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CONTENT © 2011The Washington Post

Year 134, No. 165

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SPORTS

The other kindof footballLocked out of RedskinsPark, wide receiverAnthony Armstrongis spending histime as asoccer coachto 7- and8-year-olds. D1

THE REGION

Some D.C. testscores tossedAn analysis found evidenceor a strong suspicion ofcheating in a number ofclassrooms. A6

Sharing the roadOn the eve of Bike to WorkDay, cyclists and motoristsalike are reminded aboutsafe practices. B1

THE NATION

A close call at O’HareTwo commuter planesnearly collide in flight amidair traffic confusion afterthe vice president’s visit. A4

STYLE

Year of the woman?At Cannes, Ann Hornadayfinds female directors andsensitive portrayals ofwomen in the spotlight. C1

2 LOCAL LIVING

New bedfellowsin the gardenInstead of planting this summerflower by the hundreds, trysome shade-loving alternatives.

OPINIONS

Tom Coburn: As the debtcrisis deepens, the Senateis missing in action. A19

Jackson Diehl: MahmoudAbbas’s formula for war. A19

INSIDE

IMF chief, facing sexualassault charge, resigns

Move comes asStrauss-Kahn seekshouse arrest in N.Y.

Obama looks to hone Middle East stanceStalled peace process,unrest across regionloom over address

When couples say ‘I do,’more often it’s for keeps

Can a Republican moderate survive?Jon Huntsman is testing the waters before a GOP primary season that promises to lean right

Amnesty effortslag in AfghanistanDEFECTING FIGHTERS LEFT IN LIMBO

Kabul’s delays threaten to close a crucial ‘window’

BY RAJIV CHANDRASEKARAN

The Afghan government hasmoved so slowly to recruit Talibandefectors that U.S. and Afghanofficials say they are losing anopportunity to capitalize on hard-won military gains and the deathof Osama bin Laden.

Interest among war-weary Tali-ban foot soldiers and low-rankingcommanders in switching sides isat an all-time high, the officialssaid, but the Afghan govern-ment’s inability to provide safehouses, job-training classes andother services aimed at reinte-grating former combatants hasprevented local authorities fromoffering amnesty to many fight-ers.

In Kandahar province, a hub ofTaliban activity that has been afocus of U.S. military operations,the governor is taking the extraor-dinary step of urging insurgentleaders to delay their surrender.

“We are not prepared the waywe should be,” said the governor,

Tooryalai Wesa, who has beenapproached in recent weeks byemissaries for mid-level Talibanleaders. “We are telling them towait a little bit.”

Although much of the problemstems from political disagree-ments and bureaucratic delayswithin the Afghan government,the United States has been unableto provide a stopgap solution be-cause of the way the U.S. Agencyfor International Development(USAID) is interpreting congres-sional restrictions on the use ofreconstruction funds for Afghani-stan.

The Kabul government doesnot dispute that it has been tardy.“Program execution has beenslow as compared to the urgencyof the needs of the provinces andcommunities,” the national peaceand reintegration secretariatwrote this month in a review of itsefforts.

Senior U.S. military officials

afghanistan continued on A12

JUAN MEDINA/REUTERS

Demonstrators flood Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, protesting the handling of Spain’s economy — including the EuropeanUnion’s highest unemployment rate — and government spending cuts. The demonstrations began over the weekend,and groups have vowed to occupy central squares in several cities until local elections this weekend.

A spring of frustration in Spain

BY SCOTT WILSON

President Obama is facingpressure from key allies to actmore decisively on several vola-tile issues in the Middle East andNorthAfrica, including thearmedrebellion in Libya, the uprising inSyria, and the moribund peaceprocess between Israel and thePalestinians.

On Wednesday, the administra-tion sought to address what someallies have perceived as a drift inObama’s policy in the rapidlychanging region, after weekswhen Osama bin Laden’s killingand a domestic debate over the

national debt took center stage.On the eve of a major speech

meant to define U.S. interests inthe Middle East, Obama an-nounced new financial sanctionsagainst seven senior Syrian offi-cials for human rights abuses,naming President Bashar al-As-

sad among them for the first time.Obama’s counterterrorism ad-

viser, John O. Brennan, alsophoned Yemen’s embattled presi-dent, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to urgehim to accept an Arab-brokeredagreement that would usher himfrom office within a month.

And, in a preview of Obama’sThursday address, senior admin-istration officials outlined a num-ber of economic initiatives thatthe president will announce toencourage democratic changes inthe region, including a total of$2 billion in debt relief and loanguarantees for Egypt’s fledginggovernment.

The speech is Obama’s firstattempt to place the anti-govern-ment demonstrations, whichhave swept away autocrats in Tu-nisia and Egypt and threatenedseveral others, in the context ofAmerican interests and values.

