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VOL. CLIX . . No. 54,983

© 2010 The New York Times

NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2010


TALIBAN HIT BACK WITH A CAMPAIGN OF INTIMIDATION
MILITARY TEST IN MARJA
Working to Undermine U.S. Goal of Strong Local Authority
By ROD NORDLAND

SHOWDOWN NEAR, HEALTH OVERHAUL GAINS TWO VOTES
STILL SHORT OF PASSAGE
Kucinich Vows Support, but G.O.P. Leader Sees ‘Wild Ride’
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and ROBERT PEAR

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban have begun waging a campaign of intimidation in
Marja that some local Afghan leaders worry has jeopardized the success of an American-led
offensive there meant as an early test of a revised military approach in Afghanistan.
The Taliban tactics have included at least one beheading in a broader effort to terrorize
residents and undermine what military officials have said is the most important aim
of the offensive: the attempt to establish a strong local government that can restore
services. The offensive ousted the Taliban from control of their last population
center in southern Helmand Province, but maintaining control over such territory
has proved elusive in the past. Though Marja has an occupation force numbering more
than one coalition soldier or police officer for every eight residents, Taliban agitators
have been able to wage an underground campaign of subversion, which residents say
has intensified in the past two weeks. “After dark the city is like the kingdom
of the Taliban,” said a tribal elder living in Marja, who spoke on the condition
of anonymity out of fear of the Taliban. “The government and international forces
cannot defend anyone even one kilometer from their bases.” The new governor of
Marja, Haji Abdul Zahir, said the militants were now holding meetings in randomly
selected homes roughly every other night, gathering residents together and demanding
that they turn over the names of anyone cooperating with the authorities. Mr. Zahir
said the Taliban also regularly issued “night letters,” posted at mosques or
on utility poles, warning against such collaboration, and often intimidated residents
into providing them with shelter and food, even in densely populated neighborhoods
of the city, which has a population of 80,000. “They are threatening and intimidating
these people who are cooperating,” he said in a teleContinued on Page A10

DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Amid a Democratic push to win votes for a health plan, President Obama and Nancy
Pelosi attended a St. Patrick’s Day luncheon.

Inch at a Time, Planned Switch to G.O.P. Stirs Governor’s Race ers to see him as
“Scott Brown Representative Rick A. Lazio, a Burmese Junta II,” referring to
the Massachu- Republican who has been runoff an Allows Change ALBANY — A governor’s
race setts senator who pulledfavored ning since September but has failed to attract
much enthusiasm upset against a heavily
By JEREMY W. PETERS
By The New York Times

PYAPON, Myanmar — In the dried mud of the Irrawaddy Delta, workers are welding
together the final pieces of a natural-gas pipeline that the country’s ruling generals
say will keep the lights on in Yangon, Myanmar’s main city, after years of debilitating
blackouts. Residents who for years were lucky to get eight hours of power a day may
soon have the luxury of refrigerators that stay cold and televisions that stay on.
But it will not make much difference for one 64-year-old Yangon resident on a lakeside
road blockaded by the police: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate and this country’s
bestknown dissident, who lives in a blacked-out world, barred from most communication
with anyone outside her walled compound. Her telephone line was cut years ago, and
she has no computer or television, her lawyer said. These are the dueling realities
of Myanmar today. After years of deadlock and stagnation, change is coming, but strictly
on the junta’s terms. There is guarded hope among Continued on Page A14

that seemed all but settled is about to be upended again, by a popular Democrat from
Long Island who is set to announce that he is switching parties. The move is certain
to excite Republican leaders pessimistic about their party’s hopes this fall. Those
leaders believe that the official, Steve Levy, a blunt-spoken fiscal hawk and contrarian
who collected 96 percent of the vote in his last re-election bid, can tap into the
public’s antiincumbent sentiment and frustration with Albany’s overspending.
Mr. Levy, 50, the Suffolk County executive, said he wanted vot-

Democrat in January. “There really seems to be a void out there that I can fit
perfectly,” Mr. Levy said, describing Albany’s political culture as a “cesspool.”
“We’ve got to clean house, tear that place down and build it back in a cleaner,
more efficient manner,” he added. A spokeswoman for Mr. Levy, Rene Babich, said
late Wednesday that Mr. Levy would announce in a news conference in Albany on Friday
that he was seeking the Republican nomination for governor. His candidacy could touch
off an intraparty battle with former

or financial support. Even if Mr. Levy were to prevail against Mr. Lazio, he would
be likely to face a formidable Democratic opponent in Attorney General Andrew M.
Cuomo. There is no question that Mr. Levy will add unpredictability to the race.
He is known not only for his Puritan work ethic and stubborn frugality but also for
his occasionally incendiary comments, especially on immigration. His detractors say
he has stoked the anger of the largely white middle-class residents of Suffolk County,
which is grappling with an influx of immigrants who are Continued on Page A28

A Foundation Promotes Art As Well as Its Sole Trustee
By KEVIN FLYNN and ROBIN POGREBIN
ULI SEIT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Like the abstract painter who created it, the Judith Rothschild Foundation has never
had a very high profile in the art world. Ms. Rothschild, who died in 1993, established
the foundation in her will and assigned a friend the mission, as trustee, of using
her collection of artworks by masters like Matisse and Mondrian to promote underappreciated
artists — a category in which she included herself. That friend, Harvey S. Shipley
Miller, has since donated or sold many of these artworks and used the proceeds to
benefit cultural institutions across the country. Another major beneficiary of the
foundation’s efforts over the years, though, has been Mr. Miller himself. A Harvard-trained
lawyer and art aficionado, he set a salary for

himself of more than $200,000 in some years for his service as the foundation’s
sole trustee and, for years after Ms. Rothschild’s death, had the use of her Park
Avenue town house and her upstate country home. Over several years he directed more
than $130,000 in foundation money to the law school at the University of California,
Los Angeles, where some was used to create a fellowship named after him, not Ms.
Rothschild. And as the foundation’s trustee, and the gatekeeper of its treasures,
he was given coveted seats on important boards and committees at institutions like
the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum
of Continued on Page A3

Steve Levy, the Suffolk County executive, at his office in Hauppauge, N.Y. Mr. Levy,
a Democrat and fiscal hawk, is set to announce a run for New York governor as a Republican
on Friday.

