Meet the New Boss: Dathar Khashab Didn’t Miss a Step When His New Managers Showed Up Wearing U.S.-Issue Fatigues

The New York Times Magazine
June 8, 2003

There are two types of people who do well in dictatorships: those who make themselves politically indispensable, doing whatever bit of wickedness the dictatorship requires, and those who make themselves economically indispensable, keeping ...  (Read more)

Back-Room Theocrat: Moqtadah al-Sadr Has to Outsmart His Rivals and Outmaneuver the Americans

The New York Times Magazine
May 11, 2003

Najaf is one of the great spiritual centers of the world’s 120 million Shiites because it is home to the tomb of Imam Ali, founder of the Shiite faith and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad. But the true heart of Najaf today, ...  (Read more)

“Good Kills”: The Marines of the Third Battalion Fought the Old-Fashioned Way. Their Victims Weren’t All Soldiers.

The New York Times Magazine
April 20, 2003

As the war in Iraq is debated and turned into history, the emphasis will be on the role of technology–precision bombing, cruise missiles, decapitation strikes. That was what was new. But there was another side to the war, and ...  (Read more)