BOOK WORLD AMERICA’S LITERARY FESTIVAL
OUTLOOK IN POLITICS, A NEW TEST OF FAITH
ARTS WHAT TO WATCH (AND MISS) THIS FALL
MAGAZINE BUILDING A BACKYARD RETREAT
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then his job Mayor’s accomplishments eclipsed by discontent
BY PAUL SCHWARTZMAN AND CHRIS L. JENKINS
On the last weekend before the Demo-
cratic primary, D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty competed in a triathlon, cut the ribbon at a dog park in Cleveland Park, shook hands in Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle, and attended a premiere of a documentary about his controversial schools chancellor. His chief rival, Vincent C. Gray, mean-
while, was dropping in at no fewer than three black churches, in the Mount Ver- non, Shaw and Fort Lincoln neighbor- hoods. The election wasn’t lost or won in a
weekend, but how the candidates spent that time sayssomething aboutwhy Gray defeated a sitting mayor with a long list of accomplishments. Four years ago, Fenty captured the
mayoralty as an Obama-style, post-racial black politician, one whose candidacy was not defined by race but by talk of competence, government efficiency and “best practices.” It was an approach that was embraced by a broad coalition of white and black voters alike. As mayor, Fenty retained his over- whelming popularity among white vot- ers, as a breakdown of last Tuesday’s vote demonstrates. But he lost the support of vast numbers of black voters who derid- ed him for ignoring their communities and slashing government jobs. Many of those jobs were held by African Ameri- cans, who since the advent of D.C. home rule have used city employment as a steppingstone to the middle class. As Fenty’smayoralty unfolded, discon-
tent among black voters spread across the city, from affluent enclaves bordering upper 16th Street NW to middle-income areas such as Deanwood, in Northeast,
race continued onA7
New hero of ‘tea party’ faces scrutiny
BY SANDHYA SOMASHEKHAR AND PERRY BACON JR.
wilmington, del. — In her opening remarks during a debate that came just twodays afterher stunning victory inthis state’s Republican primary for Senate, Christine O’Donnell acknowledged what had already become apparent. “There’s no secret,” she said, “that
there’s been a rather unflattering portrait of me painted these days.” But, she went on, “as we approach the general election thisnextmonthandahalf, it ismygoal for you to find outwho I am.” WhoO’Donnell ishas suddenlybecome
one of the most important questions in politics, as leaders in both parties try to figureoutwhether sheis thefreshfaceofa burgeoning movement or a fringe figure whowill soonfade. Shehasbeenintroducedto the country
through a dribble of unearthed video footage of her comments on Christian morality. In one widely circulated clip from a 1996 MTV documentary, she de- criedmasturbation on religious grounds.
o'donnell continued onA9
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METRO
Battling the bookies Fairfax County police gambled—and lost $300,000—in crackdown on sports bets. C1
LOTTERIES.........................C4 OUTLOOK...........................B1 OBITUARIES.......................C6
StaffSgt.Calvin R. Gibbs
MAJID SAEEDI/GETTY IMAGES Women vote in Afghanistan, where 2,500 people ran for 249 seats in parliament. The Taliban warned voters to avoid the polls.
SIGNS OF FRAUD AT POLLS
Stations closed in elections marked by attacks
BY DAVID NAKAMURA AND ERNESTO LONDONO
‘did you not understand what i just told you what people did in my platoon’ ‘murder’
—Excerpted from a Facebook chat between Spec. Adam Winfield and his father. More, A12.
