NEWSWEEK MEDIA LEAD SHEET/September 18 Issue (on newsstands Monday, September 11)

11 September 2006

whose dedicated military background -- with the medals and the wounds to show for it, is just the type of candidate the democratic party has been looking for as it heads into another election cycle in which the GOP is arguing that the Democrats are weak on defense. But Webb must contend with some serious liabilities. As with other Democratic candidates, he has yet to find a way to express his opposition to the Iraq war that does not sound as if he is either (a) advocating a policy of "cut and run," or (b) complaining and criticizing but offering no clear way out.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757418/site/newsweek/

JUSTICE: "Out From The Shadows" (p. 32). Investigative Correspondents Mark Hosenball and Michael Isikoff report that Veteran CIA officers know from sorry experience that secrets, especially big ones, rarely stay secret forever -- and often worry about getting sued. When the unseemly details do come to light, it's the agency that often takes the fall. To protect themselves, many CIA officers take out insurance policies, according to current and former intelligence officials who, like all agency employees, would not be named. For a $300 yearly premium, Wright & Co. (known around the agency as Wright Brothers) will cover legal fees for CIA employees sued in the line of duty. Last week, at CIA headquarters, agency employees darkly joked among themselves about the possible fallout to come. "A lot of people are checking their Wright Brothers insurance," says a former senior Clandestine Service official.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757507/site/newsweek/

JONATHAN ALTER: "An Alternate 9/11 History" (p. 35). Columnist Jonathan Alter writes that five years after 9/11, the world is surprisingly peaceful. President Bush's pragmatic and bipartisan leadership has kept the United States not just strong but unexpectedly popular across the globe. The president himself is poised to enjoy big GOP wins in the midterm elections, a validation of his subtle understanding of the challenges facing the country. A new survey of historians puts him in the first tier of American presidents... Five years after that awful September day, even Bush's fiercest critics have learned an important lesson: leadership counts. Imagine if we'd done the opposite of these things. This country-and the world-would be in a heap of trouble.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14753927/site/newsweek/

IRAQ: "Straight To The Heart" (p. 36). Baghdad Correspondent Michael Hastings reports that after a solid year of battling the insurgency, the 172nd Stryker Brigade has had its Iraqi tour of duty extended until after Thanksgiving -- if not later. Many of the 172nd's 4-23 infantry battalion members say the sweeps their unit is responsible for are no more than a temporary fix. Some argue that the aim is to make Iraq look good before the upcoming Nov. 7 U.S. elections -- "fighting for the House of Representatives," as Sgt. Brian Patton describes it. Also available at Newsweek.com, exclusive video from Secretary Rumsfeld's meeting with the brigade's families in Alaska, and soldiers from the 172nd send video messages home from Baghdad.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757928/site/newsweek/

FAREED ZAKARIA: "Mao & Stalin, Osama & Saddam" (p. 39). I'm glad that President Bush is using the bully pulpit to clarify the war on terror. Many of Bush's basic ideas-such as the need for reform in the Arab world-are sensible; it's their simplistic and botched execution, coupled with a mindless unilateralism, that have derailed his foreign policy, writes Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria. But in the last week the president, perhaps seeking to shore up domestic support for his policies, has been redefining the nature of the enemy. In doing so, he is making a huge conceptual mistake, one that could haunt American foreign policy for decades.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14758456/site/newsweek/

TECHNOLOGY: "Living a Virtual Life" (p. 48). Senior Editor Steven Levy reports that two years into the history of World of Warcraft -- an online game that accommodates 7 million players around the world-no one had successfully ventured into the dungeon to slay a group of computer-generated villains known as the Four Horsemen. Finally, a 40-person contingent from a U.S. guild conquered the last beast -- and its members became instant international celebrities in a massive community where dragons and Druids are as real as dirt. Warcraft is the most advanced and popular entry in a genre called Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, or MMO. "I call it the Technicolor, Americanized version of 'Lord of the Rings'," says Chris Metzen, VP of creative development for the game's maker, Blizzard Software. But for millions it is more than a game -- it's an escape, an obsession and a home.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757769/site/newsweek/

THE BOOMER FILES: "Religion" (p. 52). Senior Editor Jerry Adler and Correspondent Julie Scelfo report that in addition to everything else the baby boomers were known for-political activism, sexual freedom, Yuppie careerism and a taste for expensive imported cheese-they have also distinguished themselves as what the sociologist Wade Clark Roof calls, in the title of his 1993 book, "A Generation of Seekers." To be sure, followers of the maharishi, or the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, or Hare Krishnas, Scientologists or the people who called themselves Jesus Freaks were a minority among the boomers. "But they were the trendsetters," says Dean Hoge, a sociologist at Catholic University of America. "They were the cultural innovators, and they introduced new things to our culture which are still around."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14754222/site/newsweek/

BOOKS: "This Land Is Your Land" (p. 60). In an exclusive interview, Senior Editor Jeff Giles speaks to best-selling author Charles Frazier about the hype surrounding the eight million paid for his new novel, "Thirteen Moons." "All that stuff about money -- I sort of understand where it comes from. Do I like it? No, I don't, but it comes with the territory," says Frazier. "I saw something that said I was 'the symbol of greed in the publishing industry.' I'm not the one who decided what the offers were gonna be on the book. And it's not like I went into this just looking to take the highest offer," Frazier tells Newsweek. Several offers were in the same vicinity, Frazier says, but the strength of Random House's marketing team was a factor.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757141/site/newsweek/

THE TIP SHEET: "Family Travel" (p. 65). Tip Sheet's Raina Kelley looks at how to go camping with the whole family without too many hassles and the latest in luxury camping gear.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3037969/site/newsweek/

Source: prnewswire

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