A12 The World


Clinton urges Cambodia to strike balance with China


‘You don’t want to get too dependent on any one country’


BY JOHN POMFRET


phnompenh, cambodia—Sec- retary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday called on Cambodia to maintain an inde- pendent foreign policy and avoid relying too much on China. Clinton isonthe second leg of a


seven-country swing through Asia. The trip is designed to rein- force a central plank of foreign policy in the Obama administra- tion: that theUnited States views Asia as key to the future and that theUnited States must act in this region to balance China’s influ- ence.PresidentObamaalsoheads to Asia this week for meetings in India, Indonesia and South Ko- rea. “You don’t want to get too dependent on any one country,” Clinton saidMonday in response to a question about China’s influ- ence during a meeting with Cam- bodian students. “There are important issues


that Cambodia must raise with China,” she continued, pointing to a string ofChinese dams on the upper Mekong River that risk lowering the flow of the river as it courses through Cambodia. Clinton came to Cambodia


from talks in Vietnam and China. Her trip to Vietnam marked the U.S. accession to the East Asian Summit — a group of 18 Asian nations that the United States joined as away to balanceChina’s heft. Clinton has been to Vietnam


twice in the past fourmonths,and this is her sixth trip to Asia as secretary of state. Her visit to Cambodia marked the first time since ColinL.Powellcamehere in 2003 that aU.S. secretary of state has held meetings in this country. U.S. officials acknowledge that counteringChina’s growing influ- encehere willnotbeeasy.Chinais the top provider of aid to Cambo- dia, giving more than $200 mil- lion a year. It has built bridges, roads and power plants all over the country, andChina also trains andsupplies Cambodia’s military. Oneissue that divides theUnit-


ed States and Cambodia is the more than $400 million that Cambodia owes to Washington. The debt was incurred during the LonNol regime in the 1970s. Clinton announced thatWash-


ington would send a team to resume talks with the Cambodian government over the issue. Foreign Minister Hor Nam-


hong told reporters that his coun- try wanted the debt to be diverted into development assistance and education. Another issue involves the in-


ternational effort to bring to jus- tice members of the Khmer Rouge regime, thought to be re- sponsible for killing up to 2 mil- lion people from 1976 to 1979. Cambodia has indicated that it wants the prosecutions to stop after four senior regime officials go to trial, perhaps next year. Hor Namhong said Monday


that if the prosecutions were ex- panded to include lower-ranking Khmer Rouge officials, “it could jeopardize peace and stability.” Clinton responded that her first priority was raising the $50 mil- lion needed to prosecute the ex- isting cases against Nuon Chea, Ieng Thirith, Ieng Sary andKhieu Samphan. TheUnited States isn’t the only


country seeking to balance Chi- na’s rise. Vietnam, which is wor- ried about China’s influence in SoutheastAsia,announcedSatur- day that it is reopening its naval facilities at Cam Ranh Bay to foreign navies. The United States used the bay as a naval base during the VietnamWar. The So- viet Union took over use of the facilities after Vietnam was unit- ed under a communist govern- ment in 1975. Japan also moved this week-


end to diversify its sources of rare earth minerals following China’s decision to cut exports of the minerals, which are critical in high-tech manufacturing. Over the weekend, Japan and Vietnam agreed to jointly mine and pro- cess the minerals in Vietnam. China began blocking the export of rare earths to Japan last month after a Chinese fishing vessel col- lided with two Japanese coast guard ships near the Senkaku Islands. China claims the islands as its own territory. Chinese officials said recently


that China, which accounts for 97 percent of the world’s produc- tion of rare earths, was commit- ted to responsibly exporting the minerals.


pomfretj@washpost.com afghan from A1


transfer areas to Afghan security forces after 18 to 24 months of counterinsurgency operations. “If we can’t get out of Nawa in


two years, that calls into question some of the basic assumptions of the COIN [counterinsurgency] strategy,” said a senior adminis- tration official involved in Af- ghanistan policy, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to dis- cuss internal deliberations.


