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Focuses on the state of Saudi Arabia as of September 2003. Efforts of the government to track down members of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda; Concerns over the fact that many of the September 11 terrorists were Saudi residents; Military and police raids conducted in the region to arrest Al Qaeda suspects; Terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia in May 2003; How the U.S. supports the Saudi's efforts to control terrorist funds; Efforts to end the teaching of intolerance. INSET: The Bush-Saudi Axis.

Examines the implications of a car bomb explosion outside a shrine in Najaf, Iraq, which killed Shiite cleric Ayatullah Mohammed Bakir al-Hakim. How this act of violence demonstrates the extraordinary complexity of the challenges facing U.S. troops in Iraq; Details of the blast; Number of dead and injured; Rescue work; Role of U.S. soldiers; Suspects, including al-Qaeda; Reactions of the U.S. George W. Bush administration; The power struggle within the Shiite leadership; Role of Muqtada al-Sadr, head of the radical Shiite organization, the Sadr Group; Denial of al-Sadr of any involvement in the attack; Intensity of the struggle for Shiite supremacy.

Discusses how weapons of mass destruction have yet to be found in Iraq. War against Iraq that was based on intelligence about banned arms; Argument of U.S. President George W. Bush in favor of a preemptive strike against Saddam Hussein; Experts who believe that weapons will not be found; U.S. officials who argue that weapons will eventually be found; Critics of British Prime Minister Tony Blair who feel that he overstated the case for war; Mistrust of the Iraqi intelligence; Roles of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon deputy Paul Wolfowitz; Possibility that the Defense Department overinterpreted threats posed by Iraq's stockpiles; Evaluation of the process of interpreting intelligence.

Looks at reasons why the war on terrorism will never end. Terror attacks which occurred in May 2003 in Saudia Arabia and Morocco; Possible connection to the terrorist organization al-Qaeda; Questions regarding the location of Osama Bin Laden; Capability of al-Qaeda to organize and carry out terrorist attacks; Concerns over where the next attacks could occur.

Focuses on the immediate future in a post-war Iraq. Discussion of the 13-point platform produced from a meeting of leaders of the different factions and groups living in Iraq; View of the author that all the ends for which the war launched must be achieved; Discussion of the need to find Saddam Hussein; How the Iraqi fearful of Hussein need to know that he is dead or captured; Impact of not finding weapons of mass destruction; View that the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush is desperate to find weapons of mass destruction; Cash reward offered for information leading the discovery of weapons; Discussion of Jay Garner, the man in charge of restoring order to Iraq with respect to democratic principles.

Focuses on the message U.S. President George W. Bush is trying to convey with respect to the war in Iraq while the American public and press question the progress made and military preparedness. Discussion of the administration's new message about resolve; View of the progress made by coalition forces as being stalled by guerrilla attacks and sand storms; Discussion of the expectations of the administration when entering the war; Recount of press conference.

Discusses how events and personalities brought the United States to war in Iraq and the implications of the war with respect to U.S. relations in the Middle East. Thoughts on the United Nations relevance in the world; Discussion of anti-Americanism in the Middle East and the rest of the world; How the war with Iraq is different than all other wars in which the United States have engaged; Discussion of the roles of former President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.

Focuses on the renewed efforts to capture Osama bin Laden after the arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. How bin Laden escaped the siege at Tora Bora, Afghanistan; Discussion of the legend that bin Laden has created among people in Arab countries; Suggestion that the arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has created some leads as to the whereabouts of bin Laden. INSETS: Tracking Down Terror;Beyond bin Laden: Other al-Qaeda Bigwigs Still at Large.

Discusses precautions and preparations to take in the event of a terrorist attack on the United States. Dirty bombs, Chemical, and biological attacks which are expected to occur; Locations which may be unsafe; Precautions which should be taken; Water and food supplies that should be stored; Subway systems which are vulnerable. INSETS: WHAT TO LOOK FOR--AND WHAT TO DO;…AND ARE WE REALLY ANY SAFER THAN BEFORE?;Tale of the Tape;How to Talk to Your Kids

Discusses the rationale for engaging in war with Iraq. View that U.S. President George W. Bush is passionate about getting Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein out of power; How government officials were analyzing satellite photography searching for evidence of Iraqi weapons production; Discussion of Secretary of State Colin Powell's address to the United Nations and the evidence he will present as proof of Iraq's non-compliance with United Nations policy; Evidence to be presented by Powell including Hussein's link to al-Qeada and Iraq's continued biological weapons buildup.

This article focuses on the arrest of seven men who were then indicted on conspiracy charges for plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales considered the men a real threat to wage a full ground war against the U.S., but FBI deputy director John Pistole said that the men, reeking of ineptitude, were more aspirational than operational. With these and many other arrests, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush seems less interested in gauging the ability of domestic terrorists, and rooting out any who may have the intent but not the ability.

