New Republic, Aug. 30
A piece says that the support of Tommy Franks could help George W. Bush because the retired general “conjures up images of celebrations of Afghan children in the streets of Kabul and the fall of the statue of Saddam Hussein.” But Franks’ tenure as head of Centcom wasn’t all sweetness and light. His single-minded focus on conventional warfare and ” ‘decisive’ combat operations” helped contribute to the administration’s lack of preparedness to fight against insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq.… The cover story argues that media critic Michael Wolff can’t write about government and politics in the same engaging, entertaining, withering way he writes about the media. That’s because his self-obsessed, social-climbing ways fit right in with the self-obsessed, social-climbing ways of the media world, but “war doesn’t lend itself to Wolff’s brand of frothy, isn’t-it-all-so-amusing commentary.”—J.L.
Economist, Aug. 21 The cover package tackles the paradox of China’s remarkable growth in the last 25 years: Although Deng Xiaoping’s embrace of capitalism has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, the state can no longer provide the basic services it once did. The magazine specifically assesses health care and pollution control and takes sensible positions on both issues. Privatization will not solve the country’s medical care crisis, the magazine argues, nor will wind farms solve its environmental problems. China must begin with more modest goals. Although the magazine compares China to India several times, it does not emphasize enough how democracy has helped ensure more sensible growth in the subcontinent.… Another article examines the controversy surrounding the “Allais effect.” Fifty years ago, French economist Maurice Allais noted that a pendulum seemed to swing faster during a solar eclipse. Now a Dutch researcher has confirmed the finding, potentially exposing a flaw in the general theory of relativity.
New York Times Magazine, Aug. 22 The cover story asks how to make more poor men—specifically, poor black men—good husbands and fathers. Rising above a jumble of depressing statistics (such as the fact that 68 percent of black children are born to single parents), the piece creates a compelling narrative by combining a thoughtful discussion of government policy with a moving story of one father’s struggles. Yet in chronicling the father’s efforts, the article—adapted from a forthcoming book —crams too many characters into a small frame.… Slate’s Clive Thompson examines how the military uses cheap video-game technology to create combat simulations. The story explains how soldiers and game designers work together to create realistic training environments for new recruits, but readers will be left wanting more information about the military’s use of video games to enlist more new recruits in the first place. The piece hints at this use of the technology but does not explore the idea fully.
The New Yorker, Aug. 23 The magazine reports on Errol Morris’ new project: electing John Kerry. Morris, the filmmaker whose most recent film was The Fog of War, is producing ads that feature real people explaining why they have abandoned George Bush. The ads are very similar to a campaign Morris filmed for Apple, which featured real people explaining why they abandoned Windows. The article’s details about Morris are interesting, but its focus on MoveOn (which is sponsoring the ads), feels misplaced. Other magazines have already offered exhaustive accounts of the group.… A short item assesses the new Committee on the Present Danger. Unlike the original committee in 1950 (or its successor in 1976), the latest iteration of the group is concerned with terrorism, not communism. The article points out that as the nation plans for a new phase in the war on terror, no one is calling for the same national sacrifices the committee once called for in fighting the Soviets.
Time and Newsweek, Aug. 23 The plot unravels: Time reports on a March 2004 terrorist meeting in the Pakistani border province of Waziristan. (See the July 26 New Yorker for an excellent profile of the lawless region.) Some U.S. officials believe that the gathering was a crucial planning session for the next major terrorist attack, just as the Kuala Lumpur summit in 2000 laid the groundwork for 9/11. Although several of the terrorists in attendance have been captured, the most threatening—a Guyanese citizen named Adnan el-Shukrijumah—remains at large. El-Shukrijumah was raised in Florida and has passports from several countries. U.S. counterterrorism operatives fear he may be the next Mohammed Atta.… Newsweek discovers that the computer files that led U.S. officials to warn of a terrorist attack in the United States also had evidence of an impending attack in Great Britain. British authorities have moved quickly to arrest potential terrorists.
Showdown in Iraq: Time’s article on the siege of Najaf explains how Muqtada Sadr became the leader of the Iraqi resistance. His father and uncle were leading Shiite ayatollahs, but the young Sadr’s rise to prominence came only after U.S. officials excluded him from the Iraqi Governing Council. Forced outside the political process, Sadr began to denounce it. An accompanying interview with interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi reveals what a mistake marginalizing Sadr was. Allawi all but begs Sadr to rejoin politics and stand for office. …Newsweek’s article on the fighting in Najaf focuses on Allawi’s role. The piece largely follows the is-he-tough-enough storyline that others have already explored. Newsweek’s Fareed Zakaria weighs in on the growing chaos in Iraq as it relates to the U.S. presidential election. Zakaria argues that Kerry’s position on the war, “derided as ‘nuance ’ ” by his opponents, is the type of strategy valued in the business world.