Seen as amodel A farming community of about


80,000people along theHelmand River, Nawa is regarded by many military andcivilianofficials tobe amodel of counterinsurgency op- erations and the most stable dis- trict among those targeted with new forces authorized by Obama last year. Senior military officials insist


that Afghans will have principal responsibility formaintaining or- der inthedistrictbynext summer, effectively fulfilling the two-year promise, and that the continued presence ofU.S. forces is intended to prevent backsliding. “What’s happening in Nawa is


EZ SU


KLMNO


TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2010 Marines begin to hand bases to Afghan army


what we said would happen: We’re transitioning in two years,” said a senior U.S. military officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter. “Doing overwatch of the Afghan forcesdoesn’tmeanit’snot a tran- sition.” Themilitaryofficials saidthat a


finaldecisiononhowmanytroops will remain in the area after next summer will not be made until spring and that it could involve a far greater drawdown than the Marines are forecasting. U.S. and NATO forces have


handed over bases to the Afghan army over the past few years in places thatneverhadmuchinsur- gent violence orwere deemed un- important to the campaign against the Taliban. Nawa is the firstdistrict tobegintransitioning among those that received addi- tional forces because they were assessedby commanders tobe too critical to fail. Marine officers said that in the


coming months, they plan to be- gin transitioning three other dis- tricts in Helmand province that, likeNawa,were subjected to com- prehensive counterinsurgency


operations starting last year. The transfer entails significant


risks.AlthoughNawa is one of the mostsecuredistrictsinthispartof Afghanistan,Talibanfighters con- tinue to plant homemade bombs on roads and threaten residents who cooperate with the govern- ment. The Marines are betting that ragtag soldiers and a police force besetwithinternaldivisions will be able to hold their own and maintainpublic confidence. “If the people feel you’ve left


themearly, and the Taliban exacts revenge, we’ll never get them back,” saidMarineCol.David Fur- ness, the regimental commander responsible for central Helmand province. “There are a lot of peo- ple in Nawa who have voted with their lives.We owe themsecurity.”


Two-pronged strategy The start of the transition here


has not been announced publicly, to avoid enticing the Taliban to target fledgling Afghan forces in the district. But Marine officers and other U.S. military officials were willing to speak about it in general terms to demonstrate what they say is evidence that the application of a comprehensive


counterinsurgency strategy is working. What isoccurringhereispartof


a two-pronged transfer strategy planned by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan. U.S. and NATO military leaders and diplomats are working with Af- ghanPresidentHamidKarzai and his top aides on a list of provinces (principally in the north,which is themost stable) that can be hand- ed over toAfghan control starting in the spring. The list will be pre- sented at a NATO conference on thewar inPortugalnextmonth. The province-by-province


transfer is intended to demon- strate momentum in the military campaign and push the Afghan government to take greater re- sponsibility for security. In areas that had once been under insur- gent control, such asNawa, Petra- eusandhis subordinates intendto pursue a low-key base-by-base handover, with U.S. and NATO troops stationed nearby to assist Afghan troops by calling in air- strikes or summoning medical evacuationhelicopters. “We’re going to do thiswithout a lot of fanfare and trumpets,”


Mills said. In Nawa, there has been no


public announcement of the fact that five patrol bases are now the exclusive domain of Afghan troops. Fromthe outside, they ap- pear unchanged: Each remains ringed with dirt-filled barriers and razorwire. The difference is clear only


when troops leave the compound. A few weeks ago, Marines and Afghanswalkedside by side.Now, the Afghans go it alone, some- times on foot, sometimes in tan pickups. The Marine platoons that


pulled out of the bases lastmonth havemoved to other outposts less than two miles away, but they check up on the Afghans, often with an admonishment to con- duct more patrols instead of re- mainingincheckpointsalong dirt roads. “They’restillunderourum- brella of protection,” said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Holt, the commander of theMarine battalioninNawa. During an inspection tour this


month, the topAfghancommand- er inHelmandprovince,Maj.Gen. SaidMulook, toldthesoldiers that their performance was being watched closely. “If we don’t take responsibility, we cannot expect other countries tohelpus,”he said at one of the bases. In an interview the next day,


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Mulook said that his forces “have made excellent progress” inNawa but that they are not ready to take charge of the entire district be- cause they lack sufficient equip- ment, including heavy-duty ma- chinery to detect and detonate roadside bombs. The Afghan armyhas struggledtodeliver food andfuel tothe independentbases. “With the right gear, and some


more training with the Marines, we’ll be able to do it on our own,” he said before boarding aMarine helicopter to head back to his base. But some residents remain


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skeptical, noting that before the arrival of the Marines in July 2009, Afghan soldiers were un- able to keep the Taliban at bay. “If there are no Marines here, it will benodifferent fromthepast—the bazaar will be closed,” said Naik Mohammed, a tailorwho shares a small stall in the market with his brother, a motorcycle repairman. “If there are fewer Marines, the bazaar will not be as crowded. There will be fewer children in school.” Mindful of those sentiments,


which appear to bewidely held by the population, Marine officers are trying to craft an inconspicu- ous transition. “This can’t be done overnight,”


