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FGHIJ Iran enriches
an independent newspaper EDITORIALS
E If Tehran launches a final push for a weapon, can U.N. inspectors detect it?
ARLIER THIS summer President Oba- ma legitimately claimed credit for in- creasing the cost to Iran of its nuclear program. Fresh United Nations sanc- tions, the product of painstaking U.S. di-
plomacy with Russia and China, were augmented by tough new measures by Congress, the Euro- pean Union, Japan and other allies. As these have been implemented, there have been signs of stress on the Iranian economy. But the ultimate goal of Mr. Obama’s policy is not limiting Iran’s pros- perity but stopping its enrichment of uranium and forcing its compliance with the nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty. By this measure, the admin- istration has yet to produce tangible results. A new report by the International Atomic En-
ergy Agency (IAEA) this week showed that there has essentially been no change in Iran’s steady ac- cumulation of low-enriched uranium. Since last November, its stockpile has grown from 1,800 ki-
The stem cell debate
L
A federal appeals court weighs in on the ban on embryonic research.
AST MONTH, Chief Judge Royce C. Lam- berth of the U.S. District Court for the Dis- trict of Columbia issued an injunction bar- ring the federal government from funding
research on embryonic stem cells. The judge cited the Dickey-Wicker amendment, which puts off- limits federal dollars for work “in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero under” applicable federal regulations. The National Institutes of Health suspended fund- ing for new embryonic stem cell projects and put in doubt the funding for those already underway. On Thursday the D.C. federal appeals court lift-
ed Judge Lamberth’s order, allowing the govern- ment to fund embryonic stem cell research — for now. The court, which made clear that its decision is preliminary until it has a chance to review the case thoroughly, should make the ruling perma- nent. Injunctions should be rare and imposed only when failing to do so would cause irreparable harm to the parties seeking the injunction. Judge Lamberth concluded that the two scientists who sought the ban argued convincingly that their work on adult stem cells would be harmed if em- bryonic research were not stopped, claiming that funds that would otherwise flow to them would be siphoned off to embryonic projects. The judge dis- missed the government’s claim of irreparable harm for stopping federally funded embryonic stem cell research because, he concluded, the ben- efits from such research are “speculative.” We be- lieve the judge is wrong on the law and wrong in how he balanced the competing interests. The Dickey-Wicker Amendment clearly forbids
lograms to 2,800 kilograms — an increase of more than 50 percent. Tehran now has enough low- enriched uranium to produce two nuclear weap- ons with further enrichment. Already, it has en- riched 22 kilograms to the level of 20 percent, which is considerably closer to the 60 percent threshold for weapons. Mr. Obama has expressed the hope that Iran fi- nally will be drawn into negotiations over its nu- clear activities in the coming months. But the growth of the stockpile has greatly complicated the prospects for the one compromise Iran has been willing to discuss in the last year — a pro- posed swap of 1,200 kilograms of low-enriched uranium for fuel rods that could be used in a re- search reactor. When the deal was first proposed, Iran would have given up more than two-thirds of its stockpile and would have been left with less than the amount needed for one bomb. To achieve the same effect, Tehran would now have to be in-
duced to nearly double the amount of low- enriched uranium it turned over. Administration officials say that it would still
take Iran a year to produce a weapon and that such an attempt would likely be detected by U.N. inspectors. But the IAEA report contained worri- some information on that score, too. Iran is refus- ing to answer questions about its work on more advanced centrifuges or on plans to construct more enrichment facilities. In June it barred two of the most experienced inspectors, part of a sys- tematic effort to blind the IAEA to its activities. An analysis of the report by the Institute for Sci- ence and International Security concluded that Iran may be seeking “to increase its capability to divert nuclear material in secret and produce weapon-grade uranium in a plant unknown to the inspectors or Western intelligence agencies.” If that is the case, economic sanctions are unlikely to prevent it.
