4 8A - Thursday, September 17, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Obama won't make 'quick' decision on Afghanistan WALKING ON WIRE On Tuesday, Adm. Mullen said a troop increase was needed WASHINGTON (AP) - Presi- dent Barack Obama said yesterday there will be no quick decision on whether to send more U.S. troops into the widening war in Afghani- stan, saying "my determination is to get this right." The president's comments came one day after Adm. Mike Mullen, his top military adviser as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, endorsed an increase in U.S. forces as likely necessary to battle a deepening insurgency. The U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, also has delivered a grim assessment of the war and is expected to follow up soon with a request for thousands of addi- tional troops. "I'm going to take a very delib- erate process in making those decisions," said Obama, taking questions from reporters as he sat in the Oval Office with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. "And so I just want to be absolutely clear, because there's been a lot of discussion in the press about this: There is no immediate decision pending on resources." Even as Obama spoke about a methodical war review, admin- istration officials were briefing key lawmakers on McChrystal's review and on White House pro- posals for 46 benchmarks to gauge progress in the stalemated Afghan war and the hunt for al-Qaida in neighboring Pakistan. The Obama administration's road map to winning the war in Afghanistan relies heavily on clearing terrorists from Pakistan, according to the list of bench- marks provided to lawmakers. Stabilizing Pakistan always has been a key part of the administra- tion's strategy for South Asia. But its prominence in the long-await- ed benchmarks for the Afghan war signals a longer regional view than just gauging whether the conflict is being won. "It's going to be much broader than justcombattroops," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Commit- tee, said after beingbriefed by top Obama administration officials yesterday about an on-the-ground assessment of the situation in Afghanistan. "Everybody ought to realize that this is a much broader issue than that." His Republican counterpart on the committee, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., emerged from the brief- ing calling the proposed Obama benchmarks "a start," but not spe- cific enough. The president has already ordered 21,000 more troops to Afghanistan, increasing the U.S. commitment there to 68,000 by year's end.Yetviolence inAfghan- istan has soared to record levels. More U.S. troops - 51 - died in Afghanistan in August than in any other month since the U.S.-led invasion in October 2001. Slack-lining students use a nylon webbing secured to two trees using carabineers in the Diag yesterday afternoon. Slain Yale student was suffocated, medical examiner reports to police Police: Raymond Clark III 'person of interest' in killing NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A Yale graduate student found stuffed in the wall of a research center had been suffocated, the medical exam- iner reported yesterday as police awaited DNA tests on evidence taken from a lab technician who worked in the building. Police call Raymond Clark III a "person of interest" in the slaying of Annie Le. Authorities hoped to compare DNA taken from Clark's hair, fingernails and saliva with more than 250 pieces of evidence collected at the crime scene on the Ivy League campus and from Clark's Middletown, Conn., apart- ment. "It's all up to the lab now," Police Chief James Lewis said at a news conference. "The basis of the inves- tigation now is really on the physi- cal evidence." Police served two search war- rants - for DNA from Clark and for items in his apartment - late Tues- day. They served two more yester- day morning, for more items from the apartment and for Clark's Ford Mustang, Lewis said. Investigators said they expect to determine within days whether Clark should be charged in the kill- ing. He was escorted in handcuffs from his apartment and released early Wednesday into the custody of his attorney, police said. Lewis said Clark and several other people are under constant police surveillance. He said police expect to seek an arrest warrant for anyone whose DNA matches evi- dence at the crime scene. Clark is not talking to police, Lewis said. "Atsome pointhe maybe willingto answer questions, but at this pointhe has invoked his rights," Lewis said. "He has an attorney. We couldn't question him if we wanted to." Clark's attorney, David Dwor- ski, said his client is "committed to proceeding appropriately with the authorities." He would not elaborate. A police lab is expediting tests on Clark's DNA. University of Connect- icut genetics professor Linda Straus Baugh