, adding that Sen. Carl M. Levin (D- Mich.), the panel’s chairman, “is partic- ularly focused on whether there has been a change in strategy or timetable for the Kandahar campaign.” The White House said it welcomes the opportunity to explain. “We anticipated
afghanistan continued on A8
OIL EXECUTIVES TESTIFY THIS WEEK
Obama will make spill the subject of address tonight
by Steven Mufson and Anne E. Kornblut To save time and drilling costs, BP took
“shortcuts” that may have led to the oil rig explosion and the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a letter released Monday by two House Democrats lead- ing an investigation of the disaster. The letter, sent in advance of congres- sional hearings with senior oil executives this week, paints a damning picture of five decisions the lawmakers said the oil firm took “to speed finishing the well,” which was running “significantly behind schedule.” Marshaling e-mails, inter- views and documents, the lawmakers said: “In effect, it appears that BP repeat- edly chose risky procedures in order to reduce costs and save time, and made minimal efforts to contain the added risk.” In one instance, four days before the
April 20 explosion, Brett Cocales, one of BP’s operations drilling engineers, sent
Opinions: Eugene Robinson and Anne Applebaum on oil spill politics. A15
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Lawmakers accuse BP of ‘shortcuts’
an e-mail to a colleague noting that engi- neers had not taken all the usual steps to center the steel pipe in the drill hole, a standard procedure designed to ensure that the pipe would be properly cement- ed in place. “[W]ho cares, it’s done, end of story, will probably be fine and we’ll get a good cement job,” he wrote. Cocales could not be reached to com- ment Monday, and Andrew Gowers, a company spokesman, said only that “it would be inappropriate for us to com- ment ahead of the hearing.” The letter was part of another bad day
for BP. The company’s stock dropped 9 percent, to $30.67 a share. Investors fretted about a White House meeting Wednesday between top BP directors and President Obama, who will also make the oil spill the centerpiece of his first Oval Office address at 8 p.m. Tues- day. Speaking inside a large shelter at a Coast Guard clean-up staging area in Theodore, Ala., on Monday, Obama vowed that “we’re going to continue to hold BP and any other responsible par- ties accountable for the disaster that they created.” That cost to BP will dwarf whatever amounts its rig workers were worried about. White House officials were work- ing to strike a deal with the oil giant on a multibillion-dollar escrow account to compensate victims, administration ad- visers said. Led by White House counsel Robert F. Bauer, administration negotia- tors were hoping to finish an agreement before the meeting Wednesday. Obama called talks “constructive.”
oil spill continued on A11 CAROL GUZY/THE WASHINGTON POST A mother’s torment
Life was looking up for Teka Adams after years on the streets. Then she was taken captive by a stranger who wanted her unborn child.
by Liza Mundy and Matt Zapotosky T
he bedroom was modest and unadorned. The carpet was the neutral tan common to apartments. Arranged against the walls, in no ap-
parent order, were an ironing board, a smallish dresser with paperwork on it and a television on a stand, with a stack of DVDs underneath. In the middle of the floor was a futon mattress — bare, no frame, just a pad — on which Teka Adams lay. There was no other furni-
This is the first of two parts.
ture, unless you counted a glass bowl that she had been given to use as a chamber pot.
During the past three days, Teka had had plenty of time to study these sur- roundings. She had been lying on the mattress since Wednesday, Dec. 2, and today was Saturday, Dec. 5. The blinds were drawn, so it was hard to know the time exactly, but Teka figured it was close to midday. Her hands were bound with duct tape, and there was a days- old wound on her side with two ribbons of coagulated blood where the woman holding her captive had sliced her with a box cutter. Teka was nine months pregnant. Her due date was tomorrow. From where she lay, Teka could see
the doorway that led to the rest of the apartment. Her captor was on the other side. The woman — sturdily built, about 5-foot-4 and maybe 10 years old- er — never left Teka alone for long. She had not left the apartment or even showered, presumably afraid Teka would try to escape. At night, she slept on the floor near Teka, who had come to know her breathing. In a way, she knew her captor’s behavior as well as she knew the dresser and the television and the carpet. But why the woman was holding Te- ka — what she wanted or intended to do with her — was a mystery.
