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FORWARD OPERATINGBASE NORMANDY, Iraq — Sol-diers have often returned to oldbattlefields, to honor fallen com-rades and to exorcise persistentdemons. British soldiers go backto the Falklands. Normandy cem-eteries are on many V.F.W. andAmerican Legion itineraries.Vietnam veterans can get pack-age tours to the places they werestationed.Now, Americans wounded inthe Iraq war are being ferriedback to the scenes where theywere maimed to help achievepsychological closure, the firsttime such visits have been triedwhile a war is still in progress.The seven-day program, calledOperation Proper Exit, has beenkept quiet previously, partly be-cause returning to a combat zoneis considered an experiment. Forthe eight wounded men who re-turned to Iraq this week, includ-ing five amputees and one blindedsoldier, the hope is that returningto places many of them left whileunconscious or in agony mightreassure them that their losseshave been worth it.That appeared to be the casefor retired Lt. Edwin Salau. Hewas one of eight wounded vet-erans who lined up on Wednes-day to meet Brig. Gen. FarhanAbbas, the Iraqi Army brigadecommander in Diyala Province,where the Normandy base is lo-cated. “It’s an honor to be hereand see all the progress,” Salau,whose prosthetic left leg was hid-den beneath his baggy uniform,told the general. “We gave a lotfor your country and we’re gladfor it.”“You should wear your woundslike badges on your chest,” Far-han said.Operation Proper Exit wasstarted by a small foundation inLaurel, Md., Troops First, sup-ported by the U.S.O. and wel-comed by the military commandin Iraq. This was the second visitto Iraq since June, but the firstwas kept secret because no oneknew for sure how the soldierswould handle their return.“The amount of developmentalgrowth and closure was phenom-enal,” said Col. David Sutherland,the former brigade commanderin Diyala, who came along on thatfirst trip and said it turned outbetter than hoped. “Some of themsaid their night terrors stoppedafter they went.”Sutherland was not wounded,but as the brigade commanderwho lost more soldiers than anyother in Diyala — 110 during along tour from late 2006 untilearly 2008 — he, too, found thereturn important. “I left about 15pounds of guilt back in Iraq afterthat trip,” he said, “because I sawsuch dramatic change.”The operation has been ap-proved by the Army surgeon gen-eral, according to Dr. John Olsen,an Army surgeon. He concededthat he was not aware of any re-search that endorsed the thera-peutic value of sending woundedveterans back to a conflict zone.Rick Kell, the head of TroopsFirst, said that the impetus camefrom wounded soldiers them-selves. Working with them atWalter Reed Army Medical Cen-ter, Kell said, “I kept hearing ev-ery day, ‘I want to go back, I wantto go back.’ ” He said the programselected only returnees who hadalready shown good progress incoping with their injuries.
ROD NORDLAND
To the naked eye, there wasnothing to be seen at a natural gaswell in eastern Texas but beigepipes and tanks baking in the sun.But in the viewfinder of Ter-ry Gosney’s infrared camera,three black plumes of gas gushedthrough leaks that were otherwiseinvisible.“Holy smoke, it’s blowing likemad,” said Gosney, an environ-mental field coordinator for En-Cana, the Canadian gas producerthat operates the year-old wellnear Franklin, Tex. “It does looknasty.”Within a few days the leaks hadbeen sealed by workers.Efforts like EnCana’s save en-ergy and money. They are also acheap, effective way of bluntingclimate change that could poten-tially be replicated thousands oftimes over, from Wyoming to Si-beria, energy experts say.Natural gas consists almost en-tirely of methane, a potent heat-trapping gas that scientists sayaccounts for as much as a third ofthe human contribution to globalwarming.“This for me is an absolute no-brainer, even more so than put-ting in those compact fluorescentbulbs in your house,” said Al Arm-endariz, an engineer at SouthernMethodist University.Acting quickly to stanch theloss of methane could substan-tially cut warming in the shortrun, even as countries tackle thetougher challenge of cutting thedominant greenhouse emission,carbon dioxide, studies by M.I.T.researchers suggest.Unlike carbon dioxide, whichcan remain in the atmosphere acentury or more once released,methane persists in the air forabout 10 years. So aggressivelyreining in emissions now wouldmean that far less of the gas wouldbe warming the earth in a decadeor so.Methane is also a valuable tar-get because while it is far rarerand more fleeting than carbon di-oxide, ton for ton, it traps 25 timesas much heat, researchers say.Yet while federal and interna-tional programs have encour-aged companies to seek and curbmethane emissions from gas andoil wells, pipelines and tanks, ag-gressive efforts like EnCana’s arestill far from the industry norm.As a result, some three trillioncubic feet of methane leak intothe air every year, with Russiaand the United States the leadingsources, according to the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency’sofficial estimate.
