05 November 2007
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From the Editor…
Welcome to the New Statesman website. Whether you are a new reader or an existing one - online or via the magazine - I hope you'll enjoy the great writing, fresh ideas and provocative debate that make the New Statesman Britain's award-winning current affairs weekly
Cover story
Iraq uncovered
Photographer Ashley Gilbertson arrived in Iraq on the eve of the US invasion in March 2003. In his new book, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, he records the raw reality of a country reduced to chaos by war. Also, American writer Dahr Jamail delivers an eyewitness account of the battle for Fallujah, and Brian Cathcart reports on the war the British media has forgotten
Features
What did the Saudis know about 7/7?
King Abdullah says Britain's security services ignored Saudi warnings, but what exactly did those warnings disclose?
Tactical Briefing
Fear-mongers, scaredy-cats, bed-wetters and Jack Straw
Yesterday's news
The British press has lost interest in Iraq. This is not a media conspiracy, but reflects the public's lack of appetite for the dismal truth
What I saw in Fallujah
Dahr Jamail set out to report the truth about the US invasion of Iraq and its terrible impact on daily life. Determined to remain independent of the army, he embedded himself instead with the Iraqi people
Regulars
New Statesman Leader
Change the law to make early abortion easier
Women should be given the flexibility to make the best decisions they can in often impossibly difficult circumstances
Young Muslims hit the web for marriage
Online dating sure beats marrying your cousin
Commons Confidential
The mysterious case of the four-digit hack-tracker
Surveillance concerns in the press gallery and fears for the welfare of the hyperactive Michael Gove
Under their skins...No 4002
Set by Patrick O'Byrne According to the Observer, Tory traditionalists would "mug a hoodie", adore Lady T and don't know what an iPod is. We asked you to describe the trads in other parties, professions or groups
Culture
Hot wheels
The art of mammy-lorry painting offers keen insights into the politics of ordinary Africans
The colour of music
The dissonance and abstraction of 20th-century composers influenced a generation of visual artists
Theatre
On the other end of the phone
This quirky play set in a call centre captures the grind of a dead-end job Five Tanks Hackney Empire, London E8
Film
An icon for an icon
McDowell's homage to his mentor says just as much about its impish narrator Never Apologise: a Personal Visit With Lindsay Anderson (15) dir: Mike Kaplan
Television
Wrestling with terrorists
This riveting drama is courageous but dubious plotting muddies the water Britz Channel 4
Radio
A guilty, nostalgic treat
Frederic Raphael's series finds itself in much reduced circumstances Fame and Fortune Radio 4
Books
The battle at Islam's heart
In November 1979, armed militants took over Mecca's Sacred Mosque. Their actions still reverberate throughout the Muslim world.
On the world stage
State of the Nation: British Theatre Since 1945 Michael Billington Faber & Faber, 416pp, £25
Stuck in reverse gear
The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy Glenn Kessler St Martin's Press, 288pp, £17.99
Vive le punk!
Andrew Hussey discovers the rebellious soul of the French literary establishment
Observations
Giving nothing away
This government has routinely flouted its own freedom of information legislation
Dazed and confused
Social workers are underestimating the damage caused by habitual cannabis use, new research suggests
Labour's lost inspiration
The former home of craftsman William Morris could soon be available for weddings