says testing can be done in days ifa case gets top priority. Clark's job as an animal-services technician at Yale put him in con- tact with Le, who worked for a Yale laboratory that conducted experi- ments on mice. She was part of a research team headed by her faculty adviser, Anton Bennett, that focused on enzyme research that could have implications in cancer, diabetes and muscular dystrophy. Members of the team have declined to comment on the case or their work. Clark, his fiancee, his sister and his brother-in-law all work for Yale as animal lab technicians. Le's body was found Sunday stuffed behind the wall of the base- ment where lab animals are kept. The Connecticut state medical examiner said Wednesday that Le died of "traumatic asphyxiation." Authorities released no details on how she died, but traumatic asphyxiation could be consistent with a choke hold or some other form of pressure-induced asphyxi- ation caused by a hand or an object, such as a pipe. Clark and Le were both 24 years old, but Clark has a muscular build that contrasts sharply to Le's 4-foot-11, 90-pound frame. Clark also reportedly had a troubling brush with the law in high school after being accused of harassing a girlfriend. Until recently, Clark's family lived in nearby Branford, a small middle-class suburb of New Haven. In September 2003, when he was a senior at Branford High School, Clark reportedly upset a girlfriend so much that police warned him to stay away from her. The New Haven Independent reported that when the girl tried to break up with Clark, he attempted to confront her and wrote on her locker. The girlfriend and her mother told a detective that she had been in a sexual relationship with Clark and that he once forced her to have sex. The relationship continued after that incident, according to the Independent, a news Web site. The youngwoman did not pursue the case, and no charges were filed. TheIndependentreportedthatClark waswarnedin2003thatpolicecould pursue criminal charges against him if he contacted the girl. Branford Police Lt. Geoffrey Morgan told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his department would not release the unsubstanti- ated 2003 report. Morgan would neither confirm nor deny the news report, citing cooperation with police investigating the killing. Clark played baseball at Bran- ford High School, where longtime athletic director Artie Roy remem- bered him as a quiet student who threw a mean knuckleball. "He was a seriously good pitch- er and a good infielder," Roy said. "He wasn't a typical off-the-wall knucklehead kind of kid who bounced all over the place," he said. Clark also participated in clubs that raised money for chari- ty and the Asian Awareness group, according to the school's 2004 yearbook, the Milestone. On her MySpace page, Clark's fiancee, Jennifer Hromadka, calls Clark was a "wonderful boyfriend." She added that she'snot perfect, but cautioned people not to judge her. "Who are you to judge the life I live? I know I'm not perfect and I don't live to be, but before you start pointing fingers make sure your hands are clean!!" the 23-year-old wrote. CARLOS OROSIO/AP CIA Director Leon Panetta addresses the media in Dearborn yesterday. Panetta requests U. S.Muslims help in a in at- tro ih In Dearborn, CIA chief said al-Qaida remains a threat DEARBORN, Mich. - The director of the CIA beseeched Arab-American and Muslim lead- ers yesterday to join efforts to reduce the threat of terrorism in the U.S. Speaking in the heart of Michi- gan's large Middle Eastern Com- munity, Leon Panetta said the country is safer than it was when it was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, though al-Qaida still remains a threat. "I need you. The nation needs you," Panetta said during a 25-minute speech to about 150 people at an iftar, the evening meal that breaks the fast during the Islamic holy month of Rama- dan. The address represented one of the Central Intelligence Agency's highest-profile recruiting efforts aimed at Arab-Americans and Muslims. Panetta said it was his first speech at a Ramadan break- fast dinner. Theagencythisyearannounced a five-year plan to boost fluency in Arabic and other languages the CIA deems critical to its work. Panetta aims to raise foreign lan- guage proficiency inside the CIA from less than a third to at least half of all analysts and intelli- gence operatives. He told the gatheringhe hopes to increase the share of the agency's work force that has for- eign language skills. The agency seeks highly skilled workers in 90 different areas, including analysts, engineers and doctors, he said. "We have to reflect the face of this nation, and we have to reflect the face of the world," said Panet- ta, drawing applause from the gathering. Earlier, he told reporters he never considered resigning from the job he took in Febru- ary, despite