The article focuses on terrorist Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, who has released a new videotape. Based on interviews with insurgents who have associated with al-Zarqawi, a picture is emerging of a killer trying to recast his image as a quasi-religious leader. Al-Zarqawi wants to be perceived as a spiritual Muslim whose actions are driven by a desire to save Islam from attacks. Those who have seen al-Zarqawi say he is attempting to imitate the lifestyle of the Prophet. Yet al-Zarqawi has not lost his enthusiasm for murder or his determination to stir up civil war in Iraq. INSET: ROAD TO PERDITION.

This article profiles Iyad Allawi. In a country where voters don't know the names, much less the faces, of the candidates, the campaign poster for List 285 shows just a pair of hard, piercing eyes. Allawi is betting that Iraqis voting blind would get the message in his gaze: this is one tough guy. Allawi's tenure has been a season of bitter discontent. Every election is in some sense a referendum on the incumbent. In this case, the man in the hot seat for the past seven months has presided over a steady worsening of just about everything in Iraq. Many Iraqis buy his slogan, "A powerful government leads to a safe state." Despite the failings of his Cabinet to deliver basic services, Allawi could survive on image alone. But it's just as likely that Allawi will lose. And if he does, his fall will be a poignant coda to a year in which mainstream Iraqi opinion turned against the U.S. and those viewed as its clients. So when Iraqis go to their polling places next week, will they vote their admiration for Allawi's tough image or their dismay with his weak performance? Will they want his strong American backing or reject him as a U.S. puppet? "He's smart, he's a great infighter, he has money, and he's got the U.S.," says an important secular leader. "It probably won't be enough." INSET: IRAQ'S FUTURE LEADERS?.

Discusses how the Senate confirmation hearing of Attorney General-designate Alberto Gonzales reopened questions about prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and elsewhere. How Gonzales played a large role in orchestrating a change in U.S. policy on the definition of torture; Reason why the policy was changed, justified by the nature of terrorist prisoners; Analysis of what went wrong in Abu Ghraib, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay, where the deaths of several inmates are being investigated.

The article focuses on Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein. Everyone outside Iraq and just about everyone inside believed that he harbored a secret stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. So imagine the shock his generals received in late 2002 when U.S. forces were massing on the country's borders for an imminent invasion, and Saddam suddenly informed them that Iraq had no biological or chemical or nuclear weapons at all. Longtime aide Tariq Aziz told U.S. interrogators that military morale plummeted the moment senior officers learned Iraq would have to fight the U.S. without those weapons. The Saddam who emerges from the pages of a new, comprehensive CIA report on Iraq's alleged arsenal will be remembered for the colossal misjudgments that cost him his rule. The exhaustive detail compiled by the report's author, Charles Duelfer, chief U.N. weapons inspector in the 1990s and the Bush Administration's top hunter since January, richly fills in the previous portrait of a paranoid and brutal dictator who believed that weapons of mass destruction (WMD) were the prime tools with which to advance his extravagant ambitions. Drawn from lengthy interrogations of the core Iraqi leadership and Saddam during their months in U.S. custody, the Duelfer report sheds fresh light on the dictator's inner motivations and artful deceptions. The vast array of evidence uncovered to date shows that when the U.S. invaded in March 2003, Saddam had not been armed with WMD for a decade and that his ability to make new ones had been in a state of continual degradation. Far more worried about Iran, Saddam did not consider the U.S. a "natural adversary" and throughout the '90s, he had his officials make overtures for a dialogue with the U.S. He said he was disappointed that Washington never gave him a chance.

Discusses the methods used by U.S. interrogators to get information from religious extremists and insurgents. Consideration of the abuse of prisoners by U.S. military officers at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq; Rules associated with the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; Efforts of U.S. intelligence to develop methods of electroshock and the use of LSD that would encourage prisoners to tell the truth; How the international laws of the Geneva Convention prohibit torture as a form of interrogation; Use of tactics such as sleep and sensory deprivation in order to promote stress in detainees; Practices used at Guantánamo Bay.

Reports on the role of Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, known as the "father of the Islamic bomb", on nuclear proliferation to North Korea, Iran, and Libya. Role in the development of Pakistan's atomic bomb program; Debate over wether or not Khan acted alone or on behalf of Pakistan; Disclosure of Libya's nuclear program; Khan's role as a public hero in Pakistan.

Focuses on the attention given to Syria by the United States. Allegations made by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush against Syria including the harboring of Iraqi leaders and sponsorship of terrorism; How the U.S. Congress introduced a bill that would cut ties to Syria; Goals of the U.S. rhetoric towards Syria; Impact of U.S. allegations throughout the Middle East with respect to anti-Americanism. INSET: THE CASE AGAINST SYRIA.

Raises questions regarding actions Iraqi President Saddam Hussein may take if the United States does declare war against him. Possibility of Hussein retaliating; How the U.S. needs help in finding any stores of biological and chemical weapons Hussein may have hidden in Iraq; Amount of damage Hussein's weapons could do; Concerns that a war with Iraq may incite other terrorists to take action against the U.S.; Whether or not the U.S. is prepared for a biological or chemical attack.