WASHINGTON — House Democrats locked in two more votes Wednesday as they inched
toward the majority they need to pass health care legislation, giving them added
confidence as they worked out the last details of the bill and girded for a showdown
as soon as this weekend. Behind the scenes, Democratic leaders were still working
to secure backing for the legislation from among roughly three dozen members of the
party whose votes are considered to be in play, even as they awaited a final price
tag on the bill from the Congressional Budget Office. But they sought to portray
the measure as gaining momentum from the public declarations of support from two
Democrats: Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio, who had previously opposed it, and Dale E.
Kildee of Michigan, who had been among a group seeking tighter restrictions on the
financing of insurance covering abortions. Democratic leaders say they have not nailed
down the 216 votes they need for passage, but they are pressing ahead in the belief
that they can get them. The House Democratic leader, Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland,
said the House could take a final vote on the legislation by Sunday. The endorsement
from Mr. Kucinich suggested that Democrats who have been pushing for more ambitious
legislation might put aside their reservations and unite behind the bill as their
best opportunity to secure health insurance for millions of Americans who now lack
it. The backing from Mr. Kildee — and new support from nuns who lead major Roman
Catholic religious orders — indicated that Democrats were having some success in
addressing an issue that has cost the votes of some Democrats who oppose abortion
rights. But House Republicans said they still believed they could block the bill,
a top priority for President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Under a two-step plan
devised by House Democratic leaders, the House would approve the health care bill
passed by the Senate in December, then make changes in a separate bill using a procedure
known as budget reconciliation to avoid the threat of a filibuster in the Senate.
Republicans like Representative David Dreier of California have accused Democrats
of ducking a straightup vote on the Senate bill, which has provisions that many House
Democrats do not like. In an interview with Fox News, Continued on Page A21

As China Surges, It Draws High-Tech Researchers From America
By KEITH BRADSHER

XIAN, China — For years, many of China’s best and brightest left for the United
States, where high-tech industry was more cutting-edge. But Mark R. Pinto is moving
in the opposite direction. Mr. Pinto is the first chief technology officer of a major
American tech company to move to China. The company, Applied Materials, is one of
Silicon Valley’s most prominent firms. It supplied equipment used to perfect the

first computer chips. Today, it is the world’s biggest supplier of the equipment
used to make semiconductors, solar panels and flat-panel displays. In addition to
moving Mr. Pinto and his family to Beijing in January, Applied Materials, whose headquarters
are in Santa Clara, Calif., has just built its newest and largest research labs here.
Last week, it even held its annual shareholders’ meeting in Xian. It is hardly
alone. Companies — and their engineers — are being drawn here more and more as

China develops a high-tech economy that increasingly competes directly with the United
States. A few American companies are even making deals with Chinese companies to
license Chinese technology. The Chinese market is surging for electricity, cars and
much more, and companies are concluding that their researchers need to be close to
factories and consumers alike. Applied Materials set up its latest solar research
labs here after estimating that China would be producing two-

thirds of the world’s solar panels by the end of this year. “We’re obviously
not giving up on the U.S.,” Mr. Pinto said. “China needs more electricity. It’s
as simple as that.” China has become the world’s largest auto market, and General
Motors has a large and growing auto research center in Shanghai. The country is also
the biggest market for desktop computers and has the most Internet users. Intel has
opened research labs in Beijing for semiconductors and Continued on Page A14

NATIONAL A16-21

SPORTSTHURSDAY B13-18

ARTS C1-8

SPECIAL TODAY

Bipartisan Vote for Jobs Bill
With 11 votes from Republicans, the Senate passed a bill intended to spur employment.
PAGE A16
NEW YORK A22-29

The Ball Is Tipped . . .
The men’s N.C.A.A. tournament begins Thursday with 16 first-round games. Derrick
Caracter of Texas-El Paso will be out to prove his riches-to-rags story can have
a happy ending. Robert Morris University will take the court as an underdog, clothed
in an underdog company’s apparel. And readers have until 11:30 a.m. to fill out
their interactive brackets.
PAGE B13

Cash for Carnegie, Then Haiti
A large portion of the proceeds from a benefit on Sunday will go toward conPAGE C1
cert-hall rent and marketing.
THURSDAY STYLES E1-10

Museums
A new generation of curators has arrived, at home in the digital world and attuned
to its possibilities.
SECTION F

Another Paterson Aide Resigns
INTERNATIONAL A4-14

Hurling the China on Facebook
When a couple take their private spat public, via sites like Facebook, does anyPAGE
E1 body really win?
HOME D1-12

First Dogs Linked to Mideast
A study says dogs were probably domesticated in the Middle East. PAGE A6

Marissa Shorenstein, the governor’s press secretary, is the fifth top state official
to step down since Feb. 25. PAGE A22
BUSINESS DAY B1-12

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A30-31

Gail Collins

PAGE A31

U.S. Mulls Own Mideast Plan
The White House is considering proposing a plan for Mideast talks. PAGE A10

A Hard Line on Book Sales
Amazon demands concessions from publishers to sell their books. PAGE B1

The Automated Apartment
Updating a one-bedroom with the latest smart home technology. PAGE D1