TOM TOLES
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2010
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
dletters@washpost.com
The value of unpaid internships
Regarding the Aug. 30 article “Many interns pay- ing a price for unpaid experience”: The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) is not an intern “placement company.” Founded in 1967, it is a nonprofit organization that educates students in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia about political and economic systems. Our empha- sis is on academic coursework and career devel- opment. The cost of a summer program in Washington, in- cluding two courses credited by Georgetown Uni- versity, housing for eight weeks, site briefings, guest lectures and an internship is $6,795 for six credit hours. Yet this is not a program for the rich and privi-
leged. While The Post’s story mentioned that most of the internship programs offer scholarships, it did not mention that 70 percent of students who attend are given scholarships based on need. Some stu- dents receive full scholarships; the average award is about $2,000. The article stated that “tuition payments add up to millions of dollars in revenue for internship pro- grams” and noted that TFAS had revenue of $8.4 million last year. However, only 27 percent of our revenue comes from students. The biggest portion of our revenue is from contributions from donors to provide schol- arships. We offer substantial discounts off the cost of our programs. Preparation for the job market is an important use of summertime for students. Unpaid intern- ships have traditionally served as a significant means of such preparation. Our alumni include members of Congress, journalists, corporate chief executives and presidents of colleges and philan- thropic organizations. This story seemed designed to advance the agen- da of those who seek to end unpaid internships. However, those who are supposedly being exploited — college students — covet these opportunities to gain experience and make valuable career contacts. ROGERREAM,Washington
The writer is president of The Fund for American Studies.
Who’s to blame for Obama’s woes?
Richard Cohen [“Obama’s shrinking presidency,” op-ed, Sept. 7] said that President Obama has been left to be defined by his opponents and that his many accomplishments have been overlooked and his shortcomings feasted upon. Mr. Cohen, like Mr. Obama, sees what he wants to
see. The Obama administration is “shrinking” not be- cause of what it didn’t accomplish but because of what it did accomplish. It is exactly his “remarkable legislative record” that created his problems. A look at the polling numbers on almost any of the cited achievements and their impact — the stimulus, the debt, health care, the auto bailout, financial laws — shows a president at odds with the majority. Despite his lofty post-partisan claims, President Obama is a liberal and far to the left of most Amer- icans. Mr. Cohen is clearly aligned with the presi- dent politically and thus bewildered as to why the electorate is in revolt. To explain it, Mr. Cohen trots out all the classic memes for policy failures, includ- ing religion, racism, ignorance, inheritance and the president’s staff. That’s a lot of work when all he needs is a mirror.
the use of federal money for the destruction of em- bryos, but the government has not spent a dime on work in which an embryo has been destroyed. The government funds work on cells that have al- ready been harvested — a technicality, perhaps, for those who morally oppose embryonic re- search, but one that puts the government in strict compliance. Judge Lamberth also failed to give full weight to
the likely damage done by freezing research. As he implied, it is impossible to know what benefits
will accrue from embryonic research. But putting a stop to such federally backed work all but guar- antees that life-saving breakthroughs that could help millions might not be realized. That harm far outweighs any possible financial costs to two indi- vidual scientists. To clear up any doubts going forward, Congress should either discard the Dickey-Wicker Amend- ment or rewrite it to make clear that the federal government is prohibited only from funding work that directly harms a human embryo.
Kinder, gentler school reform? Vincent Gray’s dubious promise to continue the improvement of D.C. public education I
N HIS BID to unseat Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray has sought to defuse school reform as an issue. Like the incumbent, Mr. Gray favored mayoral control of the schools, and he vows not to undo im- portant changes undertaken by Mr. Fenty. What Mr. Gray says will be different is his style of gov- erning. The question is whether that promise of a kinder and gentler kind of change can bring about the drastic improvements still needed in the city’s public schools. The difference between the approaches of Mr.
Fenty and Mr. Gray is embodied in the polarizing figure of D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee. Mr. Fenty is clear that he would retain Ms. Rhee and, as reflected in her ill-advised decision to campaign for him, has inextricably linked his political fate with her tenure. Mr. Gray has cagily avoided commenting on whether he would keep her, but it’s widely assumed — from how the two have criticized each other — that Ms. Rhee would either leave or be replaced if Mr. Gray were elect- ed.
