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an independent newspaper EDITORIALS


Paying the bill for the spill W T An escrow fund for compensating victims would help — if it is handled carefully.


HEN PRESIDENT Obama meets with BP executives on Wednesday to discuss the continuing catas- trophe in the Gulf of Mexico, he will press the company to hand a


large amount of money to a third-party media- tor for compensating the victims of the Deep- water Horizon oil spill. This is a good idea, but it needs to be implemented carefully. Mr. Obama is right to consider establishing an escrow fund. Though BP has insisted repeat- edly that it will pay all fair claims against it, the company has financial incentives to resist pay- ing, and its corporate competence is not in the administration of such payouts. Observers rea- sonably wonder whether BP is paying as quick- ly or as much as it should. Establishing such a fund could calm heads all over — from politi-


The editor


and the emir What the jailing of a respected Kuwaiti journalist portends


HOUGH THERE is now little interest in Washington, the battle over political free- dom in the Arab Middle East goes on. Some- times the fights are large, such as that over


whether Egypt’s upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections will be free. But there are also dozens of small skirmishes about press freedom and women’s rights and the independence of nongov- ernmental movements that show that the demand for meaningful change is alive across the region. One compelling example comes from Kuwait, whose ruling al-Sabah family likes to boast of the progress the emirate has made toward democracy since its liberation from Saddam Hussein by U.S. forces 19 years ago. The country’s elected parlia- ment now includes a few women,and the media are freer than in neighboring Saudi Arabia. Yet any credit Kuwait has earned for tolerance is about to be negated by the prosecution of one of its most promi- nent journalists, who is being treated as a terrorist because of his habit of critiquing the prime minister. Mohammad al Jassem, the journalist, is no ex- tremist; his books have titles like “The Spirit of the Constitution.” He has been editor in chief of the al- Watan newspaper and was a founding editor of Ara- bic editions of Foreign Policy and Newsweek (both of which are owned by The Washington Post Co.). But in speeches and on a blog, he has been tough on Prime Minister Nasser Mohammed al-Ahmad al- Sabah, who is the nephew of the emir. According to his lawyer, Mr. Jassem “started ex- posing Iranian influence and power in Kuwait,” which he said was exercised through the prime min- ister. In a private meeting he allegedly said the min- ister should resign. The ruling family has responded with a campaign


that has shown little regard for the rule of law it has been bragging about. First, a host of slander cases were brought against Mr. Jassem, who was sen-


cians eager to ensure that BP will put up real money to compensate their constituents to BP shareholders looking for something resem- bling a price tag for the spill, or at least a more predictable payout procedure. If the White House and BP can develop a structure for the escrow account that would encourage legiti- mate claims to be accepted and paid faster and more fairly, then all sides will benefit. Democratic political strategists no doubt also see political advantage in setting up the es- crow fund, which may demonstrate that the president and congressional leaders are “in charge” and pressing BP. But the president must ensure that policy wisdom governs the details of the fund’s structure and operation — not the political calculation that the more pun- ishment inflicted on BP, the better. Is it real-


istic, for example, to expect BP to contribute all potential compensation up front — even as much as $20 billion, as the Democratic Senate leadership has suggested? Or should a large chunk be set aside, with the clear assurance that more is available if needed — thus allow- ing BP to use some of its cash for other produc- tive purposes? Don’t get us wrong — BP must pay cleanup costs, compensation and damages, which are likely to be considerable. But Mr. Obama’s fund also should not become the means to accom- plish the politically attractive end of forcing BP to pay in a manner that unnecessarily over- stresses the company. Indeed, victims of the spill should hope that BP flourishes — so that it has the profits from which to pay them in the years ahead.


TOM TOLES


TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2010


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR dletters@washpost.com


A pitching victory for the people


I’m used to hearing campaign-trail rhetoric that fails to distinguish between the “Washington” that politicians love to vilify in stump speeches and the vibrant city that I have known all of my life. But it was beyond disheartening to see David S. Broder fall victim to the same misguided ideological trap in his June 10 op-ed column, “Respite on the mound.” Mr. Broder presented Stephen Strasburg’s daz- zling rookie display as a much-needed win for Wash- ington’s political establishment. But the Nationals don’t belong to the politicians; they belong to the city of Washington. And Mr. Strasburg’s victory was the city’s victory. Mr. Broder wrote, “Washington badly needed the


lift promised by Strasburg’s arrival.” He also said, “Tuesday’s Post reported the worst vote of confi- dence ever for congressional incumbents.” The last thing this city needed was to make de- pressed congressional incumbents (none of whom, by the way, represents Washingtonians) feel better about their reelection bids. Sorry, President Obama and incumbent politi-


cians everywhere, but this victory was ours. And you can’t have it.


