The Back Story

“The erosion of public order is almost enough to make some Afghans nostalgic.”

Looting and lawlessness under warlord rule, from The Christian Science Monitor.

“Clever, creative thinking can sometimes achieve unimaginable ends.”

How to stop terrorism, family style.

“Is Mr. Ashcroft pulling in, say, any of America’s own Talibans, like the Army of God, with his dragnet?”

The dirtiest secret of the Justice Department might be incompetence.

“There are three houses in the fort. We control two and the enemy has one.”

Battling the last remnant of non-Afghan Taliban resistance at Qala-i-Jhangi.

“God will supernaturally reveal himself to Muslims on that day.”

The Southern Baptists’ prayers for Ramadan.

“Baggy, sagging a little in the elastic, but undeniably a collectors’ item.”

Richard Lloyd-Parry nabs Osama bin Laden’s underpants.

“I see firemen, policemen, recovering alcoholics, and people who are — uh, here’s a word I don’t use very often — gay.”

At the wake of WTC victim Father Mychal Judge.

“I would say it is very depressing, and if I could find any stronger word than that, I would say it.”

The de-wiring of Somalia.

“Given the conflict in Afghanistan, the dangers have never been so near.”

The threat of nuclear war on the Indian subcontinent, in Scientific American.

“One 41-page document entitled ‘Assorted Nasties’ is a ‘how to’ guide to chemical weapons.”

What al Qaeda left behind.

Assorted Nasties and other books by David Harber: