VOL. CLXIII . . . No. 56,448 © 2014 The New York Times SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2014
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By MARK LANDLER
WASHINGTON — The WhiteHouse cast doubt Friday on theKremlin’s claims that thousandsof troops massing on the borderof southeastern Ukraine aremerely involved in training exer-cises, deepening fears that Rus-sian aggression will not end inCrimea.
“It’s not clear what that sig-nals,” the national security advis-er, Susan E. Rice, said to report-ers in a briefing at the WhiteHouse. But she added, “Obvious-ly given their past practice andthe gap between what they havesaid and what they have done, weare watching it with skepticism.”
At the Pentagon, senior offi-cers and analysts said they weremonitoring the Russian infantry,airborne, air defense and otherreinforcements with growingalarm, uncertain of PresidentVladimir V. Putin’s ambitions.
Pentagon officials do not be-lieve that a new Russian moveinto Ukraine is imminent. Butone of their big worries is thatAmerican and NATO officialswould have virtually no time toreact if it did happen. All told, of-ficials said, there are more than20,000 troops near the border.
“The Russian forces are re-inforcing and bulking up alongthe eastern Ukrainian border,” aPentagon official said. “Our viewis they’re preserving all their op-tions, including going in, abso-lutely. If they choose to do that,we just wouldn’t have muchwarning.”
President Obama cited thetroop movements on Thursday inannouncing new sanctionsagainst officials with ties to Mr.Putin and in opening the door tobroader measures against key in-dustrial sectors.
He warned Russia against fur-ther incursions after its annex-ation of Crimea.
Ms. Rice’s comments, whichset the stage for Mr. Obama’s tripto Europe next week, suggestedthat the tensions between theUnited States and Russia werecontinuing to intensify. Asked ifthe Ukraine crisis was promptinga “fundamental reassessment” ofAmerica’s relationship with Rus-sia, she answered in a singleword: “Yes.”
Russia’s integration into theglobal political and economic or-der after the Cold War, Ms. Ricesaid, was predicated on its adher-ence to international rules andnorms. “What we have seen inUkraine is obviously a very egre-gious departure from that,” she
RUSSIA’S SHIFTINGOF BORDER FORCESTIRS U.S. WORRY
NEW FEARS ON UKRAINE
White House Skeptical
That Troop Massing
Is for Training
Continued on Page A8
By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER
SAN FRANCISCO — Microsofthas lost customers, including thegovernment of Brazil.
IBM is spending more than abillion dollars to build data cen-ters overseas to reassure foreigncustomers that their informationis safe from prying eyes in theUnited States government.
And tech companies abroad,from Europe to South America,say they are gaining customersthat are shunning United Statesproviders, suspicious because ofthe revelations by Edward J.Snowden that tied these provid-ers to the National SecurityAgency’s vast surveillance pro-gram.
Even as Washington grappleswith the diplomatic and politicalfallout of Mr. Snowden’s leaks,the more urgent issue, compa-nies and analysts say, is econom-ic. Technology executives, includ-ing Mark Zuckerberg of Face-book, raised the issue when theywent to the White House on Fri-day for a meeting with PresidentObama.
It is impossible to see now thefull economic ramifications of thespying disclosures — in part be-
N.S.A. SpyingImposing CostOn Tech Firms
Continued on Page A3
GABRIELLA DEMCZUK/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Steven R. Woods mourned his father, Staff Sgt. Lawrence Woods, at a funeral Friday at Arlington National Cemetery. Page A14.
A Funeral Delayed for 50 Years
By MATTHEW ROSENBERGand AZAM AHMED
KABUL, Afghanistan — Hishandgun drawn, the clean-cut in-surgent stood in the restaurant ofthe Serena Hotel in Kabul, listen-ing to the mother of three as shebegged, “Take my life, but pleasedon’t kill my kids.”
Her pleading made no differ-ence. As frightened hotel staffmembers watched from thekitchen, the young militant shotthe children first before killingtheir mother, some of the firstcasualties inflicted by four Tali-ban attackers who rampagedthrough the luxurious hotel onThursday. The assault killed atleast nine people and struck atthe heart of the fortified exist-ence enjoyed here by Westernersand the moneyed Afghan elite.