Mr. Gray is right that reform should not be de- pendent upon one person. Still, a legitimate ques- tion for voters is what will happen to the schools if Ms. Rhee leaves. There’s no debate that her departure would mean new instability for a system that has seen an unhealthy turmoil in school leadership. Consider, as The Post’s Bill Turque pointed out, that her suc- cessor would be the system’s fourth leader in 10 years, not counting interim superintendents, and that if Ms. Rhee leaves early next year, she would still be the city’s longest-serving schools head in the past 20 years. Systems that have had the most success in boosting student achievement and making other improvements have benefited from leaders who had time (witness Jerry D. Weast in Montgomery County) to formulate a plan and put in place a team to undertake hard, systemic change. A more significant issue is whether progress would continue without Ms. Rhee’s style of hard- charging leadership and Mr. Fenty’s willingness to make unpopular but needed decisions. It’s not
easy to close schools, replace principals or fire longtime teachers, and for all Mr. Fenty’s faults as amanager, it’s hard to see how he could have made any of those decisions without making enemies. In many of those battles, Mr. Gray was on the other side, second-guessing Ms. Rhee’s judgments and criticizing the mayor. The American Feder- ation of Teachers is pulling out all the stops to get Mr. Gray elected. If the union succeeds, how will Mr. Gray — who already is questioning the fair- ness of the system’s new, nationally recognized evaluation process — deal with the next round of teachers who are rated ineffective? How would he handle the pioneering teachers contract when it is renegotiated in 2012? For all the progress D.C. schools have seen in the last three years, there’s much more work to be done. Too many children remain stuck in class- rooms with no learning going on. A mayor can keep peace by keeping happy all the grownups who depend on a public school system. That doesn’t help children who are being deprived of a future.
LOCAL OPINIONS 3Join the debate at
washingtonpost.com/localopinions
People, not pets, protected by law As the owner of a large dog that firmly be-
lieves that he is a person and entitled to enjoy every experience that I do, I can certainly empa- thize with the concerns of Gerald Sheldon [let- ters, Sept. 7] about how D.C. cabdrivers treat dogs, including guide dogs. People with visual disabilities who use guide dogs, however, are uniquely situated in two ways.
First, their ability to move through life equally and engage in the same activities as sighted people is greatly enhanced by their guide dogs. Second, people with disabilities (not their service animals) are specifically protected
People with visual disabilities who use guide dogs are uniquely situated in two ways.
from discrimination by federal and District law. Testing by the Equal Rights Center supports its report “No Dogs Allowed: Discrimination Against People Who Use Service Dogs” [Metro, Sept. 2] and was, con- trary to Mr. Sheldon’s concern, methodologi- cally sound. If governments choose to ban dis-
crimination against pets in general, I am sure that more testing could be done to address Mr. Sheldon’s assertion that the discrimination isn’t limited to guide dogs. DONALD L. KAHL,Washington
The writer is executive director of the Equal Rights Center.
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CORRECTION The Sept. 9 editorial “Fill that bench” incorrectly
reported that “judicial vacancies” have more than doubled since the beginning of the Obama adminis- tration. It should have said that “judicial emergen- cies” — vacancies in existence for more than 18 months — have more than doubled during that time.
Editorial Page Editor JACKSON DIEHL
WALKERWHITE,Washington
Richard Cohen implied that President Obama’s sinking poll numbers are largely the fault of his ad- visers and speechwriters. Well, who hired those people? If not Mr. Obama, then who hired the person who made the hiring de- cisions? When you reach the top of this hierarchy, you’ll find out who is responsible for Mr. Obama’s fate.
BILL LAND,Huntingtown
Recent polls suggest that a majority of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction. In his Sept. 7 column, Richard Cohen suggested that they are right. He wrote of a “growing ignorance” about President Obama’s birthplace, his religion and other matters relating to his presidency. If ignorance is the absence of knowledge, how in a
rational, well-functioning society can ignorance be growing? This can be possible only when “credible” sources help disseminate false information, which, through repetition and lack of effective rebuttal, gradually becomes accepted as fact. Responsible leaders, regardless of political persuasion, should call out such falsehood and clearly label it as such, but our leadership on the right sees advantage in al- lowing ignorance to persist and grow. These are the people to whom we intend to hand the reins of power this November? Wrong direction, indeed.
MARK VONKESZYCKI, Great Falls Media hype Islam-hating pastor
For the past few weeks, the media have treated us to live theater of the absurd: The Rev. Terry Jones of Gainesville, Fla., proposed to burn Korans on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, be- fore backing down Thursday. Mr. Jones’s church has fewer than 50 members.
He belongs to no denomination, has held no region- al or national office for any church organization and has never held an academic position at a semi- nary or Bible college. His only book is self- published. Yet, because of a single posting on Facebook, he is
treated as a major spokesman and representative of the Christian faith by every news organization on the planet. Heads of state, military commanders, diplomats and even the Vatican have responded to a man whose credibility is no more than that of a person walking the street with a sign saying “Re- pent: The world is coming to an end.” On second thought, the world of credible sourcing and jour- nalism standards has come to an end. THEREV. EARL D. TRENT JR.,Washington
The writer is pastor of Florida Avenue Baptist Church.
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