Administration officials say the

address will not include a host ofnew proposals but rather willseek to make the broader pointthat the United States favors dem-ocratic reform as something con-sistent with its long-term securityinterest in the region’s stability.For instance, Obama is not ex-pected to call specifically for As-sad’s removal as Syria’s leader,officials said.

One senior administration of-ficial, who spoke on the conditionof anonymity to preview the ad-dress for reporters, said thespeech “comes at a moment ofopportunity for the region and forU.S. policy in the region.”

“We’re obviously coming off adecade of great tension and divi-sion across the region,” the officialsaid. “Now, having wound downthe Iraq war and continuing to doso, and having taken out Osama

middle east continued on A10

BY HOWARD SCHNEIDERAND ZACHARY A. GOLDFARB

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, themanaging director of the Interna-tional Monetary Fund, who is fac-ingattemptedrapecharges inNewYork, announced his resignationlate Wednesday night.

In a statement, Strauss-Kahnsaid he is resigning “with infinitesadness” and in an effort “to pro-tect this institution.”

The resignation, while provid-ing clarity to an organization reel-ing from the accusations facing itsmanaging director, immediately

sets off a scramble about who willlead the powerful organizationand what that will mean for theglobal economy.

Under Strauss-Kahn, the Wash-ington-basedIMFhastakenamus-cular approach toward fixing Eu-rope’s financial woes, advocatingfinancial bailouts for ailing na-tions such as Greece and Portugal.WithoutStrauss-Kahnat thehelm,Europe is at risk of losing a keysource of financial support in itsefforts to contain the debt crisisbuffeting the continent.

The resignation — emanatingfrom a jail cell on Riker’s Island,where Strauss-Kahn has spentthree nights while he fights to bereleased on bail — also marks oneof the most extraordinary fallsfrom power in recent years. Until

imf continued on A13

BY CAROL MORELLO

Americans may be postponingmarriage, and fewer are weddingat all. But what about the peoplewho do get married? They’re stay-ing together longer than theyhave in years.

Three in four couples who mar-ried after 1990 celebrated a10-year anniversary, accordingto census statistics reportedWednesday. That was a rise ofthree percentage points com-pared with couples who marriedin the early 1980s, when the na-tion’s divorce rate was at its high-est.

One reason for the increase,said demographers and sociolo-gists who study families, is thatpeople are marrying later in life,after they have completed theireducation. Not only are they moremature, but they also are morefinancially secure.

“People seem to be finding anew marriage bargain that worksfor 21st-century couples,” said An-drew Cherlin, a Johns HopkinsUniversity sociologist who stud-ies families. “It’s based on poolingtwo incomes, replacing the oldbreadwinner-homemaker bar-gain that worked well in the ’50s.”

Researchers increasingly arefinding a connection betweenmarriage and education. In 2009,31 percent of brides had a collegedegree, up from 21 percent in1996.

“Marriage has become a much

marriage continued on A7

BY NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON

J on Huntsman Jr. sets offThursday on his first cam-paign-style swing throughNew Hampshire, testing

whether his moderate brand ofpolitics can find a place in today’sRepublican Party.

In a likely presidential bid, hewould bring with him a politicalresume punctuated by his stint asPresident Obama’s ambassadorto China and loaded with centristpositions on immigration, cap-and-trade climate legislation,and gay rights.

That could be an uneasy fit in aGOP primary season that is al-ready pushing candidates to theright. So much so that Hunts-man’s aides reject the suggestionthat he is a moderate — one calledit the “M-word” — and describethe former Utah governor as amainstream conservative with a

solid record of antiabortion legis-lation and tax cuts.

In an up-for-grabs Republicanfield, Huntsman would enter as arelative newcomer, with a lownational profile and a weak pres-ence in the polls. But he couldn’tbe dismissed. He is telegenic, hasaccess to a vast family fortune,worked for several presidentsand has assembled a team ofstrategists with national cam-paign experience — this week helanded a former Mike Huckabeeadviser in South Carolina.

Still, Huntsman’s path throughthe GOP primary would requiresome airbrushing and some workto build a base of moderate sup-porters in a party that finds much

huntsman continued on A16PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES

Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr. will visit New Hampshirethis week. Known for his centrist positions, he also served untillast month as President Obama’s ambassador to China.

Gingrich’s missteps: Formany, the candidate’s rhetoricraises old questions. The Take, A2

TURMOIL INTHE MIDDLE EASTSYRIA: Obama imposes economicsanctions on President Bashar al-Assad that target Assad’s personalfinances and link him explicitly tohuman rights abuses. A10

LIBYA: Four Western journalists whowere detained for weeks are releasedafter they were found guilty ofillegally entering the country. A10

EGYPT: Military leaders say they arenot considering an immunity deal forformer president Hosni Mubarak. A8

OPINIONS: Can the U.S. help shape anew Mideast? David Ignatius, A19

3 in 4Couples who married after 1990 whocelebrated their 10-year anniversary.

4 in 10Marriages nationwide that end indivorce.