Why Iraq Has No Army
An orderly exit from Iraq depends on the development of a viable Iraqi security force, but the Iraqis aren't even close. The Bush administration doesn't take the problem seriously—and it never has
December 2005
In This Issue
James Fallows, "Why Iraq Has No Army"; Paul Bloom, "Is God an Accident?"; Christopher Hitchens, "Hurricane Lolita"; Mark Bowden on the Iran hostage crisis, Hanna Rosin on Jesus in Hollywood; Corby Kummer on Long Island Merlot; Nir Rosen on leaving Iraq; and much more.
Features
Missing Bellow
A family story
Captivity Pageant
December 1979: Christmas comes for the Great Satan
Kazakhstan’s Tolerated Dictator
Kazakhstan's Soviet-schooled dictator—part economic modernizer, part Muslim progressive, part vainglorious despot—has enough oil to make himself into anything he wants
Is God an Accident?
Human beings come into the world with a predisposition to believe in supernatural phenomena—and this predisposition is a by-product of cognitive functioning gone awry
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Our Faith-Based Future
The White House remains unperturbed by the growing prospect of economic calamity
If America Left Iraq
The case for cutting and running
Challenge Match
How the former world chess champion Garry Kasparov hopes to unseat President Vladimir Putin
The Covert Option
Can sabotage and assassination stop Iran from going nuclear?
Primary Sources
Will Saudi Arabia's Shiites remain docile?; Europe's dim view (quelle surprise!) of the United States; new doctors as menaces; the fairer, cleaner sex
Books
Passion in Fashion
Sample: Cuttings From Contemporary Fashion, edited by Bronwyn Cosgrave; Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion, edited by Valerie Steele; Mao, by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday; New Art City, by Jed Perl
Books of the Year
Selected by The Atlantic's literary editor, Benjamin Schwarz
Sit and Spin
How slot machines give gamblers the business
Cuba Libre
Castro's least favorite books
Hurricane Lolita
Fifty years ago Vladimir Nabokov published his most notorious novel. Its ravishing effects can still be felt
New Fiction
Accidents, by Yael Hedaya
A Close Read
The Truth of the Matter, by Robb Forman Dew
Serf Advisory
A practical guide for hired help, from the eighteenth century to ours
Pursuits
Back to the Future
Which way is the new Las Vegas Monorail heading?
Can Jesus Save Hollywood?
From The Passion of the Christ to The Chronicles of Narnia, the Christian audience is making spirits rise
Merlot for Snobs
A Long Island winery is challenging Merlot's deservedly dismal reputation
The Least Worst Man
Sidney Luft (1915-2005)
Who's Who
A selective index to this month's issue
Also in this issue
Calendar
What to watch for in the weeks ahead
Poetry
Small House Torn Down to Build a Larger
[with audio]
Amber
[with audio]
