Transcript: The November Democratic debate

literally increasing the debt, treating our farmers and workers like poker chips in a bankrupt casino, and really putting this country in a worst financial situation every single day. So, yes, my plan is three months. I think that's good. I'd love to do more. As I've said before, I'd love to staple free diplomas under people's chairs. I just am not going to go for things -- and this is not -- I'm talking about Senator Harris' plan here, but I'm talking about some of the other ideas that have been out here. I am not going to go for things just because they sound good on a bumper sticker and then throw in a free car. I think that we have an obligation -- we have an obligation as a party to be, yes, fiscally responsible, yes, think big, but make sure we have people's backs and are honest with them about what we can pay for. And that is everything from sending rich kids to college for free, which I don't support, to kicking 149 million off their health insurance -- current health insurance in four years. PARKER: Thank you, Senator. Thank you. KLOBUCHAR: I just think we have to be smart about how we do this. PARKER: Thank you, Senator. And, Senator Harris, why six months? And also, how would you pay for that? HARRIS: Sure. And, everybody, please visit my website, kamalaharris.org, for the details on everything I talk about. Six months, so part of how I believe we’re going to win this election is, it is going to be because we are focused on the future, we are focused on the challenges that are presented today and not trying to bring back yesterday to solve tomorrow. So on paid family leave, it is no longer the case in America that people are having children in their 20s. People are having children in their 30s, often in their 40s, which means that these families and parents are often raising young children and taking care of their parents, which requires a lot of work, from traveling back and forth to a hospital to daycare to all of the activities that are required, much less the health care needs that are required. And what we are seeing in America today is the burden principally falls on women to do that work. And many women are having to


Transcript: Oceans in Crisis

improves around these protected areas. So it's a triple win: ecological, social and economic. And politicians also love this. So we are planning at National Geographic to continue doing this for the next 10 years and we'll hopefully double the impact that we've had so far. MS. SELLERS: So one quick last question for each of you. What do you think individuals can do to make a difference? MR. COOPER: That's a really good question. I think the most important thing, so the first one is make the change to your daily life. But we all need to know that for a big change to come, the quickest, it needs to come from the top down. So for that change to come from the top down, we need to keep the conversation going. Because the people that are at the top, the politicians, the governments and the industry leaders, decision makers, manufactures are truly listening to what we're talking about and the actions that we take every day. MS. SELLERS: Do you want to add a little bit? MR. SCHULZE: Yeah, absolutely. I think that, you know, just continuing that conversation and doing anything that we can all across the Board to show that conservation and sustainability is cool, you know? And you had a great quote from your TED Talk that is when economic needs and conservation align, miracles can happen. And I think that that is so true all across the board because we really need to find ways to show people that conservation can have amazing impacts and it can do great things not only for the planet for businesses, politicians, everyone. It's important, and we have to do it. MS. SELLERS: Enric, over to you for the individuals. MR. SALA: Individuals, there is one thing that everybody can do, is eat mostly plants. MS. SELLERS: Eat mostly plants. MR. COOPER: That's a good point. MR. SALA: Yes. Mike Pollan says eat food, eat less, and eat mostly plants. And that will be good for your health and also for the planet because meat consumption produces something like 15 percent of the global emissions, carbon emissions. So that's a solution that is easy and actually is good for everybody. MS. SELLERS: Okay, eat mostly plants. And unfortunately, that's the message we have to close down on today. [Applause] MS. SELLERS: Thank you very much everybody for coming.


Transcript: Volker and Morrison public testimony on Nov. 19

any -- if we need to -- if anyone needed to speak out publicly, I would do it. When we failed to get a timely statement about Russia's illegal attack on Ukraine's navy and seizure of Ukraine's sailors, I tweeted about it in order to condemn the act. If a problem arose, I knew it was my job to try to fix it. That was my perspective when I learned in May 2019 that we had a significant problem that was impeding our ability to strengthen our support for Ukraine's new president in his effort to ramp-up Ukraine's fight against corruption and implementation of needed reforms. I found myself faced with a choice, to be aware of a problem and to ignore it, or to accept that it was my responsibility to try to fix it. I tried to fix it. The problem was that, despite the unanimous positive assessment and recommendations of those of us who were part of the U.S. presidential delegation that attended the inauguration of President Zelensky, President Trump was receiving a different negative narrative about Ukraine and President Zelensky. That narrative was fueled by accusations from Ukraine's then-prosecutor general and conveyed to the president by former mayor, Rudy Giuliani. As I previously told this committee, I became aware of the negative impact this was having on our policy efforts when four of us who were part of the presidential delegation to the inauguration met as a group with President Trump on May 23rd. We stressed our finding that President Zelensky represented the best chance for getting Ukraine out of the mire of corruption it had been in for over 20 years. We urged him to invite President Zelensky to the White House. The president was very skeptical. Given Ukraine's history of corruption, that's understandable. He said the Ukraine was a corrupt country full of terrible people. He said they tried to take me down. In the course of that conversation, he referenced conversations with Mayor Giuliani. It was clear to me that despite the positive news and recommendations being conveyed by this official delegation about the new president, President Trump had a deeply rooted negative view on Ukraine rooted in the past. He was receiving other information from other sources, including Mayor Giuliani that was more negative, causing him to retain this negative view. Within a few days on May 29, President Trump indeed signed


U.S. approves first licenses for tech sales to Huawei

industry official said. The licenses that were approved related to consumer products that were deemed noncontroversial and to have no potential security threat. Semiconductor companies, which manufacture the silicon chips that are critical to electronic devices, are among the license recipients, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, which said it couldn’t name individual recipients. Many U.S. companies have reported losing significant sales from the trade ban on Huawei, which said it spent $11 billion on U.S. tech in 2018, before the ban. Among the companies reporting a sales hit in recent quarters were semiconductor makers Micron Technology of Boise, Idaho; Skyworks Solutions of Woburn, Mass.; and Qorvo of Greensboro, N.C. The Commerce Department said the granting of some licenses did not change Huawei’s inclusion on the department’s “Entity List” of companies considered national security risks, and that the granting of some licenses did not change a temporary 90-day reprieve that the Commerce Department issued this week intended primarily to benefit rural telecoms dependent on Huawei equipment. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the license approvals indicated any change in the Trump administration’s wider trade negotiations with China. The United States blacklisted Huawei in May after calling it a security threat, saying the Chinese government could tap into Huawei telecom network gear installed abroad to spy on the West or disrupt infrastructure. But President Trump has also suggested he could ease up on Huawei as part of a larger trade deal. China has said relief for Huawei is essential if Beijing is to agree to any trade deal. The U.S. tech industry has lobbied hard for the chance to restart some sales, arguing it should be allowed to supply Huawei with parts for consumer technology products that don’t hurt U.S. national security, such as smartphones and laptops. The Chinese company is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of telecom network gear and smartphones. Intel chief executive Bob Swan told CNBC in July that the company had submitted “quite a few” license applications to sell products including general-purpose computing chips, which he said shouldn’t be “worrisome” for national security. Intel declined to comment Wednesday on whether it had received any licenses. “We welcome the administration’s approval of export licenses for commercial semiconductor technologies that do not pose national security concerns,” the Semiconductor Industry Association said in an emailed statement. “Sales of these non-sensitive commercial products help ensure the competitiveness of the U.S. semiconductor


Bogaletch Gebre, defender of Ethiopian women against female genital mutilation, dies

Ethiopia where she stole away for schooling during long trips to collect water, to scientific studies at universities in Israel and the United States, and back to Ethiopia, where she won the respect of women as well as men, who, it was said, were astonished to see a woman achieve such success. She was born in 1953, according to her nonprofit organization, in Zato, a village in the Kembatta district, southwest of the capital of Addis Ababa. Most of her 13 siblings died in childhood. Ms. Gebre described her mother as intelligent and wise but told the Independent she and other women were “regarded as no better than the cows they milked.” “All her life she was abused and beaten — for nothing,” Ms. Gebre said. “She had her back stooped, her legs broken, her jaw broken, even though she did everything right. It was a nightmare, but for her it was a life. And somehow she still smiled. When there is no alternative, you somehow accept this as all you will get. In that situation, many women accept their situation as God-given, not man-made.” Ms. Gebre was said to have been the first girl in her village to receive schooling beyond the fourth grade. With her hard won literacy, she helped fellow villagers read official documents they otherwise would not have been able to decipher. “As a sign of respect in Kembatta tradition, a father is called after his firstborn son, and a mother after her firstborn daughter,” Ms. Gebre recounted years later to the Ethiopian-American publication Tadias. “Imagine his surprise when my father’s peers started calling him ‘Father of Bogaletch.’ ” She received a scholarship to enroll at a women’s boarding school in Addis Ababa, then studied the sciences at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She received a master’s degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, according to KMG Ethiopia, and pursued further graduate studies in epidemiology at UCLA. She traced her fervor for ending FGM to the death of a sister during childbirth to complications caused by FGM, which made it impossible for her to deliver her twins. “From that moment I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” Ms. Gebre later told the publication Africa News. “My goal was: Can I save one girl from that horror? It became the drive for what I started.” She left California for Ethiopia and founded her organization with another sister, Fikirte.


Sondland’s trip to Dulles after impeachment testimony creates Twitter frenzy

Proof that there is a transportation angle to every story: The region’s own Dulles International Airport trended briefly on Twitter on Wednesday as debate raged over whether Ambassador Gordon Sondland would make it to the airport in rush-hour traffic in time to catch his flight to Brussels. The U.S. ambassador to the European Union had wrapped up another day of testimony as part of the House’s impeachment probe, in which he told lawmakers he and senior administration officials “followed the president’s order” — coordinating with Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, to pressure Ukraine to launch investigations. In a nutshell, he acknowledged there was a “quid pro quo” involving Ukraine. With his testimony complete, he headed for Dulles. Sondland apparently made it to the airport in time, raising more questions in the Twitterverse. Also, he apparently took the Transportation Security Administration’s advice for a faster airport experience. He has PreCheck. Sondland wasn’t the only high-profile figure flying through Dulles this week. Bei Bei, the nation’s beloved giant panda, left his home at the National Zoo on Tuesday for China — on his own plane.


When all the land has been cleared for houses, the animals have nowhere else to go

Congress recently passed legislation making additional types of animal cruelty a federal crime. I hope this pushes Montgomery County to act regarding its own animal cruelty. I’ve been a Montgomery County resident for more than 30 years, raising a family in the Bethesda area. I’ve seen an increasing amount of open and wooded land being developed for housing and commercial uses. Some of the development has been good, some not so good, but all likely inevitable. An unfortunate byproduct has been the impact on the land’s previous occupants: the wild deer, rabbits, foxes, opossums, etc., who must now forage for food and shelter elsewhere. I frequently see at least four deer and at least one rabbit in my backyard. I’ve given up planting anything that looks edible. My hostas were nibbled to death years ago. This year, every bud on my day lilies was eaten before blooming. These animals are suffering. With less land, there is less food to go around. And with more development, there are more cars. On a recent walk along Montrose Parkway bordering Rockville, I saw poised to cross the road a buck who at some point had been hit by a car. He had one hobbled leg and a damaged haunch. It was pathetic watching him cross. I’m not a fan of hunting, but if the only other choice is to cull these beautiful animals by starvation and car accidents, then sign me up. Montgomery County and the developers it allows to build owe these animals a dignified death. Joseph P. Petito Read more letters to the editor.


D.C. man charged with murder in 2016 shooting

A man was charged with murder Thursday in a fatal shooting in Northeast Washington in 2016, police said. On Dec. 8, 2016, officers responded to the 600 block of Nicholson Street NE for a report of an unconscious person, D.C. police said in a statement. They found Victor Bolden, 26, of Northeast Washington suffering from a gunshot wound in a residence. He died at the scene, the statement said. On Thursday, Jahmar Thaxter, 28, of Northeast Washington was charged with first-degree murder while armed in the shooting, according to the statement. Charging documents said the shooting occurred during an armed home invasion, and that the victim was involved in the sale of narcotics and was targeted for drugs and money he kept in the residence. Police said Thaxter was served the warrant in prison, where he is serving a 10-year sentence for pistol-whipping a man behind a Georgia Avenue market in Northwest Washington in 2016. justin.moyer@washpost.com


I’m a third-generation waterman. You can’t blame us for the oyster collapse in the Chesapeake Bay.

Tim Dean is a waterman. As a full-time, third-generation waterman who harvests oysters, I am among those most affected by the decline of the Chesapeake Bay. I have been working the waters of the bay and Potomac and Patuxent rivers since I was 5, when I helped my mother collect soft crabs that we would sell. I run a retail crab shack where I sell my catch of oysters, crabs and fish — along with those of other watermen — to survive. We are an endangered species: Our livelihoods and way of life threatened by the bay’s decline. A rigorous stock assessment documented an alarming decline in Maryland’s oyster population by 50 percent from 1999 to 2017. This was despite the expenditure of about $50 million in federal and state funds to restore the population — a failure. The bay states committed in the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement to increase oyster biomass by tenfold by 2010, a goal abandoned as stocks declined because of feckless, sloppy policies leading to a 25 to 30 percent overharvest. Historic sanctuaries are being exploited to make way for aquaculture leases that further the decline of our natural living oyster population. And it continues. The oyster was once the king of the bay, with 15 million bushels taken in the late 1800s. The harvesting of these bivalves enabled watermen to make a living and feed their families. Oysters’ value far exceeded any other bay fishery. In the 1900s, Baltimore had more than 100 canneries, most processing oysters, near the docks. Oyster populations have collapsed to less than 1 percent of their historic populations, and harvests have plummeted to an abysmal 136,954 bushels in the last season, 25 percent lower than the previous year. Pollution is the cause, especially sediment from big farm operations and development. Oyster reefs in the Chesapeake get smothered with excess sediment, destroying the valuable habitat for successful oyster growing. Other pollutants, such as toxic chemicals and excess nutrients, add to the decline of oyster stocks as the repeated costly deposit of shell and placement of spat (baby oysters) doesn’t work in most of the bay because of these pollutants. The Chesapeake Bay’s health is suffering, leading to an enormous negative economic impact, especially for watermen and processors. Oysters are a keystone species with large adults able to filter 50 gallons of water a day. This removes excess nutrients and settles sediments, the


With dollars running low in Lebanon, ATMs are spitting back bank cards, and locals are panicking

BEIRUT — Over recent weeks, ATMs in Lebanon have been spitting back bank cards, refusing to provide dollars to those who ask for them, though people here have long used the American currency alongside the Lebanese pound. Dollars have virtually disappeared. Panicked tenants have begun asking to pay their rent in pounds, but landlords are refusing to accept them as the local currency hemorrhages value. Some restaurants and bars have stopped taking credit cards, instead requiring cash to pay vendors. Other eateries have limited their menus, unable to pay for imported goods in dollars. Lebanon is facing not just political turmoil, with daily protests across the country, but a financial emergency as well. Even as demonstrators rail against the political elites they blame for the economic troubles, this deeply indebted country is facing an escalating liquidity crisis. The black market exchange rate has now soared to 1,900 pounds to the dollar, 26 percent higher than the official rate. The dollar shortage is reverberating across the economy, suppressing consumer demand and driving up costs for Lebanon’s all-important service sector, which must pay vendors in dollars. Service industry employees are being laid off or given only 50 percent of their wages. Banks had been closed altogether during a week-long strike called by the union representing banks staff over security concerns for employees. Many banks reopened Tuesday but have little to offer the public. A week ago, the Association of Banks in Lebanon set a $1,000 ceiling for withdrawals from U.S. dollar bank accounts and limited transfers abroad — which had been previously been halted altogether — to allow only for “urgent personal expenses.” Some banks are even refusing to give customers the $1,000 they are supposedly allowed to withdraw. At least one bank refused to give dollars to customers who had opened accounts in other branches. In downtown Beirut, spider web cracks have spread across the glass storefront of the Blom Bank, its walls and windows splashed with colorful graffiti echoing the chants of the protesters who have crowded into Lebanon’s streets: “Down with capitalism” and “We are not afraid.” Security forces began standing guard out front this week, as they’ve done outside many other banks across the country. One man stood in line to withdraw the remaining $300. He said he had taken his allotted $1,000 from another bank and was leaving for Canada to join his wife. “There is no


Aung San Suu Kyi has a reality problem

Azeem Ibrahim is a director at the Center for Global Policy and author of “ The office of Aung San Suu Kyi — Nobel Peace Prize laureate and de facto leader of Myanmar — has just announced that she will travel to The Hague in December to answer a suit brought against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the Rohingya genocide. And apparently this has been decided in agreement with the country’s powerful generals, who control foreign affairs and security and who have carried out the “clearance operations” for which the state of Myanmar stands accused. This is a baffling but welcome state of affairs. Why would Suu Kyi and the government of Myanmar acknowledge the jurisdiction of the ICJ — thereby implicitly granting the court standing to pass judgment on the Rohingya genocide? There are two likely explanations. First, the Lady (as she’s known at home) might be genuinely unaware of the full extent of what has been happening with the Rohingya in Rakhine state. According to many sources I’ve spoken with, she has taken to regarding factual reports about the 2016-2017 ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya as malicious conspiracy theories targeted to undermine her country, and perhaps her personally. When confronted with critical accounts, she flies into a fit of anger, saying these are all fabricated allegations. Perhaps Suu Kyi genuinely believes in the innocence of her cause and of her government. And perhaps she genuinely believes that if she, as a celebrated human rights icon, finally stands before the international community at the ICJ, they will finally recognize the errors of the “misinformation” aimed at her by her “detractors.” Or it could be that Suu Kyi is taking a leaf from the political playbook of insurgent populists around the world, including her new friend, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. In the current moment in political history, when it appears that facts do not matter anymore, a brazen lie told loudly and confidently may yet be seen as the supreme act of political strength — especially by one’s political base. And what better platform to grandstand your narrative than an international court that can do little other than passing an impotent judgment? In either case, the bad news for Suu Kyi is that this trial at the ICJ is a serious affair. The effort, led by Gambia’s Attorney General Abubacarr Marie Tambadou and the


Thank you, Bei Bei, for just being you

Regarding the Nov. 20 Metro article “Bye-bye Bei Bei (Bei Bei goodbye)”: In a way, Bei Bei saved me. He arrived at a time when I needed a place away from the noise and fury, the mish and mash of what my daily life had become. It seemed to be only setbacks, astonishment at what was unfolding before me in my country and family. It seemed I’d never be in a happy place. My sense of well-being shredded, humor lost, patience waned, anger and angst flared. It was not good at all. With impeccable timing, Bei Bei became my panda-cam pal. Stalk by stalk, biscuit by biscuit, sweet potato by sweet potato, he handed me the materials to build my happy place. Each day became warmer, more tolerable and calmer. Smiles returned. He and I got stronger and grew. His toddling turned into black-and-white whooshes of energy. I celebrated small victories: Bei Bei didn’t fall out of a tree; I didn’t get charged a late fee for something. Bei Bei became “Mr. Rumble-Tumble” and “Mr. In-the-Tubby-with-Toys” and, of course, “Mr. Snoozle-Doozle-Lazy-Bones.” I became “Ms. I-Can-Handle-It.” Now, Bei Bei will be “Mr. I’ll-Always-Love-You-No-Matter-Where-You-Are.” I thank Bei Bei for helping me rediscover love. Live long and prosper, my darling little bear. Thank you, Bei Bei, for, well, just being you. Roberta Bailey Read more letters to the editor.


Trump makes unscheduled visit to Dover to receive remains of two fallen soldiers

President Trump made an unannounced visit to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware Thursday to receive the remains of two soldiers killed in Afghanistan. David Knadle and Kirk Fuchigami Jr., who each held the rank of chief warrant officer 2, were killed Wednesday in a helicopter crash, the Pentagon announced Thursday. Knadle, 33, was from Tarrant, Tex. Fuchigami, 25, was from Keaau, Hawaii. The two Apache helicopter pilots were providing security for troops on the ground when their helicopter crashed, according to the Defense Department. Both men are Bronze Star recipients and both deployed to Afghanistan in October. The Defense Department is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the crash. Trump traveled to Dover with first lady Melania Trump; Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and White House aides. After meeting with the families of the fallen soldiers, Trump stood silently and saluted as the men’s remains were carried by a group of service members and transferred into a waiting van. The actor Jon Voight, who Trump awarded the National Medal of the Arts on Thursday, also attended the dignified transfer ceremony. Voight told reporters he did not meet with family members of the fallen soldiers. He said Trump invited him to attend the ceremony. The president previously visited Dover in January to pay tribute to four Americans killed in a suicide bomb attack in Syria. In 2017, he traveled to the air base to receive the remains of Chief Special Warfare Operator William “Ryan” Owens, a Navy SEAL who was killed during a counterterrorism operation in Yemen. In recent months, Trump has depicted emotional scenes of grieving families at Dover as he has defended his decision to pull American troops out of northeast Syria. They “scream, like I’ve never seen anything before,” he recounted last month. “They’ll break through military barriers. They’ll run to the coffin and jump on top of the coffin. Crying mothers and wives. Crying desperately.” On the campaign trail, the president has repeatedly said he wants to bring troops home from the Middle East. Trump’s visit to Dover comes as he has been at odds with some in the military over his decision to intervene on the behalf of three U.S. service members accused of war crimes, issuing full pardons in two of the cases. Trump issued the pardons over the objections of some military officials. On Thursday, Trump intervened again,


Trump said the Navy can’t take away Eddie Gallagher’s SEAL qualification. That could be a problem.

his judgment about who should be a SEAL directly in conflict with that of the Navy’s top SEAL. Military standards guide behavior in many areas Here are some examples. Military regulations prohibit advocating “supremacist [or] extremist . . . ideology or causes,” regulate the tattoos service members may have and set standards for physical fitness. In the Gallagher case, Navy personnel regulations allow a commanding officer to revoke SEAL qualification of an enlisted sailor in the event of “loss of CO’s faith and confidence in the Service member’s ability to exercise sound judgment, reliability and personal conduct.” Its specialized expertise, in part, defines the military profession — Samuel Huntington described the officer’s role as “the management of violence.” U.S. Military Academy and Army War College professor Don Snider and others have argued that an important attribute of a profession is that the practical and moral standards for applying that specialized expertise are best judged by other members of the profession. For example, lawyers decide whether a lawyer should be disbarred, doctors decide whether to revoke another doctor’s license, and clergy decide if a priest or pastor should be defrocked. This autonomy can create problems. A number of recent events, for instance, raise questions on how well the Navy enforces appropriate standards of conduct. A court-martial convicted a Navy SEAL in May of murdering an Army Green Beret; and the Navy fired a deployed SEAL team’s top three leaders for loose discipline in the unit, including allegations of sexual assault and substance abuse. Meanwhile, the Navy is still reeling from the “Fat Leonard” corruption scandal. Green has been proactive Is there a legal door out of this conundrum? My research For example, the personnel regulations that govern revoking a SEAL qualification do not include an appeal mechanism. Much like President Richard Nixon could not himself fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox, the Navy may argue that the president doesn’t have the authority to reverse Adm. Green’s determination. Of course, the president does have the authority to fire or replace Green with someone who would be willing to do as he directs — but to do so would raise the stakes. It’s not obvious in this scenario that the president’s tweet is, in fact, an order. While his desire and intent are clear, Trump declares that “the Navy” will not revoke the qualification, rather than directing any individual in the Navy to


‘Insurgents’ lobbied Trump for war crimes pardons with little Pentagon involvement, officials say

do,” the official said. “But he also was presenting an opportunity to be convinced otherwise.” In May, the president pardoned former 1st Lt. Michael Behenna, who was convicted in the 2008 murder of an unarmed al-Qaeda detainee in Iraq. Behenna was originally sentenced to 25 years in prison, then was paroled in 2014. He argued for years that he was acting in self-defense. Later that month, the New York Times reported that Trump was considering pardoning other service members accused or convicted of war crimes, on or around Memorial Day, including Golsteyn and Gallagher. The report triggered a backlash, considering Memorial Day’s solemn purpose of honoring those killed in combat. Trump let the holiday pass without acting but acknowledged he was considering issuing pardons for “two or three” service members. “Some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard, long,” Trump said the Friday before Memorial Day. “You know, we teach them how to be great fighters, and then when they fight sometime, they get really treated very unfairly.” Gallagher’s murder trial began in June. He was accused of numerous crimes during a 2017 deployment to Mosul, Iraq, including stabbing a wounded Islamic State prisoner in the neck. While the charges stemmed in part from accusations made against him by SEAL teammates, the case fell apart when another SEAL testified under immunity that he had killed the prisoner, not Gallagher. The trial already was under a cloud after a Navy prosecutor, Cmdr. Christopher Czaplak, secretly emailed defense attorneys and a Navy Times journalist tracking software in an attempt to search for leaks to the public. The Navy removed Czaplak from the case, but the situation fed concerns aired to the president that the service could not handle the case impartially. Trump intervened afterward, directing the Navy to revoke achievement medals that other prosecutors received for their work on the case. “Not only did they lose the case, they had difficulty with respect to information that may have been obtained from opposing lawyers and for giving immunity in a totally incompetent fashion,” Trump tweeted. Advocates for Golsteyn highlighted how long the case against him had stretched on and a 2015 finding by an administrative board of officers that declined to substantiate the allegation that he had violated the law of armed conflict. They also noted that one of the investigators, Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark A. Delacruz, was court-martialed in


Trump: Navy will not strip sailor acquitted of murder of SEAL status

President Trump on Thursday pushed back on the military’s plans to strip a service member accused of misconduct of his status as a Navy SEAL, days after the president intervened to roll back other disciplinary actions against him and two other service members accused of war crimes. “The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin,” the president said in a tweet. “This case was handled very badly from the beginning. Get back to business!” The message followed reports that senior Navy officials had set in motion steps to remove the chief petty officer’s SEAL Trident, which would effectively end his status as a member of the secretive, elite force. Earlier this year, a military court acquitted Gallagher of the majority of war crimes charges relating to the battle against the Islamic State in Iraq, including charges of murdering a militant captive, but he was convicted of a lesser charge of posing for a photo with the man’s corpse. Rear Adm. Collin Green, the senior officer who drafted the steps to remove Gallagher from the SEALs, oversees Naval Special Warfare Command. Green also sought to review whether three officers who oversaw Gallagher in Iraq also should be ejected from the SEALs. They are Lt. Cmdr. Robert Breisch, Lt. Jacob Portier and Lt. Thomas MacNeil. It was not immediately clear whether Trump’s directive applies to them as well. A spokesperson for Green could not immediately be reached to comment Thursday morning. Tim Parlatore, an attorney for Gallagher, said the last sentence of Trump’s tweet indicates to him that the president wants Green to move on from intervening in the cases for each SEAL. “This whole thing was a political show by a petulant child, and I think the president saw through that,” Parlatore said of the admiral. Rear Adm. Charles Brown, the Navy’s top spokesman, said in a statement on Thursday night that the service is aware of the president’s tweet and awaiting further guidance about what to do. “The Navy follows the lawful orders of the President,” the statement said. “We will do so in case of an order to stop the administrative review of... Gallagher’s professional qualification.” A Navy official, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the service coordinated with the White House before moving to review whether Gallagher and the other SEALs will keep


In the galleries: Exhibits ‘Of This World’ and beyond

month to see Jubee Lee’s installation have another chance to experience it at the Korean Cultural Center. Lee’s current show, “Resonance,” also includes additional work by the Korea-born Virginia glass sculptor, who was selected as the center’s artist of the year. In the piece that the two shows share, vertical glass panels, painted and backlit, represent sea and sky; a cushion offers a place to sit and ponder the simulated scenery and the small pool of rippling water it frames. The title work is another sequence of glass pieces, but these are arranged horizontally and change form as they, seemingly, flow. At the top, tightly rolled blue segments resemble the tile roofs once common in Korea; by the time they reach the bottom, the glass forms have unraveled and turned white so they evoke rushing waves or overlapping slabs of ice. Wall-mounted glass panels, both round and rectangular, seem to depict only mountain vistas; close inspection reveals tiled roofs whose patterns are incised into the landscapes. Lee’s work reveres nature but also traditional crafts. Indeed, “Resonance” suggests that the two have more in common with each other than either does with today’s machine-fabricated culture. A suite of themes and variations, “ReVisions” comprises 11 works each by two D.C. artists. The concept that defines this show at the District of Columbia Arts Center is that Ellyn Weiss made her drawing-paintings first and then Richard Dana adapted their compositions for digital prints. The halves of some pairs resemble each other closely, while others diverge significantly. In recent years, Weiss has often made art keyed to global climate change. The forms in her “ReVisions” contributions generally appear organic but make no literal references. Yet Dana sometimes interprets them specifically, as when he turns Weiss’s trio of interlocking red loops into a similarly hued double helix. That print also incorporates a statue of two figures, one of several ingredients that Dana clearly derived from photographs. Weiss didn’t use a computer, but she did paint on vertical sheets of acrylic, so as to overlap discrete shapes in a way that’s analogous to digital-graphics technique. Both Weiss and Dana position pictorial elements as if they’re floating in an ocean, but only Dana includes pictures of actual fish. There are few recognizable images of living things in “O,” Don Kimes’s show at Sense Gallery, but the very format of the collage-paintings embraces the natural world. “I realized


Two dogs involved in incident with police in Maryland

Two dogs were taken from a home in Maryland after one of them allegedly attacked a police officer. The incident happened Tuesday evening on Cable Avenue in Suitland, according to Prince George’s County Police. Authorities said animal control officers asked for police assistance to take two dogs out of a house after “at least one of [the] dogs was recently captured on camera attacking” and killing a neighbor's cat, according to police. When officers arrived at the home, the dogs ran outside and toward the officers, jumping on one of them. Both officers yelled for the owner to “get her dogs under control,” according to a police statement. Police said one of the dogs then charged at one of the officersand that “in fear for her safety,” she fired twice and struck the dog. Police said the wounded dog received medical attention and was in stable condition. The other dog was not hurt and was seized by animal control. The breed of the dogs involved was not known. Officials said the incident is under investigation. The animal control unit is also looking into “circumstances surrounding the dogs and owner,” police said on Twitter. As part of the department's policy, the officer who fired her weapon was put on administrative leave during the investigation. dana.hedgpeth@washpost.com


A local’s guide to San Juan, Puerto Rico

balls), is served 24/7 at this go-to cafe for late-night meals in the Miramar area. If you’re looking to soak up too many Medallas (the popular local beer), though, go for the super-starchy mofongo (mashed plantains). BTW: Label: Late-night address: Los Pinos, 655 Ave. Ponce de León, San Juan latlng: phone: 787-722-6862 website: http://www.lospinoscafemiramar.com/ twitter: instagram: Playfully named cocktails and a low-key vibe belie the fact that La Penúltima takes its bar seriously, with smart mixology (the El Bandolero has flavors of poblano, pineapple, lime and mole bitters), craft beers and carefully curated wine. This Santurce spot also serves up stellar food, like ceviche, cubanos and “disco fries,” with cheese, aioli and scallions, topped with a poached egg. BTW: Label: Late-night address: La Penúltima, 1359 Ave. Ponce de León, San Juan latlng: phone: website: https://www.facebook.com/barpenultima/ twitter: instagram: For more than 14 years, activists have been fighting to protect four acres of coastal Carolina (referred to by locals as Playas pa’l Pueblo) from privatization, caring for its forest and even setting up an encampment for a time. A recent legal win guaranteed that the majority of the terrain will stay public. For tourists who want to witness how Puerto Rico’s people strive to conserve its natural resources, this stretch of beach, just minutes east of San Juan, is exemplary. BTW: address: Playas pa’l Pueblo, 6981 Carr. Boca de Cangrejos, Carolina latlng: phone: website: https://www.facebook.com/playaspalpueblo/ twitter: instagram: Tiny as it may be, Tereques la Tiendita is mighty: What began as a holiday bazaar evolved into a shop stocked with more than 40 local brands. It also functions as a collective, Las Terequeras, that boosts female artists. You’ll find jewelry, beauty products, screen-printed shirts and totes, kitschy home decor and more, made by folks living on the island or in the diaspora. BTW: address: Tereques la Tiendita, 1856 Ave. Fernandez Juncos, San Juan latlng: phone: 787-512-9659 website: https://www.terequeslatiendita.com/ twitter: instagram: Atop Hotel Milano on Calle Fortaleza, Punto de Vista, like its name suggests, offers gorgeous views of Old San Juan. What makes this rooftop restaurant and bar great, though, is that, unlike some flashier counterparts, the casual environment doesn’t lead to a less-than-upscale treatment from staff. Throw back a cleansing chichaíto shot (anise and rum) after working your way through a hearty meat- or seafood-packed mofongo (mashed plantains, often stuffed), sip a meticulously crafted mojito made with Puerto Rico’s Ron del Barrilito, or


District man charged with murder in 2016 shooting

THE DISTRICT A man was charged with murder Thursday in a fatal shooting in Northeast Washington in 2016, police said. On Dec. 8, 2016, officers responded to the 600 block of Nicholson Street NE for a report of an unconscious person, D.C. police said in a statement. Inside a residence, they found Victor Bolden, 26, of Northeast Washington suffering from a gunshot wound. On Thursday, Jahmar Thaxter, 28, of Northeast Washington was charged with first-degree murder while armed in the shooting, according to the statement. Charging documents said that the shooting occurred during an armed home invasion, and that the victim was involved in the sale of narcotics and was targeted for drugs and money he kept in the residence. — Justin Wm. Moyer A Maryland man has been found guilty of burglarizing four elementary schools in the District, officials said. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said Nakym Sheffield, 41, of Germantown was found guilty on 13 counts of second-degree burglary, second-degree theft and credit card fraud at a trial in D.C. Superior Court. Sheffield was involved in the incidents from March to May 2018. Authorities said he stole money and credit cards from teachers and administrators, then used them to make purchases, including more than $500 worth of Visa gift cards. He was arrested and charged in May 2018 and had a six-day trial. His sentencing is scheduled for January. — Dana Hedgpeth


Her lungs seemed to be a mess. But the problem that nearly killed her lay elsewhere.

collapsed lung that can be caused by tumors or mucus that blocks an airway. Multop told the pulmonologist that she had intermittent chest pain, particularly when she lay down. She remembers asking the doctor whether her pain might be “heart related.” He advised her to see a cardiologist and referred her to an interventional lung specialist for a bronchoscopy. An invasive procedure that uses a thin tube threaded down the throat and into the lungs, a bronchoscopy permits inspection of the lungs and airways and allows a doctor to remove samples of tissue or mucus and to clear blocked airways. The cardiologist performed a transthoracic echocardiogram, a common noninvasive test that uses ultrasound to create a video image of the heart. The test showed fluid around Multop’s heart and lungs, as the CT had indicated. But her ejection fraction, a measurement of how well the heart is pumping, was calculated at 64 percent, well within the normal range, and there was no sign of valve problems. A bronchoscopy performed two weeks later revealed little. The interventional pulmonologist suctioned out large quantities of mucus, but found nothing else, including cancer, in the enlarged lymph nodes. The specialist also found no significant fluid around her lungs. Based on these tests, Multop’s primary pulmonologist concluded that her chief problem appeared to be impacted mucus. He prescribed a wearable device called a SmartVest, which can help clear it. The vest, which Multop donned twice a day, seemed to help. By late November, she felt better. A chest X-ray was clear and cultures showed no signs of a fungus. The improvement was short-lived. By early 2018, Multop remembers feeling “very tired and very short of breath.” Merely walking around the block required several rest breaks. The pulmonologist was stumped. “He kept saying, ‘I don’t understand why you have so many symptoms when you have such a mild case of bronchiectasis,’ ” Multop remembered him saying. He sent more sputum samples for analysis and tweaked her growing list of medications. Somehow, Multop said, she limped through the winter and spring, managing to avoid a recurrence of pneumonia. She said she told the pulmonologist that while wearing the therapeutic vest, she often coughed up watery fluid along with mucus. “He said it couldn’t have been fluid, it was vomit,” Multop recalled. On May 1, she saw the pulmonologist for a worsening cough. A new chest X-ray revealed


When a deep red town’s only grocery closed, city hall opened its own store. Just don’t call it ‘socialism.’

BALDWIN, Fla. — When Sean Lynch ran for mayor, he never anticipated that the job would involve hiring a butcher and tracking the sale of collard greens. But in 2018, two years into his first term, the only grocery store in town shut down. People in Baldwin, Fla., a rural outpost in northeast Florida, were left with few options. They could leave town, driving 10 miles through road construction to nearby Macclenny, or battle 20 miles of freeway traffic through Jacksonville’s suburban sprawl. Alternatively, they could cobble together a meal out of canned goods from the local Dollar General or head to a nearby truck stop for greasy, deep-fried fast food. For many of Baldwin’s roughly 1,600 residents, though, traveling for food wasn’t really a choice. The town’s median household income of $44,271 is well below the state average, and it’s not uncommon for families to juggle their schedules around sharing one car. Senior citizens also make up a significant percentage of the population, and many no longer drive. So Lynch came to his colleagues with a proposal: What if the town opened its own grocery store? Abandoned by mainstream supermarkets whose business models don’t have room for low profit margins, both urban and rural communities nationwide have turned to resident-owned co-ops or nonprofits to fill the gap. But Baldwin is trying something different. At the Baldwin Market, which opened its doors on Sept. 20, all of the employees are on the municipal payroll, from the butcher to the cashiers. Workers from the town’s maintenance department take breaks from cutting grass to help unload deliveries, and residents flag down the mayor when they want to request a specific type of milk. “We're not trying to make a profit,” Lynch told The Washington Post in a recent interview. “We're trying to cover our expenses, and keep the store running. Any money that's made after that will go into the town in some way.” Though Lynch didn’t know of any other municipally owned grocery stores when he brought the idea to the town council, Baldwin isn’t alone. A similar experiment has been successful in St. Paul, Kan., which has had a city-run grocery store since 2013. David Procter, who directs the Rural Grocery Initiative at Kansas State University, told The Post that another city-owned grocery store will open in Caney, Kan., in the spring, and at least one other town in the


margins, both urban and rural communities nationwide have turned to resident-owned co-ops or nonprofits to fill the gap. But Baldwin is trying something different. At the Baldwin Market, which opened its doors on Sept. 20, all of the employees are on the municipal payroll, from the butcher to the cashiers. Workers from the town’s maintenance department take breaks from cutting grass to help unload deliveries, and residents flag down the mayor when they want to request a specific type of milk. “We're not trying to make a profit,” Lynch told The Washington Post in a recent interview. “We're trying to cover our expenses, and keep the store running. Any money that's made after that will go into the town in some way.” Though Lynch didn’t know of any other municipally owned grocery stores when he brought the idea to the town council, Baldwin isn’t alone. A similar experiment has been successful in St. Paul, Kan., which has had a city-run grocery store since 2013. David Procter, who directs the Rural Grocery Initiative at Kansas State University, told The Post that another city-owned grocery store will open in Caney, Kan., in the spring, and at least one other town in the state is considering following suit. Many small-town grocers are reaching retirement age, and it’s tough for communities with dwindling populations to attract new residents when there’s no supermarket nearby. Consequently, Procter says, “food access becomes almost like a utility that you have to have for the town to exist.” Notably, these experiments in communal ownership are taking place in deep-red parts of the country where the word “socialism” is anathema. “You expect to hear about this in a place like the People’s Republic of Massachusetts,” jokes Brian Lang, the director of the National Campaign for Healthy Food Access at The Food Trust. But in many rural, conservative communities struggling to hang on to their remaining residents, ideological arguments about the role of government tend to be cast aside as grocery stores shutter because of population decline and competition from superstores. “Fundamentally, what you have is people that have lived in these rural communities all their lives, and they want these rural communities to survive,” Procter said. “And they realize that without access to food, they’re not going to survive.” By definition, a collectively owned, government-run enterprise like the Baldwin Market is inherently socialist. But Lynch, who has a nonpartisan position


Under U.S. pressure, South Korea holds off ending intelligence pact with Japan

SEOUL — In a policy recalibration made under U.S. pressure, South Korea said Friday that it will maintain an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan for the time being, although the two sides remained far from resolving a bitter dispute over Tokyo’s wartime use of forced labor. Seoul’s announcement that it would suspend its decision to terminate the General Security of Military Intelligence Agreement (GSOMIA) came hours before the pact was due to expire at midnight local time. The decision not to renew the pact, announced three months ago, drew intense criticism from Washington, which maintains that intelligence-sharing between its two most important Asian allies is crucial to countering threats from North Korea and China. Earlier this week, U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris told the Yonhap news agency that South Korea’s actions put U.S. troops at risk. Seoul’s postponement of its exit from the pact was conditional, however, including a restatement of its demand that Japan reverse a move to place controls on its exports to South Korea. Friday’s announcement could be seen as giving the two sides space to find a solution to their quarrel, or as simply kicking the can a little farther down the road. “It's not over yet. They’re buying some time with conditions,” said Duyeon Kim, a senior adviser with the International Crisis Group. “Establishing a dialogue channel is a step in the right direction, but it’s currently difficult to see a way out that compels Seoul to stay in GSOMIA.” Kim You-geun, a deputy director of the presidential National Security Council, said Seoul and Tokyo would hold talks on the export-control issue and South Korea would suspend a petition to the World Trade Organization against Japan’s export curbs. But he said Friday’s suspension stipulated that the “South Korean government can terminate the pact at any time.” The dispute between the two countries flared last year after South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled that Japanese companies should pay compensation for their use of South Korean forced labor during Japan’s colonial occupation from 1910 to 1945. Japan insists that all wartime grievances were settled as part of an economic package it gave South Korea in 1965 when the countries established diplomatic ties as a result. The dispute has since escalated into a tit-for-tat fight fueled by nationalist sentiment in both countries. Japan struck at South Korea’s status as a trusted trading partner, first imposing restrictions on South Korea-bound exports of


Agency shows which alternative medical approaches are useful and safe — and which ones aren’t

Elderflower syrup. Turmeric milk. Cannabidiol oil. Natural health trends come and go. So how should you decide which ones to chase? The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health can help. Part of the National Institutes of Health, the agency is devoted to determining what complementary and alternative medical approaches are useful and safe — and which ones aren’t. The NCCIH’s website offers a trove of research-based information. It can help you find and evaluate online resources about health approaches, understand the results of medical studies and learn more about how dietary supplements can interact with medication. One of the agency’s strongest messages is that “natural” isn’t necessarily synonymous with healthy. It can be tempting to pursue the latest health fad, but claims of benefits such as better sleep, weight loss and vitality aren’t necessarily based on solid research. According to the Pew Research Center, about a fifth of Americans say they’ve tried alternative instead of conventional medicine. Dietary and herbal supplements aren’t regulated as stringently as pharmaceuticals, and the Food and Drug Administration can take action only against contaminated or unsafe products once they’re already on the market. Some alternative health practices simply aren’t effective. For example, “There’s little evidence to support homeopathy as an effective treatment for any specific health condition,” the site says. So how can you spot a treatment worth pursuing? Ask yourself whether scientific evidence backs up the claims, the NCCIH suggests, and consider the source. The agency also warns against approaches that promise quick fixes or miracle cures. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Need more help? The website at nccih.nih.gov has you covered with an extensive database of products and complementary health approaches, from acupuncture to zinc. Each entry summarizes what’s known about the product or approach, discusses safety and provides links to scientific and medical literature.


D.C.’s own Bei Bei doesn’t mind the Chinese bamboo in his new home. But what’s up with the panda cake?

the difference in tones. He responds to the American “Bei Bei,” but not to the local pronunciation that carries a more rounded sound. “I noticed he didn’t react when I called his name in Sichuanese, but when I say it in English, his ears prick up and he turns to look at me,” Su said. (Mei Huan and Mei Lun, the pandas from Atlanta, were notoriously unreceptive to learning Chinese.) Laurie Thompson, assistant curator of giant pandas at the National Zoo, and Don Neiffer, chief veterinarian, stayed in Chengdu to help with the handover. “We’ll learn their training methods, like some hand gestures, and slowly combine them with our own to help Bei Bei adapt to his new environment,” Su said. Bei Bei barely had time to get over his 16-hour journey from the Washington area to Sichuan province before he made his first appearance in the media on Thursday. Local television crews were allowed to film him as he explored his new environment. With his initial red carpet — or rather, green hill — appearance over, Bei Bei has now entered a month-long quarantine period. “We will strengthen Bei Bei’s health so that he won’t get sick easily and enhance his immunity to strong diseases,” Cheng Yanxi, a vet at the base, told reporters. “We’ll also conduct environmental disinfection, and control visitors and animals to reduce disturbance.” Bei Bei was given his name, which means “precious treasure,” by first lady Michelle Obama and Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan when he was born at the National Zoo in August 2015. Under China’s agreements with host countries, all pandas must return to China when they turn 4 so they can join the breeding program. He is the latest of the zoo’s three giant panda cubs to go to China. Bao Bao, who went to China in 2017, now lives in the Wolong Panda Reserve in Sichuan province. It seems she has been upholding the stereotype about panda libido. She has not yet produced any cubs. When Bei Bei reaches sexual maturity — usually between 6 and 7 years old — he will join China’s captive breeding program, which has proved successful in staving off extinction. The International Union for Conservation of Nature reduced the giant panda’s threat status from “endangered” to “vulnerable” in 2016. There are thought to be about 1,800 giant pandas living in the wild in Sichuan province. anna.fifield@washpost.com


U.S. judge orders Iran to pay $180 million in damages to detained Post journalist Jason Rezaian and his family

implemented. In exchange, seven Iranians charged or imprisoned on sanctions violations won U.S. grants of clemency. Rezaian’s wife, Yeganeh Rezaian, had been released separately and is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Rezaian’s attorney David Bowker said the family had sought $44 million in compensatory damages and $1 billion in punitive damages to force Iranian authorities “to recalculate the costs and benefits” of using hostages and terrorism as tools of diplomatic leverage. In his opinion, Leon cited as an “exacerbating factor” evidence showing that Iran held the arrested, detained and tortured Rezaian “to increase its bargaining leverage in ongoing negotiations with the United States,” calling the need for deterring such conduct “critical.” The ruling comes as U.S.-Iran relations have been on a recent downward spiral. After withdrawing last year from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, the Trump administration has escalated devastating sanctions against Iran’s economy. The regime remains defiant, however, scaling back its commitments. Tensions also have grown over shipping in the Persian Gulf, with Iran shooting down a drone and Washington blaming Tehran for missiles that struck oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. On Friday, the Treasury Department added Iran’s information minister to its sanctions list, citing his role in cutting Internet access amid protests over the end of fuel subsidies. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged protesters to send videos and photos documenting the crackdown. In a tweet, Pompeo vowed to “expose and sanction the abuses.” At least five other U.S. citizens, some of them dual nationals, are currently detained in Iran. The United States believes the charges against them are baseless and considers them hostages. Iran has repeatedly suggested it seeks a prisoner swap for Iranians held in U.S. prisons, mostly for convictions related to breaking sanctions. Rezaian was The Post’s correspondent in Tehran from 2012 to 2016 and is now a writer for its Global Opinions section. “Our only focus at The Post has been on what was taken away from Jason, which was 544 days of his freedom,” Executive Editor Martin Baron said in a statement. “His imprisonment and that of his wife Yeganeh were wholly unjustified, and his treatment in one of Iran’s worst prisons was horrifying. This legal action was taken solely by Jason and his family. We’ve seen our role as helping the Rezaians through their recovery. Our satisfaction comes from seeing them enjoy their freedom and a peaceful life.” spencer.hsu@washpost.com carol.morello@washpost.com


The political value of Donald Trump Jr., Yair Netanyahu and other reckless sons

columnist Jamal Khashoggi, according to U.S. intelligence. The country’s monarch could have regarded the ensuing worldwide condemnation as a millstone. “It’s not hard to imagine one or two of [the other royals] sidling up to King Salman and telling him that his son is out of control,” wrote a CNN analyst in December 2018. But if that happened, it didn’t seem to matter. The king may not believe that his son isout of control — or at least not enough to knock him out of line for the throne. Mohammed was reportedly WhatsApp buddies with Trump consigliere Jared Kushner, which highlights a related category: surrogate sons-in-law, whose roles are typically less about pandering to the base and more about making sure positions of power are held by those who are loyal, if not up to the job. These men, in the United States and Turkey, are entrusted with large portfolios they are not qualified to run, simply because they are married to a leader’s daughter. Kushner, who had previously worked in real estate and bought a media company, was tasked with formulating a Middle East peace plan. He also reportedly met with Saudi and Emirati leaders — without then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — about their plan to impose a blockade on Qatar, leaving the secretary to try to de-escalate after the 2017 cordon took effect. In Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erodgan named his son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, as finance minister. Previously, he was energy minister, during which time power companies reportedly ran up billion-dollar debts while government caps on energy prices hurt their bottom lines. His appointment as finance minister was thus surprising, and in that position so far, his performance has “appalled” foreign investors, who panicked when Erdogan put him in place, removing other finance officials in the process. But the point wasn’t to appoint someone who could attract investment or right the Turkish economic ship. It was, by all appearances, to have a loyal family member in the job. These children seem to walk a fine line between defending their fathers and doing them harm. However, they are a useful barometer for what their dads think but may be reluctant to say or do. The sons have no such restrictions and, presumably, no fear of the consequences for incendiary, deceitful, corrupt behavior. They are, after all, following an example — the one set by their fathers. Twitter: @emilyctamkin


With inspectors furloughed, reduced FDA inspections ‘put our food supply at risk’

reports of workers calling in sick in unusually large numbers — reports denied by TSA. Another concern is air traffic control, a system that McIndoe said was chronically underfunded before the FAA ran out of money during the shutdown. He noted that the FAA’s functions are highly specialized and that if workers quit, they cannot quickly be replaced. As the shutdown continues, questions about safety and security issues are drawing more attention. On Tuesday, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, issued 10 questions for DHS, all touching on security. He asked whether the office charged with countering weapons of mass destruction is still able to share bioterrorism and nuclear-threat information with state and local officials. He also wanted to know whether the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is still inspecting high-risk chemical facilities. DHS officials did not immediately respond to Thompson’s questions. The bulk of the department’s legislative affairs team has been furloughed. But Tyler Q. Houlton, the department’s press secretary, said that most of the agency remains on duty and is “fully prepared to protect the homeland and keep Americans safe during this lapse in government funding.” Unions representing federal workers, and nonprofit organizations aligned with progressive causes, are less sanguine. The Air Line Pilots Association, International, the union representing pilots, sent a letter to President Trump saying the FAA has fewer inspectors on duty than are required “to ensure the air traffic control infrastructure is performing at its peak levels of performance.” The letter, signed by Capt. Joe DePete, president of the union, urged Trump to “immediately end the shutdown of government agencies that is affecting the safety, security and efficiency of our national airspace system.” New York University political scientist Paul Light noted that the federal government does a great deal of risk monitoring, ideally to anticipate major problems and be prepared to react to them. That work is compromised during a shutdown, he said. “Shutdowns are a perfect way to force a breakdown,” Light said. He has spent much of his career studying these breakdowns, which include the U.S. failure to anticipate the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the country’s slow response to the 2014 Ebola crisis. “They have to be totally alert. This shutdown is producing enormous distraction even for agencies that are open,” Light said. That thought was echoed by David Berteau, president and chief executive of the Professional


The Technology 202: Here are Amazon’s four exhibits to support claim JEDI contract was improperly awarded

and IBM,” each of which bid on the contract. 3. Senators press a Pentagon official on whether Trump and the White House influenced the disbursement of the contract at a hearing last month, highlighting how questions persist about the process on Capitol Hill. Sen. Angus King (D-Maine) “I feel very confident that at no time were team members that actually took the source selection were influenced with any external, including the White House,” Deasy said, referring to an anonymous team of 50 cloud technology experts who evaluated bids. 4. Fox News blasts Amazon's "shady dealings" in a segment called "Swamp Watch." Trump then retweeted the video, which calls the JEDI contract the "Bezos bailout." Amazon is using the segment to bolster its case that there has been unfair political influence and bias in the contract process. You are reading The Technology 202 , our guide to the intersection of technology and politics. BITS: A trove of classified Chinese government documents sheds light on how the country uses a predictive policing algorithm to detain and suppress Muslim Uighurs and other minorities, Using an “Integrated Joint Operations Platform,” the Chinese police and military collect vast quantities of data on citizens and then plug it into an artificial intelligence system to determine suspicious people. Chinese police used a range of sources for data, including closed-circuit cameras with facial recognition, spyware it forces Uighurs to install and WiFi scanners that collect identifying information off phones. Using a mobile app, police can run background checks in real time. But classified documents show the algorithm is far from precise: The platform produced more than 24,000 “suspicious people,” some of whom were deceased, in one week. While it’s unclear how the IJOP algorithm actually works, researchers say the aim is to preemptively identify anti-state behavior, stripping the need for human judgment. The seeming randomness of which citizens it will target next instills fear into monitored communities, experts say “That’s how state terror works,” said Samantha Hoffman, an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. “Part of the fear that this instills is that you don’t know when you’re not okay.” NIBBLES: ProPublica identified 57 channels YouTube failed to label as state-sponsored, including dozens that were backed by governments such as Russia and Iran accused of trying to influence U.S. elections. One channel hosted a political talk show, “60 Minutes,” which shares a name with the nonpartisan American


Elon Musk: Cybertruck windows would have been unbreakable if not for the sledgehammer

In retrospect, it was a mistake to start with the sledgehammer. That’s what Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has figured out since last week’s debut of the electric Cybertruck, an unveiling equally characterized by intrigue and schadenfreude. Musk had described the futuristic creation as “really tough — not fake tough.” But two of the Cybertruck’s supposedly unbreakable windows shattered when lead designer Franz Von Holzhausen hurled a steel ball at them during a demo, to Musk’s dismay and the Internet’s delight. Musk muttered an expletive and offered a joke before finishing his presentation in front of the broken windows. “We’ll fix it in post,” he said. In tweets over the weekend, Musk explained what went wrong and offered other insight about the vehicle that is Tesla’s answer to the Ford F-150 pickup, the nation’s best-selling vehicle. He said the “armor glass” was weakened by another flamboyant strength test that preceded the steel ball: when Von Holzhausen whacked the Cybertruck’s door with an orange sledgehammer. That blow did no damage. “Sledgehammer impact on door cracked base of glass, which is why steel ball didn’t bounce off,” Musk tweeted Sunday night. “Should have done steel ball on window, *then* sledgehammer on the door. Next time …” Musk also tweeted a slow-motion video of Von Holzhausen performing the steel ball test before launch. It glanced off like a bouncy ball. The steel ball test was one of many eye-popping moments in the Cybertruck’s unveiling, which also involved extensive pyrotechnics and a hologram of Musk. The vehicle and the theatrics of its debut fueled a maelstrom of memes and criticism from those who scorned the Cybertruck’s wedge-shaped design, which Musk had warned “may be too futuristic for most people.” But the chaos did not obliterate interest: Tesla has already received 200,000 orders for the Cybertruck, despite “no advertising & no paid endorsement,” Musk tweeted Sunday. Starting at $39,900, the Cybertruck seats six and has a 6½-foot bed (or “vault,” as Musk refers to it). Models will be able to travel 250 to 500 miles on a single charge, the company says, and go from zero to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds. Musk has touted its high ground clearance, adjustable suspension and towing capacity of as much as 14,000 pounds — 7,500 on the base model. Production is set to begin in late 2021, Tesla said. The Cybertruck’s steep angles have the Internet


Transcript: Redefining Corporate Purpose

kind of competitor out there for banks, whether it's a Google or an Amazon or who knows what else, are thinking about these platforms. Have you got your eye on those? Do they worry you? I know there was a survey today in American Banker about community bankers being concerned. You're not exactly a community banker, but talk to us a little bit about what that holds, and whether you welcome it or worry about it or what. MR. MOYNIHAN: Well, in the end of the day we look at all competitors and try to figure out what they're doing, what their appeal would be, and what they see in the customer versus what we see. But you really need to step back. At Bank of America today, we have about 1.6 billion of consumer interactions a quarter and 1.5 billion of them are digital today. We have 38 million digital banking customers today. Thirty-odd percent of our sales are all digital. So we're a huge--you know, the logins to our website, the mobile banking application, these are huge numbers. So we're already a big digital place, especially on the consumer side, but people talk about it. So we study all, whether it's fintech, small, big or large, what they're doing, thinking about the structure. But I think that the key is that you do step across a line when you have the trust, you have customers' money. And so that's why this industry has a set of regulations around it that are not--these have been going on for years. Before the Fed existed there was banking regulation, and before the OCC existed there was banking regulation. So the idea of regulating banks and stuff--so I think one of the things we have to be careful is, with all these competitors, that we make sure we don't forget the basic principles. If you take deposits, make loans, society wants regulation around you because you end up with a lot of people's money. And if something goes kablooey, it's a problem. MR. DUFFY: Do you think there will be a time when there are no sort of brick and mortar banks, that this will all just move into the ether, into the cloud? MR. MOYNIHAN: Not if the customers don't change. So as much as we do all digitally--you know, by this time tomorrow 850,000 people come into our branch, the


How Richard Spencer’s firing illustrates some of Trump’s most corrupt impulses

One key reason Donald Trump’s presidency has been so damaging is that he has a way of corrupting all the people and institutions he comes in contact with, infecting them with his virus. No one remains untouched. As the sudden firing of Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer shows, that includes the military. Spencer’s story also bears a remarkable resemblance to the Ukraine scandal, in the way people with their own agendas played on Trump’s most repugnant impulses to manipulate him. Spencer’s firing has its roots in the case of Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL who became a Fox News hero. Gallagher’s long and complicated case began when members of his own unit accused him of a series of war crimes, including firing on civilians and murdering a wounded teenage Islamic State fighter receiving medical treatment from his unit. Gallagher allegedly stabbed the wounded fighter multiple times, then took a picture with his corpse and texted it to friends, with the caption “Got him with my hunting knife.” He was also charged with covering up his crime by threatening to kill members of his platoon if they reported it. They did anyway. Gallagher’s trial was a chaotic mess marred by accusations of prosecutorial misconduct and a witness who abruptly changed his story on the stand. In the end, Gallagher was acquitted of murder but convicted of posing with the corpse, a violation of the laws of war. Then Trump pardoned him, along with two other servicemembers who had also been accused of war crimes. Those pardons generated enormous controversy both inside and outside the military, but they were not surprising. From the time he began running for president, Trump has shown nothing but contempt for ideas like military order and discipline, respect for human rights and standards of wartime conduct. He has advocated torturing detainees, suggested that a way to fight terrorism would be to murder the families of suspected terrorists and mused about committing genocide. Accused war criminals are his kind of people. Which those advocating on their behalf understood — just as Rudolph W. Giuliani and his goons understood that the way to get Trump to fire the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine was to tell him that she wasn’t loyal to him. While the details of the Gallagher case are complex, what we know is that after Trump’s pardon, the Navy began a formal review to determine if Gallagher


A D.C. Dream Day with Marcelle Afram, the new executive chef at Maydan

In D.C. Dream Day, we ask our favorite people in the area to tell us how they would spend a perfect day in the District. You could say that “I couldn’t have written it better,” she says. “He was backstage and I was giving him my congratulations — I’m a massive Nationals fan — and he’s like, ‘The World Series? That’s nothing. This is your World Series!’ It was a whirlwind of a day and I couldn’t have been more thrilled.” The Silver Spring native spent five years as the executive chef at Bluejacket and was competing in the charity event for the first time — a dream come true, much like her new job. “My career was always driving toward doing Middle Eastern food,” says Afram, which makes the Michelin-starred Maydan a natural fit. When she finds time for another dream day, the Wheaton resident will spend it with her wife, Joyce, and their two dogs, Izzy and Eevee, doing things that normally pass them by. “I think that it’s funny as locals how often we miss the really spectacular things in the thick of when they’re happening around us,” she says. Wheaton has some pretty awesome food, and I would probably indulge in a panino sub from Filippo’s Italian Specialties. I’ve been getting it for the past 30 years of my life. It’s classic and it’s been exactly the same ever since. It’s my quintessential sandwich, honestly. The first time I had it was with my mom. I was probably 5 years old. We didn’t eat a ton of meat growing up. So any occasion was a treat. I was like, ‘Mortadella is my life!’ after that. I want some Turkish coffee. I don’t know how I’d get it, but it would miraculously appear. Thomas Market in Wheaton has phenomenal coffee selection, actually. I have really taken up this scooter trend, even though I did eat it the first time I did it. I got a little too confident. In this world, they will have scooters for dogs, and my wife and I and our dogs are hitting up Nationals Park. I don’t want there to be a game and I want Sean Doolittle and Max Scherzer to throw me batting practice. Maybe we can do, like, a lightsaber battle, I mean how do you practice with Sean Doolittle? It’s a perfect spring day and the cherry blossoms


There is no ‘deep state’ — but maybe there should be

the money supply, and allowed short-term interest rates to reach double digits in an effort to stop the inflationary spiral. As a result, S&Ls and mutual savings banks (MSBs) — which were community-oriented local banks — confronted disaster. Before the high inflation of the late 1970s, these institutions had concentrated on making home loans. According to the standard joke, during the mid-20th century, bankers from these local institutions paid 3 percent interest on deposits, charged 6 percent on home loans, and headed to the golf course at 3 p.m. But Volker’s disinflation turned this model into a disaster. On the one hand, S&Ls and MSBs had to pay higher interest rates to satisfy their customers. Failing to do so would result in customers moving their money to higher-earning financial instruments such as money market mutual funds. On the other hand, S&Ls and MSBs still had fixed-rate home mortgages that they had extended in years when interest rates were lower. These older loans earned less than the new going rate for deposits. That meant local banks paid more interest to their depositors than they made on their loans. As a result, S&Ls and MSBs lost money. Lots of money. S&Ls struggled to stay afloat in a pool of red ink deeper than $100 billion. Meanwhile, $3.3 billion of losses over three years threatened to debilitate MSBs. Both sets of institutions tottered on the brink. While the causes of their troubles were similar, the S&L and MSB crises unfolded in dramatically different ways. The MSB troubles cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which insured their deposits, roughly $7 billion. By contrast, the S&L problems ultimately cost American taxpayers $123.8 billion. The divergent outcomes resulted in part from differences in the regulatory regimes that monitored S&Ls and MSBs. According to economists Paul M. Romer and George A. Akerlof, if the management program for MSBs had been applied to S&Ls, the cost of the savings-and-loan crisis would have been substantially reduced. Different regulatory agencies oversaw the two sets of local institutions. The FDIC insured the deposits of mutual savings banks. A separate entity with a different structure, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp. (FSLIC, pronounced “fizz-lick,”) backed the funds of S&L customers. Importantly, technocrats with financial and political independence managed the FDIC, while the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB) — the S&Ls’ central bank — oversaw FSLIC’s operations. FSLIC remained vulnerable


Understanding what makes a food ‘organic’

Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with any advertisers on this site. No doubt you’ve seen the organic label on a variety of foods — from produce and meat to bread and cereal — even in the smallest grocery stores. But how can one little word like “organic” cover all those different foods? It does. The rules that govern the use of the USDA organic seal — or even the word organic — are essentially the same for all foods. “Organic comes with a long list of criteria and stringent verification rules farmers and food processors have to meet,” says Charlotte Vallaeys, Consumer Reports’ senior food and nutrition policy analyst. But not every rule applies to every type of food. Some consumers may not realize just what’s behind the organic label. While 38 percent of American grocery shoppers said they prioritize looking for an organic label, far more — 48 percent — prioritize looking for a “pesticide-free” label, according to a 2018 nationally representative Consumer Reports survey. But organic has strict standards behind it — including rules that harmful synthetic pesticides can’t be used — while the term “pesticide free” is meaningless and unregulated. Other consumers may go for pricier organic versions of foods because they assume the organic label means, basically, everything good — that they’re getting the most nutritious and environmentally responsible food possible. But the organic label doesn’t actually confer all the benefits that many consumers assume it does. And still other people think they’re buying organic when they’re not. “I’ve heard people say, ‘I bought it at Whole Foods, so it’s organic,’ but that’s not always the case,” Vallaeys says. To help you understand just what you’re getting when you buy organic, we took a close look at the five top-selling organic foods. What organic means: Organic cattle can be given only organic feed, grown without synthetic pesticides or genetically modified organisms (GMOs). (Conventionally raised cows may have been fed diets supplemented with candy, sawdust and even poultry feces.) While the cows can receive certain meds, such as vaccines and pain relievers, when needed, they can’t be given hormones that increase milk production or antibiotics for disease prevention. (If they become sick and need antibiotics, they must be given the drugs, but they’re no longer considered organic livestock and their products can’t be sold as organic.) This rule doesn’t necessarily have a direct effect on your


The best books of 2019

[This story has been optimized for offline reading on our apps. For a richer experience, you can find the full version of this story here. An Internet connection is required.] By Marlon James (Riverhead) FICTION | Buy now Review: 'Black Leopard, Red Wolf' is the fantasy epic everyone will be talking about Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? By Bill McKibben (Henry Holt) NONFICTION | Buy now Review: It's not too late to stem climate change. But we have no more time to waste. By Bernardine Evaristo (Black Cat) FICTION | Buy now Review: 'Girl, Woman, Other' received half a Booker Prize, but it deserves all the glory One Family and Migration in the 21st Century By Jason DeParle (Viking) NONFICTION | Buy now Review: For many immigrants, family separation happens long before the border By Chanel Miller (Viking) NONFICTION | Buy now Review: Stanford assault victim Chanel Miller's new book indicts her attacker — and the system By Ocean Vuong (Penguin Press) FICTION | Buy now Review: Ocean Vuong's 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' is permanently stunning A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland By Patrick Radden Keefe (Doubleday) NONFICTION | Buy now Review: Tale of a woman who died and a woman who killed in the Northern Ireland conflict By Leah Hager Cohen (Riverhead) FICTION | Buy now Review: 'Strangers and Cousins' is an unusually substantive comedy By Ben Lerner (Farrar Straus Giroux) FICTION | Buy now Review: 'The Topeka School,' captures America's brutal divisions By Sarah M. Broom (Grove) NONFICTION | Buy now Review: A New Orleans family history: Big promises, dashed hopes and rising water bookworld@washpost.com


Tom Sietsema’s 7 favorite places to eat for October 2019

best asset. Before coming to the Hamilton Hotel downtown, the chef put in time at two of Washington’s most popular dining destinations, Fiola Mare in Georgetown and Le Diplomate in Logan Circle. Now he’s dishing out pasta and pizza of distinction across from Franklin Square. Clark’s linguine and clams rely on little more than slightly undercooked pasta tossed with fresh seafood, garlic and chile flakes; his pie scattered with spicy salami, Fresno chiles and a drizzle of honey employs a whole-wheat crust that picks up welcome char in an 800-degree oven. From crudo to budino, the menu is a crowd-pleaser. “I want everything to feel very Italian,” says Clark. “But I want to surprise people a little bit.” Beef tartare, for instance, weaves in sharpeners of chopped sun-dried tomatoes and aged pecorino cheese. The dining room is too bright for my taste and the service varies from spot-on to “Where’s my waiter?” But I’ll put up with both for a tasteful trick or a great grilled fish. 1001 14th St. NW. 202-218-7575. viasophiadc.com. Dinner entrees, $24 to $90 (for steak for two) You have to hand it to ThinkFoodGroup. The local restaurant company co-created by José Andrés is a master of small plates, be they Spanish (Jaleo), Mexican (Oyamel) or Middle Eastern (this place). Even better, the dozens of choices take into consideration the way a range of diners like to eat. Zaytinya makes me think I could become a vegetarian. The baba ghanoush — a beautiful swirl of smoke, silk and garlic — and crisp falafel, herb-packed chickpea fritters arranged on tahini sauce, are that compelling. Then I try the lemon-kissed fried squid, flanked with garlicky Greek yogurt, or lamb bacon nestled in lettuce cups with sun-dried tomato tzatziki, and think otherwise. The menu, right through a dessert of walnut ice cream paired with yogurt mousse and honey gelee, seems flawless. As for the dining room, I love the waterfall framed in glass up front and the sweep of the interior, but not the pita crumbs I find on my chair when I sit down or the roar of the crowd no matter the time of my visit. Maybe those problems will be addressed early next year, when the restaurant undergoes a refresh. Meantime, as long as weather allows, take your mezze on the patio out front. 701 Ninth St. NW. 202-638-0800. zaytinya.com. Small plates, $5 to $20. tom.sietsema@washpost.com


D.C. man charged in killing of woman whose burned body was found in field

D.C. police on Tuesday arrested a man in the killing of a 24-year-old woman whose body was found in August in a brush fire in Bowie, Md., according to authorities. Thomas Fields Jr., 36, of Southeast Washington, has been charged with first-degree murder while armed. As of Tuesday, he had not made his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court. A police spokesman said Fields had been in a relationship with the victim, Marquita Lucas, who lived in Northwest and had been studying to be a nurse. Police said they believe Lucas was killed early Aug. 17 inside a residence in the 3700 block of Horner Place SE, near Congress Heights, and that her body was driven 23 miles to a field off Crain Highway across from Bowie Town Center and set on fire. Authorities have not disclosed how Lucas was killed or commented on a motive. Additional details will be released when Fields appears in court, possibly Wednesday. Lucas’s family had identified the body from a tattoo of a memorial ribbon that she had put on her arm to honor her mother, Charlotte Lucas, who died of cancer in August 2018. Marquita Lucas’s body was discovered on the anniversary of her mother’s interment. peter.hermann@washpost.com


How legal weed turned Thanksgiving into a high holiday

and knowledge of marijuana. “My parents did this to me!” a 35-year-old woman said in disbelief, recalling a time she “got way too” high from a pot lollipop her dad had given her. Her parents live in California, where they can smoke frequently, while their daughter indulges only occasionally. “If I had known, I wouldn’t have had as much as I had,” she said. “But my parents were having that much, so it seemed fine.” (Everyone in this story stressed the importance of using marijuana only with those who are 18 or older.) As ubiquitous as pot is in some places, as a nation, we’re very much in limbo. A U.S. map indicating the spectrum from fully verboten to legalized in varying shades of green resembles the political red-blue divide. And of course, marijuana is illegal at the federal level, which influences attitudes and openness, regardless of where you live. As a result, any Thanksgiving dinner where weed enthusiasts are at the table is likely to also contain place cards for those who are agnostic or strongly opposed. Conservative aunts and uncles might find themselves wondering why everyone’s in such a jolly mood or why grandma’s trying to fit her bottom into her grandkid’s Barbie convertible. For most of her life, April, a 45-year-old mother of two, vehemently abstained. As a child of the 1980s, she grew up with negative ideas about lazy stoners and wouldn’t touch marijuana. (April spoke on condition that only her first name be used because she lives in a state where marijuana isn’t fully legal.) But she felt miserable while on heavy doses of prescription drugs to manage her epilepsy and migraines. Her son convinced her to try medicinal marijuana, which she credits with drastically improving her quality of life. While hosting a Halloween party with her sons, who are 19 and 23, one of her son’s roommates brought a sweet potato pie infused with marijuana. Afterward, April hatched a plan for Thanksgiving: She’ll host family and friends for dinner, as usual. And after those who don’t partake leave, the remaining guests will break out a “special dessert” — a pumpkin-pot pie. In years past, family members used to sneak off on their own to smoke before, during or after the meal. Now the family’s weed contingent can do it all together. Around their table, April is still the greenest user. Because her boys have


Trump wants South Korea and Japan to pay more for defense

about the effect on local economies. The U.S. presence has generated political controversy in the past: 81 percent of Japanese respondents and 52 percent of South Korean respondents view the U.S. military presence in their country as a “somewhat divisive” or “very divisive” issue. A sharp uptick in U.S. demands for more money may reignite domestic opposition to the U.S. military presence. Free riding can have benefits Do allies take a “free ride” on the U.S. provision of security? Our work on the topic of burden sharing and U.S. troop deployments find that a larger U.S. military presence correlates with less defense spending by the host country. However, the U.S. receives greater influence in return: Countries relying on the U.S. military are less able to pursue their own adventurous foreign policies. Political scientists The United States also gains substantial benefits to its own foreign policy from its “forward” position in other countries. For example, it also allows the U.S. military to respond more rapidly to emerging crises, acts of aggression or natural disasters. Trump’s threat to withdraw U.S. forces from allied states may prompt longtime allies to rethink their relationships with the United States and start to develop their own defense capabilities. This might lower the financial costs to the United States — but would also lower the U.S. ability to influence other states. The result, perhaps, will be a more militarized world and a higher chance of international conflict. Parts of this article are based on work supported by, or in part by, the Minerva Research Initiative, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, and the U.S. Army Research Office under grant number W911NF-18-1-0087. The opinions and interpretations are those of the authors and not the U.S. Army or Department of Defense. Michael Flynn is an associate professor of political science at Kansas State University. His research focuses on the political economy of foreign policy and security issues, as well as military deployment. You can find him on Twitter at @michael_e_flynn Michael Allen is an associate professor of political science at Boise State University. His research focuses on asymmetric relations, hegemony, and the positive and negative externalities of foreign policy. You can find him on Twitter at @michaelallen Carla Martinez Machain is an associate professor of political science at Kansas State University. Her research explores military effectiveness and public perceptions of the military. You can find her on Twitter at @carlammm


The real loser in Britain’s divisive elections? The media.

Meera Selva is director of the journalist fellowship program at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, where Rasmus Kleis Nielsen is the director and Richard Fletcher is a senior research fellow. Britain’s winter election is shaping up to be one of the worst tempered and most divisive political battles in recent history, with the media caught in the crossfire. The country’s unspoken but generally accepted norms around political campaigning are being upended, and there is a real danger that the credibility of journalists and politicians will not recover. Even before the election, only 40 percent of British voters surveyed by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism said they trusted news, and only 51 percent trusted news they actually used — an extraordinarily damning indictment of how people view journalism. Just 10 percent of respondents said they trusted news from social media. But the actions of political parties during the campaign have done little to improve these figures. In a lackluster televised debate on ITV between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, the Conservative Party changed its Twitter profile to resemble a fact-checking organization. The move sparked uproar among bona fide fact-checkers such as Full Fact, and a rebuke from Twitter itself over misleading people from a verified account. This kind of stunt has real consequences. In our survey, conducted at the beginning of 2019, the Reuters Institute found that 70 percent of British people already worry about whether the news they come across online is real or fake. Moves such as this only exacerbate feelings of mistrust. Crucially, it will also harm the reputation of journalism. When people say they worry about fake news, they really mean they worry about poor journalism, partisan reporting and political propaganda, as well as deliberately falsified information. This election has provided all of this in bucketloads — and the ultimate casualty is trust. People tend to trust BBC News, but in this febrile atmosphere, production glitches are picked apart online and reinterpreted as signs that the errant broadcaster is biased. For example, on Remembrance Sunday, Johnson accidentally carried a wreath upside down, but during a video package on one breakfast program, it used the wrong archival footage, which showed Johnson carrying the wreath correctly when he was foreign secretary. The BBC apologized, blaming a production error, but those who believed the BBC


He was a baby when his dad died in Afghanistan. He’s 18 now, and the war still isn’t over.

the CIA, especially as a paramilitary officer?” On Oct. 4, his last day at home before leaving for Afghanistan, Mike posed for a photo with the children. Emily stood to his right and Alison was on his left, flashing big smiles. Their dad stared straight into the camera, hugging Jake. All Shannon knew was that Mike was roaming northern Afghanistan, chasing members of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, looking for signs of another potential attack and the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. On Thanksgiving, Shannon remembers him calling from a satellite phone. She and Jake were visiting her parents in California. She didn’t feel comfortable asking for details about his operations over an open phone line, so he asked most of the questions. Was Jake doing anything new? Yes, Shannon said. He’s smiling a lot. He has discovered his feet. When are you coming home? she asked. Mid-December, he said, right in time for Christmas. On Sunday, Nov. 25, her sister-in-law called. She’d heard on the news that something had happened to an American in Afghanistan. Shannon scrambled to reach her boss at the CIA. He said that they were trying to pinpoint Mike’s location, but that some people from the office would fly out to meet her at once. “I knew then there was a problem,” Shannon said. Hundreds of Taliban members, who had been taken prisoner at a fort in northern Afghanistan called Qala-i-Jangi, were staging a massive uprising against their Northern Alliance captors. Mike and at least one other CIA operative, along with several journalists, were inside the prison, interviewing Taliban prisoners. By Sunday night, amid a stream of news reports about the chaos at Qala-i-Jangi, CIA officers confirmed that Mike had disappeared at the prison. Soon it became official: Mike had been killed. Two weeks later, Shannon cradled Jake in her arms as she walked behind her husband’s casket. “She was a pillar of strength,” said Mike’s CIA covert operations colleague, who flew in from the war zone to attend the ceremony at Arlington. “She didn’t have anyone minding Jake [for her]. ” At one point, she passed Jake to her father-in-law, but only so she could stand up before the assembled mourners and deliver a eulogy. “Semper Fi, my love,” she said from the lectern, blowing a kiss in the direction of her husband’s casket. Jake was 4 or 5 when he remembers first seeing the