CELIARHOADS, Washington Hawks without solutions Charles Krauthammer’s June 11 op-ed column,


“The myth of Iran’s ‘isolation,’ ” continued the con- servative drumbeat for a more hawkish attitude toward Iran. But as most other such pundits have, Mr. Krauthammer criticized the Obama administra- tion’s policy without proposing an alternative that might work. In the past few years, rogue nations such as Iran


and North Korea have become increasingly intransi- gent because they recognize that our military capac- ity has been overburdened by the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. So whether the isolation of Iran is a myth is hardly the point. The isolation of North Korea has only hurt its citizens, while its regime re- mains as secure as ever. The Obama administration has always claimed


that a military option is never off the table — it might be time to walk that talk. When we start los- ing allies like Brazil and Turkey in our diplomatic ef- forts, we need a change in strategy. We either start planning a Kosovo-style NATO operation on specific targets within Iran or reconcile ourselves to a nu- clear-armed Iran.


JACKNARGUNDKAR, Germantown


Stop sticking to the media’s script Regarding Michael Smerconish’s June 11 Wash-


ington Forum piece, “The media’s black-and-white world”: The media’s desire to divide every issue along stark ideological and partisan lines is not a new phe- nomenon. While working as a congressional press secretary nearly a decade ago, I regularly received calls from cable news pro- ducers asking if my


boss


tenced in April to six months in prison in one of them. While that verdict was on appeal, he was rear- rested on May 11 under the Internal Security Law, charged with instigating the overthrow of the re- gime and “inciting to dismantle the foundations of Kuwaiti society.” The ailing writer, who is 54, is be- ing held in a high-security prison area, as if he were a violent suspect. He has been brought to court ap- pearances hooded and handcuffed and confined to


Blocking traffic Arlington impedes a project that could make life easier for hundreds of thousands of commuters.


395, one of the most traffic-clogged commuter corridors in the Washington area. In a federal law- suit filed last year, the county advanced an array of arguments, including a doozy alleging that add- ing capacity to the corridor is a racist project. The plan, said the county, is “intended to serve the in- terests of more affluent, largely Caucasian citizens from Stafford and Spotsylvania counties over mi- nority (primarily low-income) residents . . .” By this logic, Metrorail could also be classified as rac- ist; after all, most of its passengers are white. The lawsuit’s target is a private partnership’s plan to build high-speed toll and carpool lanes along a 37-mile stretch of the interstate between Fredericksburg and the Pentagon. The lanes would be reserved for buses, carpools carrying at least two passengers at rush hour and solo drivers willing to pay a variable toll, which might soar during peak periods, in return for avoiding the


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RLINGTON COUNTY has spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars, and may yet spend more, in an effort to block major improvements to interstates 95 and


congestion of the regular lanes. About a fifth of the consortium’s $1 billion investment would go to buying and operating buses to ply the new high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes and to building thousands of parking spaces for park-and-ride bus passengers. That would ensure the project would serve not only more cars but more people, too. The proposal by Fluor-Transurban, a private


consortium, offers hundreds of thousands of Vir- ginians the prospect of major improvements in their daily commute, plus the prospect of eco- nomic benefits. The need for more capacity in the I-95 corridor is clear. Some 250,000 vehicles pass daily through the Springfield interchange, one of the corridor’s main junctions, and an additional 50,000 are expected over the next 20 years. It would be terrific if all those people, or even most of them, used transit — specifically Metrorail — instead of the roads. It would be equally pleasant to imagine Virginia would pick up the tab for ex- panding the highway. But neither scenario is re- motely possible in the foreseeable future. By con-


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


The District’s HIV/AIDS office is in good hands Regarding the June 11 Metro article “Vacuum


feared at top of D.C. HIV/AIDS agency”: There’s no question that Shannon L. Hader made great strides in improving what had been a floundering public health enterprise. Her leader- ship inspired confidence for a host of providers and consumers that rely on the HIV/AIDS office for funding, data and technical assistance to build and coordinate solutions to the burgeoning public health problem of HIV/AIDS. Ms. Hader’s empha- sis on science and data-driven program planning provided insight into the dynamics of the District’s epidemic that was unparalleled in recent memory. That said, I found the article off base for saying


that the HIV/AIDS Administration is left “without a strong leader at a time when federal agencies are pouring millions of dollars into the District to study its epidemic infection rate.” Ms. Hader also


can be credited with establishing the position of chief medical officer within her management team. Nnemdi Kamanu Elias, the chief medical of- ficer, who has been appointed interim director of the HIV/AIDS agency, has an Ivy League medical education, completed her residency at one of the nation’s premier HIV-care hospitals, and has held senior management positions in HIV programs in the Netherlands and Tanzania. It is unreasonable to suggest that she is not pre- pared for the task before her. Ultimately, we must focus more on effective and innovative strategies to fight the epidemic and less on such distracting questions.


