Table of Contents

2003 NEWS of the YEAR

by The Editors

Cover Story | In a year of war, is anything else worth remembering? Like the new, high-tech bombs that suck the air out of a cave, bombshell stories from the battlefield seem to suck up all the pages of a magazine, all the power of our collective memory. So, for many, 2003 will simply be remembered as the year of the Iraq War. First came the tension of the prelude, the agonizing weeks of doomed diplomacy as hope for a peaceful solution slowly slipped away. Then came the war itself, a quick, decisive,

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/2003_news_of_the_year]

THE RUN-UP TO WAR

by The Editors

Cover Story | The rockets' red glare. Bombs bursting in air. As the clock struck midnight on Dec. 31, Americans staring into the blazing darkness overhead could be excused for wondering: Was it a party-or a portent? The year 2003 made its debut with doubts and ambiguities hanging as heavy in the air as the odor of smoking fireworks. With U.S. troops mobilizing for a massive deployment overseas, the celebrations that lit up the skies all across the country seemed to foreshadow far deadlier pyrotechnics

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/the_run_up_to_war]

THE WAR

by The Editors

Cover Story | March 20, 2003: It was 5:35 a.m. local time when the first bombs fell on Baghdad. The explosions came first, then the air-raid sirens, and last-belatedly-the rat-tat-tat of anti-aircraft fire. Despite months of warnings and a final, 48-hour ultimatum, the city's defenders were caught by surprise. On the streets of Baghdad, fear and dread were about to be replaced by shock and awe. President Bush waited only an hour to inform the American people that the war had begun at last. With Baghdad

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/the_war]

THE WAR AFTER THE WAR

by The Editors

Cover Story | "Mission Accomplished" read the banner flying from the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, the day President Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq. Like his father's pledge of "Read my lips: No new taxes," however, those were words the younger Bush would live to regret. The mission of removing Saddam Hussein from power had indeed been accomplished in an almost-unbelievable 35 days. But the greater mission-securing the country, writing a constitution, holding democratic elections,

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/the_war_after_the_war]

'I want to negotiate'

by The Editors

Cover Story | The bearded, disheveled man dragged from an eight-foot hole looked, in the words of one U.S. soldier, like a homeless man at a bus station. In the deeply lined face and hollow eyes, there was no hint of the swaggering tyrant who terrorized his own people, invaded two countries, and held the world at bay. There were none of the verbal taunts that infuriated world leaders and energized the Arab street. When the end finally came, the most-wanted man in the world could say only, "My name is

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/i_want_to_negotiate]

In this issue: "Year in Review 2003," Dec. 27, 2003

Features

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The nation

by The Editors

National |  Last flight? America's space program suffered a grim setback on Feb. 1 when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated in mid-air just moments before its…

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/the_nation]

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Politics

by The Editors

National |  The Governator The effort to recall California Gov. Gray Davis started out as almost a right-wing joke, so far-fetched and underfunded it was laughable. But…

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/politics]

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Courts

by The Editors

National |  Monument moment A federal judge ordered the removal of Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore's Ten Commandments monument from public view on Aug. 27. Other federal…

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/courts]

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Social issues

by The Editors

National |  How many victims? In April, police in San Diego, Calif., arrested Scott Peterson on suspicion of the Modesto murder of his wife, Laci, and their unborn son,

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/social_issues]

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Religion

by The Editors

National |  Broken communion By all indications, 2003 marked the beginning of the end for the Episcopal Church (ECUSA) as we've known it, and possibly for the entire…

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/religion_0]

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Sports

by The Editors

National |  Merit over mouth Even as feminist Martha Burk and Augusta National boss Hootie Johnson sparred over women's membership at the golf course used by the Masters,

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/sports_1]

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Technology

by The Editors

National |  AS The worm turns 2003 was the Year of The Worm. Malicious programs spread around the world, slowing down internet connections and messing up computers.

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/technology_0]

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International news

by The Editors

International |  Breath & death Nearly 8,500 people around the globe were infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, the first new infectious disease since…

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/international_news]

Reviews

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Television

by The Editors

Culture |  Conservative TV For all of the liberal spin in network news, as documented in Bernard Goldberg's bestseller Bias, conservatives finally started exercising…

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/television]

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Movies

by The Editors

Culture |  The year of Nemo Hollywood appears finally to be catching on to what research has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt: R-rated flicks tend to lose money, while…

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/movies]

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Books

by The Editors

Culture |  A scary book award The year's most telling event in the world of books came when the distinguished, high-brow National Book Foundation awarded the 2003 Medal…

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/books]

Voices

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Fallen giants

by Joel Belz

Journalists like Robert Bartley and Carl Henry aren't easy to replace

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/fallen_giants]

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Connecting the dots

by Andrée Seu

Mainstream journalists suffer from learning disassociation when covering abortion and gay rights

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/connecting_the_dots]

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Press year in review

by Marvin Olasky

Depressing, yes-but at least some editors acknowledge bias

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/press_year_in_review]

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Mailbag

Hero ingredients Gene Edward Veith is right on with "Victims as heroes" (Nov. 29). We have heard so much about Jessica Lynch, who really did not do anything…

[http://www.worldmag.com/2003/12/mailbag_2]

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