(posted by Katherine Long)
How do you turn a society that was run through fear, torture and intimidation into something approaching a democracy? Newsweek's cover story, The Saddam Files, examines the atrocities and then asks some tough questions about what it's going to take to undo decades of rule where torture was routine and corruption was rampant.
"America wants to bring liberty and democracy to Iraq. But first the Iraqis will have to come to terms with the legacy of fear Saddam created, and regain the humanity that was frightened and beaten out of them by three decades of grotesque misrule. No wonder Iraqi looters torched and sacked the National Library and stole their nation’s antiquities from the National Museum. They had lived all or most of their lives in a world where neighbors informed on each other for cash; where torturers multiplied their salaries each time they extracted a confession; where police made only $4 a month for catching crooks but could earn lavish bonuses by imprisoning people for their thoughts and words."
Did weapons story go too far?
Judith Miller's front-page scoop in the New York Times earlier this week was the first story to suggest that Iraq spirited banned weapons of mass destruction out of the country days before the US attacked. But the unusual deal Miller struck with the military unit she covers raises questions about whether she went too far to get the story, says Slate's Jack Schafer.
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