Furness said. “We have to wean themoff our presence.” chandrasek@washpost.com


Condit says nature of Levy relationship not ‘relevant’ levy from A1 Condit lashed out at police and


the media for focusing on him. “It was outrageous,” he said. Calling Condit to the stand was


a risky move for prosecutors but one they thought necessary. Al- though Condit has been tied to the case, prosecutors sought to dismiss him as a suspect in front of the juryandallowhimto testify about the last time he saw Levy and the last time he heard from her. The closest that prosecutor Amanda Haines came to asking about Condit’s relationship with Levy, 24, was to inquire why he had not told police that he’d had an affair with her. Condit, 62, said thathethought


he, his family and Levy were entitled to privacy and that that the country had lost its sense of “common decency.” The questioning by Maria


Hawilo, one of Guandique’s attor- neys from the public defender’s service, was more tense. Condit repeatedly told Hawilo


that he and Levy were “friends,” and he would not say anything else about their relationship. “I’m not going to respond,” he


said. Later, in another antagonistic


exchange, Condit wouldn’t an- swer a question about why he didn’t tell police that Levy had spent the night at his Adams Morgan apartment. “I’m refusing to answer, be-


cause I don’t think it’s relevant,” he said. Hawilo asked Condit whether


he was invoking his constitution- al right not to incriminate him- self. Condit said that he was not but that he just wasn’t going to answer. “I would ask that the witness


answer the question,” Hawilo said. JudgeGerald I. Fisher held a private bench conference and ruled that Hawilo’s questions were not relevant to Guandique’s defense, according toatranscript.


J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/ASSOCIATED PRESS


Former congressman GaryA. Condit leavesD.C. Superior Court after testifying in the trial of Ingmar Guandique, who is accused of killing Chandra Levy. Condit said he had nothing to do with Levy’s death.


For two months after Levy dis- appearedMay 1, 2001, Condit was the prime suspect. Detectives in- terviewed him several times and searched his apartment. He also took a DNA test and a polygraph test. In 2002, authorities threat- ened to charge him with obstruc- tion of justice, saying that he was not being cooperative. Charges where never brought, and Levy’s remains were found in Rock Creek Park inMay 2002. New detectives and prosecu-


tors took over the case in 2008 and said they had found evidence linking Guandique with Levy’s slaying. Last year, authorities charged Guandique with first-de- gree murder, attempted burglary


and rape. Condit, dressed Monday in a


blue and gray sports jacket and blue shirt, at times smiled and looked directly at the jury of 12 women and four men.His daugh- ter Cadee sat in the front row next to his attorneys. Condit often looked at his daughter during his testimony. Levy’s mother, Susan, sat tworowsbehindCadeeCondit and often took notes. Condit testified that he first


met Levy in his office at the RayburnHouse Office Building in fall 2000, when she was an intern at the Bureau of Prisons. He said that he would meet her two or three times a week and that she hadbeen to his apartment several


times. Condit said that he gave Levy a


bracelet but that he didn’t re- member what kind it was. The bracelet, he said, was kept in a drawer with other gifts, such as cuff links and hats, which Condit said he routinely gave to constitu- ents.


Condit said he gave Levy the


bracelet when he found out she was receiving her master’s degree from the University of Southern California. “I said, ‘Here’s something for


you,’ ” he said. “I forgot about it.” Condit also said that he did not rememberusing his frequent flier miles to buy Levy a plane ticket but that it was something he or


his staff commonly did for con- stituents. Condit said the last timehesaw


Levy was April 24, 2001,whenshe went to his apartment to ask for help getting job interviews at the FBI or CIA. She had completed her internship and wanted to go into lawenforcement. “She buzzed the apartment.


Then knocked on the door. I opened it, and there she was,” Condit said. “She was very persis- tent that I help her with that.” She told him that her intern-


ship was over and that she had a “few days in D.C. to chill” before returning home to Modesto and attending her graduation, Condit said.


“She looked very healthy and


fit to me,” he said.He said she was “excited” about her future. The last time he talked to her


was on the phone April 29, he said. He described her mood as “very good” and said she talked to him again about meeting with someone from the FBI or CIA. Condit, who is writing a book


about his life, said he first met withdetectivesMay 9,2001,when he invited them to his apartment. He said he thought they were going to talk about the disappear- ance. “You just don’t think some- thing like this would happen to someone you love,” he said. Detectives asked him about


whether the married congress- man, whose telephone number was found several times on Levy’s cellphone bills, was dating the intern. Condit refused to answer, just as he did in courtMonday. Condit told Haines, the prose-


cutor, that he had provided police with his schedule forMay 1, 2001. It included a meeting with then- Vice President Dick Cheney, a meeting with constituents and a doctor’s appointment. Haines also asked Condit


whether he’d ever fought with Levy.


Condit said the two of them


had never had cross words. alexanderk@washpost.com


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