ROGUE SOLDIERS T
AT JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WASH.
heU.S. soldiers hatched a plan as simple as it was savage: to randomly target and kill an Afghan civilian, and to get away with it. For weeks, according to Army charg-
ing documents, rogue members of a platoon from the 5th Stryker Combat Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, floated the idea. Then, one day last winter, a solitary Afghanmanapproached them in the village ofLaMohammedKalay.The “kill team” activated the plan. One soldier created a ruse that they were under
attack, tossing a fragmentary grenade on the ground. Then others opened fire. According to charging documents, the unpro-
voked, fatal attack on Jan. 15 was the start of a months-long shooting spree against Afghan civil- ians that resulted in some of the grisliest allega- tions against American soldiers since the U.S. invasion in 2001. Members of the platoon have been charged with dismembering and photo- graphing corpses, as well as hoarding a skull and
The Army was not able to provide a photo of Gibbs; a yearbook photo from his Billings, Mont., high school appears on A12.
other human bones. The subsequent investigation has raised accusa-
tions about whether the military ignored warnings that the out-of-control soldiers were committing atrocities. The father of one soldier said he repeat- edly tried to alert the Army after his son told him about the first killing, only to be rebuffed. Two more slayings would follow. Military docu-
ments allege that five members of the unit staged a total of three murders in Kandahar province be- tween January and May. Seven other soldiers have been charged with crimes related to the case, including hashish use, attempts to impede the investigation and a retaliatory gang assault on a private who blewthe whistle. Army officials have not disclosed a motive for the
killings and macabre behavior. Nor have they explained how the attacks could have persisted without attracting scrutiny. They declined to com- ment on the case beyond the charges that have been
stryker continued onA12
kabul — Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections, viewed as a bellwether of Af- ghans’ mood after months of Taliban intimidation and disclosures of official corruption, revealed a disenchanted elec- torate—and a buoyant insurgency—on Saturday. By day’s end, Afghan officials had de-
Members of a U.S. platoon are accused of killing Afghan civilians for sport BY CRAIGWHITLOCK
clared a semi-victory, pointing out that thenumber of violent incidents (309) and civilian deaths (11) had been held below their own expectations. Yet voter turnout plummeted compared with last year’s presidential election. And chief U.N. en- voy Staffan de Mistura concluded that votersandpollworkersalikehadengaged in “widespread irregularities” at the bal- lot box. “It was a rough day from a security
point of view,” de Mistura said. “The Afghan security forces did their best and made amajor effort,but thereweremajor incidents.” Insurgents launched rocket attacks,
detonated bombs and engaged in gun battles with Afghan police and soldiers. “The enemy threw everything at us,” Af- ghan Interior Minister Bismillah Khan
afghanistan continued onA17
FDA rules won’t require salmon labels
BY LYNDSEY LAYTON As the Food and Drug Administration
Cpl. Jeremy N.Morlock
Pfc. Andrew H.Holmes
Spec.Michael S.Wagnon II
Spec. Adam C. Winfield
Five members of a platoon from the 5th Stryker Combat Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, have been charged in the murders of three Afghan civilians. Gibbs and Morlock allegedly took part in all three; Holmes, Wagnon and Winfield have each been charged in one slaying.
INSIDE METRO
A concentrated council Montgomery council could see four members living within three miles of one another. C1
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Printed using recycled fiber OUTLOOK
A look Britain’s coalition LallyWeymouth sits down with Britain’s deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg. B1
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9 7 3 0
considerswhether to approve genetically modified salmon, one thing seems cer- tain: Shoppers staring at fillets in the seafood department will find it tough to pick out the conventional fish from the one created with genes from another species. Despite a growing public demand for
more information about how food is produced, that won’t happen with the salmonbecause of idiosyncracies embed- ded in federal regulations. The FDA says it cannot require a label
on the genetically modified food once it determines that the altered fish is not “materially” different fromother salmon —something agency scientists have said is true. Perhaps more surprising, convention-
al food makers say the FDA has made it difficult for them to boast that their products do not contain geneticallymod- ified ingredients. The labeling question has emerged as
See our advertisement inside this section for details. Bank products and services offered by Capital One, N.A.
labeling continued onA6
The Washington Post Year 133, No. 288
CONTENT © 2010
Fenty lost black vote,
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2010
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Afghan turnout low amid violence
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