ANDREW C. REVKIN and CLIFFORD KRAUSS
 Sealing Gas Leaks Can Curb Climate Change
Wounded Soldiers Return to Iraq
x g u
WASHINGTON — As the WhiteHouse and Congressional leadersturned in earnest on Wednesdayto working out big differences inthe five health care bills, perhapsno issue loomed as a greater ob-stacle than whether to establisha government-run competitor tothe insurance industry.One day after the Senate Fi-nance Committee approved ameasure without a “public op-tion,” the question on Capitol Hillwas how President Obama couldreconcile the deep divisions with-in his party on the issue. All eyeswere on Sen. Olympia J. Snowe,the Maine Republican whose callfor a “trigger” that would estab-lish a government plan as a fall-back is one of the leading compro-mise ideas.Two administration officialssaid the White House looked fa-vorably on the Snowe plan. Butliberal Democrats were maneu-vering against it Wednesday,arguing that Snowe, the lone Re-publican to vote in favor of theFinance Committee’s bill, wasgaining undue influence over thetalks.“It’s one vote, she won’t makethe commitment on the finalproduct, and she says she’s got tohave the trigger,” said Rep. RaúlM. Grijalva, D-Ariz., who is tryingto round up votes for a plan akinto Medicare. “I think the adminis-tration has put her in the driver’sseat; it’s very disconcerting.”Of the many difficult decisionsremaining, few carry as muchpolitical weight for the presidentas the public option. The plan,which would be available only topeople who do not get health carethrough their employers, has be-come a proxy for a larger debateover where Obama is taking thecountry.An array of compromises arebeing floated, including nonprof-it cooperatives, and leaving thepublic option to the states.
SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
   puc p
FROM THE PAGES OF 
Thursday OcTOber 15, 2009 
Minigt in Nw yok 
Nine pages © 2009 The New York Times Visit The Times on the Web:
www.ntim.om 
 
LONDON — Prime MinisterGordon Brown announced a cau-tious and heavily conditionedplan on Wednesday to send 500more British troops to Afghani-stan, which would raise Britain’scontingent — the second largestin the 41-nation coalition fightingthe war — to 9,500.Brown hinted strongly that dis-cussions with President Obamaand other U.S. leaders had con-vinced him that their currentstrategy review will result in asimilar approval for at least amodest increase in U.S. troops,perhaps linked, like Britain’s,to strict conditions on PresidentHamid Karzai’s government inAfghanistan.“I believe the decision we areannouncing is consistent withwhat the Americans will decide,”he said.In Washington, the WhiteHouse expressed appreciationfor the British decision but deniedthat Obama had made his deci-sion. The president met for threehours with his national securityteam to discuss Afghanistan andPakistan, his fifth such meetingin recent weeks as he reviewsstrategy and his commander’srequest for more troops.Obama and his advisers fo-cused much of their discussion onWednesday on concerns with theAfghan government, the need toaccelerate training of Afghan se-curity forces and the challengesin deploying more civilian assis-tance, White House officials said.On a related front, U.S. officialsmoved to reassure Pakistanthat a new aid package did notimpinge on its sovereignty. Thatprogram, giving $7.5 billion overfive years, requires assurancesof civilian control of Pakistan’ssecurity forces, but House andSenate leaders released a jointstatement clarifying its intent.Pakistan’s visiting foreign min-ister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, ex-pressed satisfaction, and Obamaplans to sign the legislation byFriday.The British troop announce-ment renewed attention on thecontribution of NATO allies,which have long resisted U.S.pressure to do more in Afghani-stan. American officials said thatif Obama approved more forces,they expected NATO to increaseits participation as well, if not incombat troops then in training,equipment or economic assis-tance.Defense Secretary RobertM. Gates will meet with fellowNATO ministers in Bratislava,Slovakia, next week, althoughwithout a final decision from Mr.Obama it will be harder to lobbythen for more resources, officialssaid. Any appeals are likely toface resistance. The Dutch havesaid that they are pulling out ofAfghanistan in 2010, and the Ca-nadians plan to leave in 2011.
JOHN F. BURNSand PETER BAKER
 Britain to Deploy More Troops in Afghanistan
The Palestinian leadership at-tempted to regain credibility bypressing forward a U.N. report onthe Gaza war at a specially sched-uled debate at the Security Coun-cil on Wednesday, saying it wouldcall for a formal endorsement ofthe report this week in Geneva.The Security Council debatewas the first major step in thePalestinian effort to reverse itssurprise decision two weeks agoto delay action on the report,which found evidence of Israeliwar crimes, at the Human RightsCouncil in Geneva. The decision,made under U.S. pressure afterPrime Minister Benjamin Ne-tanyahu threatened that the ad-vance of the report would end anychance of peace talks, prompteda strong reaction against Presi-dent Mahmoud Abbas.Riyad al-Maliki, the foreign af-fairs minister for the PalestinianAuthority, said that the Palestin-ians would seek to “rectify themalfunction that occurred” inGeneva when the Human RightsCouncil meets on Thursday andFriday. He said Palestinian lead-ers hoped that the 47-membercouncil “will endorse, and formal-ly convey the report to the appro-priate United Nations agencies,in accordance with the report’srecommendations.”Israel’s ambassador to theUnited Nations, Gabriela Shalev,repeated Israel’s stance that thereport was biased against Israel.The 575-page report, createdby a four-member panel led bythe South African jurist RichardGoldstone, details evidence ofwar crimes committed by boththe Israeli forces and Palestinianarmed groups, though it reservesits harshest language for ac-tions taken by Israel. Foremostamong its recommendations isthat allegations of war crimes byboth sides should be referred tothe Security Council for possibleprosecution in the Hague if cred-ible investigations are not under-taken within six months.
(NYT)
 Palestinians Seek Endorsement of Gaza Report 
KAZAN, Russia — On a day thattook her from an elite Moscowuniversity to this bustling city inRussia’s Muslim hinterland, Sec-retary of State Hillary RodhamClinton paid tribute on Wednes-day to religious tolerance, whilealso challenging Russia’s leadersto open their political system andallow more dissent.In a speech to nearly 1,000 stu-dents at Moscow State Universi-ty, Clinton spoke far more force-fully about human rights and therule of law than she did on a tripto China. Russia, she said, couldbest fulfill its potential by protect-ing basic freedoms.“That’s why attacks on jour-nalists and human rights activ-ists are such a great concern, be-cause it is a threat to progress,”she said. “The more open Russiawill become, the more Russia willcontribute.”Clinton then traveled to Kazan,the 1,000-year-old capital of Ta-tarstan, where Muslims, Ortho-dox Christians and Roman Catho-lics live together peacefully.She was met by Tatarstan’slongtime president, MintimerS. Shaimiev, who showed heraround a mosque and an Ortho-dox cathedral.Clinton praised him for being“someone who is well known forfostering religious tolerance.”
MARK LANDLER
Clinton Urges Russia to Open Its Political System
in brief
Mss Wddig
Ten thousand couples frommore than 100 countries trav-eled to Seoul, South Korea, totie the knot on Wednesday inwhat was seen as the last masswedding officiated by the Rev.Sun Myung Moon, the 89-year-old founder of the UnificationChurch. The 90-minute spectaclewas the largest Moon had orga-nized since 1999.
(NYT)
Rssi Prtst
Opposition parties in Russia’sParliament, which have longbeen relatively docile allies ofthe Kremlin, staged an unusualwalkout on Wednesday to pro-test what they contended waspervasive fraud in local elec-tions. A nonpartisan monitoringorganization said the local elec-tions on Sunday were far fromfair, with numerous reports ofvote-rigging and other viola-tions. United Russia, the partyled by President Dmitri A. Med-vedev and Russia’s paramountleader, Prime Minister VladimirV. Putin, swept most of the con-tests — for example, taking 32 of35 seats in the Moscow city legis-lature.
(NYT)
Irq Bmbigs
Three bombs exploded withoutwarning in the midst of crowdswho had stopped to gather forevening prayers Wednesday inKarbala, Iraq, and the policeand government officials said atleast six people were killed and45 wounded. The explosions oc-curred near the Husseni and Ab-bas shrines.
(NYT)
Trky Criticizd
European officials gave Tur-key new warnings Wednesdayover threats to freedom of ex-pression in the country as partof an annual progress report onits efforts to join the EuropeanUnion. The European enlarge-ment commissioner, Olli Rehn,in particular criticized the Turk-ish tax ministry’s recent moveto impose a fine of $3.9 billion onthe country’s biggest media con-glomerate, Dogan Yayin, whoseaffiliates and ownership havebeen critical of the governingparty.
(NYT)
InTeRnaTIonal
 
Thursday, OcTOber 15, 2009
2
 
in brief
Brc Wssrsti,D Mkr, Dis
Bruce Wasserstein, 61, theWall Street investment bankerwho helped pioneer the hostiletakeover in the 1980s and re-shaped the mergers and acqui-sitions business, died in Man-hattan on Wednesday. Was-serstein, chairman and chiefexecutive of Lazard, workedon some of the biggest deals ofthe past three decades, includ-ing Kohlberg Kravis Roberts’stakeover of RJR Nabisco.He also became a member ofNew York’s social firmament,buying New York magazine. Heis survived by his wife, AngelaChao, the sister of former La-bor Secretary Elaine Chao, andseven children. He adopted thedaughter of his sister, the play-wright Wendy Wasserstein, whodied in 2006.
(NYT)
Sspsi eds
On his first day back at schoolin Newark, Del., after he wassuspended and ordered to thedistrict’s alternative schoolfor troubled youth for taking toschool a camping utensil, Zach-ary Christie, 6, said his fellowfirst graders kept asking himhow he had spent his days away.“I kept telling them that I wasat home doing my work,” hesaid.School officials had initial-ly ruled that the utensil was aweapon, and that they were re-quired to suspend him for 45days. They reversed the punish-ment Tuesday night and revisedthe discipline code.
(NYT)
a Mrti Dis
Al Martino, who had a stringof hits in the 1950s and ’60swith sentimental ballads like“Here in My Heart” and “Span-ish Eyes” and then found widerfame as Johnny Fontane, thewedding singer in “The Godfa-ther,” died Tuesday at his homein Springfield, Pa. He was 82.Martino had fallen backstageon Oct. 3 while acting as M.C. ofa concert in Staten Island com-memorating the 50th anniversa-ry of the death of the opera starMario Lanza, a friend and boy-hood idol of his.
(NYT)
BUFFALO, Minn. — Rep. Mi-chele Bachmann will appear inthe 2010 calendar of “Great Amer-ican Conservative Women.” Herlikeness has been transformedinto an action figure. And, so farin 2009, she has been interviewedon a national cable news showevery nine days, on average, ac-cording to Smart Politics, a blogaffiliated with the University ofMinnesota.Not bad for someone less thanthree years on the job.Here in Bachmann’s district,and in much of America, her out-sized celebrity has boiled downto this: They adore her or theyloathe her.As the health care overhaulmoves closer to a full debate,Bachmann is under attack fromthe Democratic National Com-mittee for spreading “recklesslies” about the overhaul. Backhome, two Democrats are seek-ing Bachmann’s seat in nextyear’s election, and are raising alot of money to do so.“People are struggling to stayin their homes, and she’s off try-ing to be on Fox News,” said oneof those Democrats, Tarryl L.Clark.Some of Bachmann’s fellowRepublicans, meanwhile, aredrawing glowing comparisonsbetween her and Sarah Palin.Sean Hannity has introduced heras “the second-most-hated Re-publican woman in the country,second to Governor Palin, whichis a good position.”Bachmann’s admirers point toher unvarnished stances againstgovernment programs, tax in-creases and abortions. Her de-tractors moan that she opposesanything a Democrat says.What is beyond dispute is thatBachmann’s remarks are sel-dom dull. She has encouraged an“orderly revolution” against theDemocratic establishment andhas suggested that she fears thatthe Obama administration is try-ing to do away with the dollar. Shehas suggested that one proposal’sprivacy rules for school-basedclinics could open the way foryoung girls getting referrals forabortions.Leading Republicans winceoccasionally at Bachman’s ap-pearances, but they also see heras someone who can energizeconservatives and aggravateDemocrats.Bachmann is mother of fivewho with her husband, Marcus,a clinical therapist, has openedtheir home to 23 foster children.Her district, which stretchesfrom the northern suburbs of theTwin Cities, through middle-in-come exurbs and into St. Cloud, isdefined by social conservatism, apopulist streak, and a significantCatholic population.“She fits this district well,” saidKing Banaian of St. Cloud. “I thinkthere are a lot of people who wantstraight talk and she appeals tothem.”
MONICA DAVEY 
 A G.O.P. Lightning Rod Not Named Palin
WASHINGTON — Anythingthat hops, burrows, crawls orgrazes near a nuclear weaponsplant may be capable of settingoff a Geiger counter. And at theHanford nuclear reservation, itsdroppings alone might be enoughto trigger alarms.A government contractor atHanford, Wash., just spent a weekmapping radioactive rabbit fe-ces with detectors mounted on ahelicopter flying 50 feet over thedesert scrub. A computer usedGPS technology to record eachlocation so workers could returnlater to scoop up the droppings fordisposal as radioactive waste.The Hanford site produced two-thirds of the plutonium used in thenation’s nuclear weapons arsenaluntil the 1980s. Today it is the fo-cus of an environmental cleanupthat has cost billions of dollars.The helicopter flights, whichcovered 13.7 square miles andwere paid for with $300,000 in fed-eral stimulus money, took placein an area that had never beenused by the bomb makers. But ithad been used by rabbits that hadalso burrowed into other areasthat were contaminated. Many ofthe contaminants, strontium andcesium, were in the form of salts,which attract wildlife.The flights were far less expen-sive than other strategies, saidDee Millikin, a spokeswoman forthe contractor. Walking throughthe area with radiation detectorswould have taken eight monthslonger and cost $1 million.The rabbits themselves arenot a target of the operation: thearea from which they picked upthe contamination was pavedover years ago, so the source wassealed off, Millikin said.Mice and badgers have alsopicked up nuclear residue, shesaid, and coyotes feed on theanimals. Researchers have alsofound traces of radioactive ma-terials in fish of the adjacent Co-lumbia River.
MATTHEW L. WALD
 Rabbits Add to Work of Cleanup at Hanford 
The latest results on the mostimportant nationwide math testshow that student achievementgrew faster during the yearsbefore the No Child Left Behindlaw.Scores increased only margin-ally for eighth graders and not atall for fourth graders, continu-ing a sluggish six-year trend ofslowing achievement growthsince passage of the law, whichrequires schools to bring 100 per-cent of students to reading andmath proficiency by 2014.On the most recent test, 39 per-cent of fourth graders and 34 per-cent of eighth graders scored ator above the proficient level.The test, the National Assess-ment of Educational Progress,was given to 329,000 fourth- andeighth-grade students.“This is the first time in 19years that fourth-grade mathscores are flat,” said Secretary ofEducation Arne Duncan. “We’vegot to get better faster.”On average, fourth gradersscored 240 on a 500-point scale,just as they did in 2007. Whitefourth graders, on average,scored 248, Hispanics scored 227and blacks scored 222.Eighth graders scored 283 onthe same scale, up from 281 in2007. White eighth graders, on av-erage, scored 293; Hispanics 266,and blacks 261.
SAM DILLON 
 Math Scores Falling Short of Goals Set by Federal Law
naTIonal
 
Thursday, OcTOber 15, 2009
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