GUY-OREIDOWESTON, Silver Spring


The writer is a consultant to local HIV/AIDS programs and a former director of data and research at the HIV/AIDS Administration.


trast, Fluor’s proposal offers a way to absorb the traffic.


Arlington argues that the proposal carries risks


— that affluent solo drivers might clog the HOT lanes; that pollution might afflict exits where traf- fic backs up; that Virginia may be liable if it turns out, decades from now, that the consortium’s prof- it projections were too rosy. County officials say a full-blown environmental study, dismissed as un- necessary in the waning days of the Bush adminis- tration, is needed. We suspect that NIMBY-ism, obstructionism and ideology stand behind the county’s objec- tions. But it is also true that Fluor’s proposal is enormous in scope and reach; it would require Virginia to cede control of a major commuting corridor for most of the rest of this century. Given that, it’s reasonable for Virginia to require a full environmental impact study and to address what- ever concerns are raised in that process. Once that is complete, Arlington should stand down before it throws further taxpayer dollars down the sink- hole of litigation.


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a courtroom cage. Local press coverage of his trial, which is due to resume June 21, has been banned. Encouragingly, Kuwaitis are rallying behind Mr.


Jassem. Hundreds of people, including legislators, fellow journalists and human rights activists, turned out for a rally last week. Kuwaitis believe his case could set a precedent for how much free speech will be allowed in their country. So the outcome matters — and not just for Kuwait.


would come on their pro- grams to spout a narrowly de- fined partisan line. On most occasions, our answer was no because the producers’ rigid partisan script did not apply to my boss and, more often than not, they would rather find a willing actor for their play than provide viewers with a genuine con- versation and debate. More elected officials and leaders interested in


POLARIZING POLITICS


genuine discourse must reject the media’s rigid script — even if it means forgoing valuable airtime — to counter this disturbing situation. Unfortu- nately, until Americans start voting with their re- motes and tuning out those programs that insist on viewing every issue through a non-negotiable ideo- logical or partisan lens, I have my doubts this will occur.


NICKMANETTO, Oak Hill


A creative way to get representation Regarding the June 10 Metro article “A frustrated


D.C. turns its sights on statehood”: As a D.C. resident and federal taxpayer, I want rep-


resentation in Congress, but the voting-rights meas- ure championed by D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) was deficient on its merits and plainly un- constitutional. Statehood is a nice idea, but a measure for the District would have constitutional problems that a measure for a place like Puerto Rico would not (see Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution). Since we’re going to need to amend the Constitu- tion in any event to get this right, I propose some- thing else: an amendment giving the District one rep- resentative and one senator. The beauty of constitu- tional amendments is that we can be creative. DANWOLFF, Washington


Mr. Obama’s anti-British side In his seemingly hell-bent attempt to destroy BP


[“This week, the president sounds less professorial,” news story, June 9], President Obama is revealing an ugly side of his attitude toward Britain, British busi- ness and the pensioners whose income is reliant on BP. His very insistence on referring to BP as “British Petroleum” harkens back to an era before globaliza- tion, when protectionism prevailed and foreign busi- nesses were not welcome. While the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is a disaster of


international proportions, it was an accident waiting to happen for any deepwater oil operator — not just BP. Mr. Obama should be treating BP no differently than he would an American oil operator under simi- lar circumstances. He should also accept that the U.S. government’s own lax scrutiny is partly to blame. There is a lot to say for the major oil companies pooling their resources to solve this spill and future large-scale incidents, and to contribute to a disaster fund.


If BP senior management’s attitude and response to the disaster has been poor, then a boardroom exo- dus will be needed, and Mr. Obama can rest assured that disappointed shareholders will see to this in due course. Likewise, the U.S. government is within its rights to begin proceedings against those who it believes have been criminally negligent. In the meantime, the sole emphasis should be on stemming the leak and mitigating the environmental damage — not on cheap politics and blame-mongering. MARKCAMPBELL-RODDIS, Dunblane, Scotland


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