With its high walls and heavyfortifications, the Serena was amagnet for foreign dignitariesand officials, along with well-heeled Afghans, who flocked toits restaurants, coffee shop andfull-service spa. Many interna-tional organizations also put upvisiting staff members there, con-fident in the metal detectors andmultiple checkpoints manned byguards armed with assault riflesthat were erected after a 2008 at-tack on the hotel left six dead.
Thursday’s attack shatteredthe illusions of the Serena as oneof the few remaining safe havens
for the rich or foreign in Kabul,and the fallout was swift.
The National Democratic Insti-tute decided on Friday morningto pull out staff members whowere staying at the hotel afterone of them, Luis María Duarte, aformer Paraguayan diplomat,was killed. Mr. Duarte and theother staff members were in Af-ghanistan to observe nextmonth’s presidential election,
and the organization was re-assessing its election monitoringactivities.
The other dead in Thursday’sattack included the mother andtwo of her children, along withtheir father, Sardar Ahmad, aprominent Afghan journalist. ACanadian, two Bangladeshi na-tionals and another Afghan wom-an were also killed.
The Taliban quickly claimedresponsibility for the attack, re-inforcing fears that the electionto replace President Hamid Kar-zai will be accompanied by wid-ening bloodshed. A series of at-tacks have made it apparent thatAfghan and foreign civilians are
Illusion of Safety at Afghan Haven Is Shattered
Taliban Ignore Plea
and Kill Children
in Hotel Attack
Continued on Page A7
By TANZINA VEGA
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Atone-deaf inquiry into an Asian-American’s ethnic origin. Cringe-inducing praise for how articu-late a black student is. An un-wanted conversation about a La-tino’s ability to speak Englishwithout an accent.
This is not exactly the lan-guage of traditional racism, but inan avalanche of blogs, studentdiscourse, campus theater andacademic papers, they all reflectthe murky terrain of the socialjustice word du jour — microag-gressions — used to describe thesubtle ways that racial, ethnic,gender and other stereotypes canplay out painfully in an increas-ingly diverse culture.
On a Facebook page called“Brown University Micro/Ag-
gressions” a “dark-skinned blackperson” describes feeling alienat-ed from conversations about rac-ism on campus. A digital photoproject run by a Fordham Uni-versity student about “racial mi-croaggressions” features minor-ity students holding up signs withcomments like “You’re reallypretty ... for a dark-skin girl.” The“St. Olaf Microaggressions” blogincludes a letter asking David R.Anderson, the college’s presi-dent, to address “all of the inci-dents and microaggressions thatgo unreported on a daily basis.”
What is less clear is how muchis truly aggressive and how muchis pretty micro — whether the is-sues raised are a useful way ofbringing to light often elusive
Everyday Slights Tied to Race
Add Up to Big Campus Topic
Continued on Page A14
By JENNIFER MEDINA
LAS VEGAS — The weddingwas a modest affair, held in a re-ception hall overlooking an artifi-cial lake tucked behind a subur-ban strip. But just minutes afterit ended, the bride and groomhurriedly scurried past dozens ofprotesters here who were chant-ing “Bigamist!” and “Shame onyou!”
One of the wedding guests onThursday evening glared at thedemonstrators, repeatedly hiss-ing: “Mazel tov. Mazel tov. Mazeltov.” The bride, in a lace and se-quin floor-length gown, graspedthe hand of her husband andlooked at the crowd in silence.
Meir Kin, the new husband,has been divorced for more thanseven years, under California’scivil law. But he has refused togive his previous wife the docu-
ment known as a “get,” as re-quired by Orthodox Jewish law toend a marriage. In the eyes of re-ligious authorities, the woman hemarried in 2000 is what is calledan agunah — Hebrew for chainedwife. Without the get, the woman,Lonna Kin, is forbidden underJewish law to remarry.
Jewish law prohibits men fromtaking multiple wives. But Mr.Kin, according to several rabbishere, apparently relied on a legal
loophole, which says that if a mancan get the special permission of100 rabbis to take a second wife,he is able to do so.