a battle with Attor- ney General Eric Holder over Holder's his decision to investi- gate some agency officials in past interrogations of terrorism case detainees. "My concern is ... that we don't get trapped by the past. My feel- ing is ultimately, we're going to be able to move on," Panetta said. "I think the reason I felt the way I did is because I don't believe there's a basis there for any kind of additional action." He also sought to allay concerns of many in the Arab and Muslim communities who say they have felt the sting of suspicion and dis- crimination since Sept. 11. About 300,000 people with roots in the Arab world live in the Detroit area. BIG HOUSE BEATS From Page 1A music that we listen to down there," he said. "There's this one song called 'Stanky Leg' Yeah, I know. And that gets me into my groove." As for the canned music's rela- tionship with the band, Riordan said the Athletic Department is not "trying to take away anything from the Michigan Marching Band.' However, a marchingband mem- ber who didn't feel authorized to speak on the subject and requested anonymity, told the Daily that the band resents the pumped-in music. "I appreciate where the players are coming from in that it can help motivate them," the band member said, "but when you have one of the best marching bands sitting there waiting to play, at times it's some- what disappointing to hea rmusic coming over the loudspeakers." Riordan said the band shouldn't feel edged out, since the canned music is only played in short clips. How much canned music is played and when it's played de- pends upon each individual game. "Ideally we want to play right be- fore the team comes out of the tun- nel, when the band is not playing," Riordan said. "We don't have any set spots, we are really just trying to go with the flow and feel what the crowd is like at the time and play what's appropriate." "It's nicely intermixed with cheering," said LSA senior Natalie Wengroff. LSA senior Adam Lynn specu- lated the change could work in the Wolverines' favor on the field when they need it most. "It's a home field advantage to get the crowd rallied up like that," he said. "I think it will be the deciding factor for us against Ohio State." - Daily Sports Editor Ruth Lincoln and Daily News Editor Matt Aaronson contributed to this report. 0 President of the AFL-CIO Richard Trumka addresses the AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh Tuesday. Former coal miner leads AFL-CIO Richard Trumka is first new AFL-CIO president in 14 years PITTSBURGH (AP) - Richard Trumka, who rose from the coal mines of Pennsylvania to the top ranks of the nation's labor move- ment, took the helm of the AFL- CIO yesterday, ushering in a more aggressive style of leadership and vowing to revive unions' sagging membership rolls. The first new AFL-CIO presi- dent in 14 years, Trumka pledged to make the labor movement appeal to a new generation of workers who perceive unions as "only a grainy, faded picture from another time." "We need a unionism that makes sense to the next genera- tion - young women and men who either don't have the money to go to college or are almost penniless by the time they come out," Trum- ka told hundreds of cheering del- egates in a speech at their annual convention. Trumka, 60, a charismatic, former head of the United Mine Workers, embraced the challenge of rebuilding union ranks that have fallen from a high of 35 per- cent in the 1950s to just 12.4 per- cent today. It's a feat his predecessor, John Sweeney, failed to accomplish as the U.S. continued to lose mil- lions of manufacturing jobs and employers grew more resistant to union organizers. Trumka insisted that unions remain the best way to lift work- ers into the middle class during a time of economic turmoil. He said the growing number of Americans working as temps, contractors and telecommuters are "walking a tightrope without a net" as they work for low wages, no health care and little job security. "Even though it wasn't the labor movement that got us into this mess, we are the people who are going to lead America out of it," he declared. Trumka plans to be a more vocal and visible spokesman for labor's cause than Sweeney was. That includes more events, more public speaking and more TV and radio appearances. "Richie is probably more force- ful than John," said Gerald McEn- tee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "John had the workers' interest in his heart, but Richie has them in his heart and his gut." With a union-friendly Demo- crat in the White House and Democrats in control of Congress, unions have their best chance in decades of getting their top pri- ority: overhauling labor laws to make it easier for workers to form unions. If that happens, labor lead- ers predict a renaissance in orga- nized labor, with millions of new workers signing up. 4