teka continued on A9
China’s crackdown after Uighur riots haunts a Muslim homeland One year later,
residents on both sides of conflict live in fear
by Lauren Keane
urumqi, china —A hulking shell of a department store towers over this city’s Uighur quarter, a reminder of what can be lost here by speaking up. For years, it was the flagship of the business empire of Rebiya Kadeer, an ex- iled leader and matriarch of the Uighur people. If Chinese government accounts are accurate, she helped instigate fierce ethnic riots that killed hundreds and in- jured thousands here last July — an accu- sation she vehemently denies. Still a prominent landmark even in its ruin, the Rebiya Kadeer Trade Center was partially confiscated by the government in 2006 when Kadeer’s son was charged with tax evasion, although tenants were allowed to stay. After the riots, it was shuttered and slated for destruction. The government said the building had failed fire inspections, but it seems in no hurry to set a demolition date.
A vintage whine, straight from South Africa
New balls to loud horns, everyone has a complaint at this year’s World Cup
by Liz Clarke
johannesburg — Four days into the month-long World Cup, a sound is build- ing on the playing fields from Cape Town to Johannesburg that threatens to rival, if not overtake, the high-pitched din of South African vuvuzelas. It is the sound of whining.
Not a day has gone by that a global soccer star or highly compensated coach hasn’t complained about one thing or another that’s spoiling the beautiful game. The high-tech Adidas soccer ball de- signed expressly for the 2010 World Cup is a disaster, according to a host of play- ers, who say it’s flummoxing world-class goalkeepers and otherwise prolific scor- ers with its erratic spins and bounces. The semi-artificial field at Peter Mo- kaba Stadium in Polokwane — a mixture of grass and synthetic fibers — is oddly fast and unpredictable, opposing coach- es carped after a poorly struck ball led to
a goalkeeping gaffe that handed Slo- venia a 1-0 upset of Algeria.
And the incessant buzz of the plastic horn known as the vuvuzela is drowning out all conversation on the field. “It is impossible to communicate,” said Ar- gentina’s Lionel Messi after his country’s 1-0 victory over Nigeria. “It’s like being deaf.” It’s an open question whether there’s merit in the griping or it’s simply a case of finicky millionaire athletes fixating on all that’s different about the first World Cup contested on African soil.
STUART FRANKLIN/GETTY IMAGES world cup continued on A4 INSIDE
HEALTH What’s in your water? It’s summer. You’re hot, sweaty and ready for a cold glass of water. Is it okay to turn on the faucet? Are bottles bad for the environment? Some facts to help make a decision. E2
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ECONOMY & BUSINESS Obama’s call a tough sell Congressional Democrats say they share the president’s goals on jobs and the economy, but the deficit looms. A11
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THE FED PAGE Aviator could lead Marines Gen. James Amos would lead a Corps involved in a ground-dominated war. A13
BOOK WORLD Glenn Beck’s conspiracy muse How to judge the talk-show host’s new novel, “The Overton Window”? Style, C1
LAW AND ORDER Kennedy faced threats FBI records show Massachusetts senator lived with death threats after assassinations of his brothers. A3
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The Washington Post Year 133, No. 192
CONTENTS© 2010 The incessant buzz of the vuvuzela has many yearning for the sounds of silence.
The forsaken structure makes for an
effective deterrent. Last summer’s chaos has been replaced with a level of fear that is striking even for one of China’s most repressed regions. Residents are afraid of attracting any attention, afraid of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But they seem most terrified of talking. “Every single family on this block is missing someone,” said Hasiya, a 33-year- old Uighur who asked that her full name not be used. Her younger brother is serv- ing a 20-year prison sentence for stealing a carton of cigarettes during the riots. “Talking about our sorrow might just in- crease it. So we swallow it up inside.” Fear is not unwarranted here. For years now, those caught talking to jour- nalists have been questioned, monitored and sometimes detained indefinitely. More striking is that residents now say they cannot talk even with one another. The Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs consider Xinjiang their homeland but now make up only 46 percent of the re- gion’s population, after decades of gov- ernment-sponsored migration by China’s Han ethnic majority. The riots started as a Uighur protest
china continued on A9
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