The case has become a power-ful symbol for what activists sayis a deepening crisis among Or-thodox Jews — hundreds of wom-en held hostage in a religiousmarriage, in some cases for yearsafter civil cases have been set-
Unwilling to Allow His Wife a Divorce, He Marries Another
Continued on Page A13
A federal judge struck down Michigan’sban on same-sex marriage, the latest ina string of court decisions that held suchlaws to be unconstitutional. PAGE A11
NATIONAL A11-14
Same-Sex Marriage Ban Falls
A 14-year-old shot the father of SauryRojas, 12, above, the police say. PAGE A15
NEW YORK A15-16, 20
Murder Charge in Bus KillingProducers delayed next week’s openingof “Heart and Light.” PAGE C1
ARTS C1-8
Rockettes Show Pushed to 2015
The government’s investigation intoGeneral Motors’ troubled recall is focus-ing on whether the carmaker told thetruth about its potential liabilities in ne-gotiations for a deal that led to a re-structured company in 2009. PAGE B1
BUSINESS DAY B1-8
Inquiry Into Bankruptcy FraudIn the age ofmega-institu-tions, the nov-elist OrhanPamuk payshomage tosmall mu-seums, includ-ing his own.Also, Law-rence Osborne on the enchanting Greekisland of Hydra. T MAGAZINE
THIS WEEKEND
A More Personal Experience
Two highly publicized acquittals may in-tensify the debate over the handling ofmilitary sexual assault cases. PAGE A3
Acquittals Add Fuel to Debate
As baby boomers retire, either by choiceor because they lose their jobs, manycouples find they must coexist in differ-ent phases of life. PAGE B1
He’s Retired; She Still Works
As Turkey’s prime minister tried toblock Twitter, its president joined thou-sands to protest — on Twitter. PAGE A6
INTERNATIONAL A4-10
Turkey’s Twitter Ban Backfires
Charles M. Blow PAGE A19
EDITORIAL, OP-ED A18-19The Detroit Symphony Orchestra ispushing free web-streaming. PAGE C1
New Methods for Its Music
STREETER LECKA/GETTY IMAGES
Kevin Canevari (3) of 14th-seeded Mercer celebrated with his teammates after their 78-71 victoryover Duke, a No. 3 seed, in the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament. Page B9.
After the Upset, a Dance
A place that took in victims of HurricaneSandy was destroyed. PAGE A16
Jersey Shore Motel Fire Kills 4
The defiance of Russia towardthe West during the Ukraine cri-sis has emboldened its allies inthe Syrian government as theybattle insurgents. Page A4.
Syria Takes a Cue
By STEVEN LEE MYERSand NEIL MacFARQUHAR
MOSCOW — American andEuropean sanctions rattled Rus-sia’s economy on Friday, withMoscow’s stock indexes openingsharply lower, rating agenciesthreatening to reduce the coun-try’s creditworthiness, and hintsof trepidation coming from Rus-sia’s tycoons as they concludedan annual conference here.
But if the aim of the sanctionsis to put economic pressure onthe wealthy allies crucial to Pres-ident Vladimir V. Putin’s contin-ued grip on power, there werefew signs they would succeed,largely because those targetedwere among the new generationsof oligarchs who owe their for-tunes and loyalties to Mr. Putin.
And even though Russia hasbecome more integrated in theglobal economy, those who werenot targeted — other billionairesand millionaires who have pros-pered in the Russia that emergedunder Mr. Putin’s rule — have notshown signs of breaking ranks,either, since the prospects ofsanctions first arose.
One of those facing sanctions,Vladimir I. Yakunin, a close ad-viser and the head of RussianRailways, said in an interview be-fore President Obama’s an-nouncement of expanded penal-ties on Thursday that Mr. Putinwas “a very difficult person”when he felt under pressure tobend to the demands of othersand would not yield to interna-tional condemnation.
“If anybody thinks he can ma-nipulate him in any way, I sup-pose that would be the last at-tempt by anyone who did that,”Mr. Yakunin said. “He will notforget that — or forgive that.”
Behind the bravado, however,lurked a distinct unease about
As SanctionsStart, Russia
Feels a Sting
Putin’s Oligarchs Still
Stand Behind Him
Continued on Page A8
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