PERISCOPE

U.S. Military

Clearer Rules for Gitmo

Since the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal broke, former Vietnam POW Sen. John McCain has grown increasingly angry over the Pentagon's failure to state clearly what its rules of interrogation are, especially at Guantanamo Bay. McCain got tough recently with Army Gen. Bentz Craddock, the head of U.S. Southern Command (under which Gitmo falls), and said U.S. policy on the treatment of prisoners was still a "morass."

Now McCain and his fellow Senate Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, with the help of Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Warner, are drafting a bill that will take the matter out of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's hands and set clear rules for wartime detention, interrogation and prosecution. McCain is discussing legal language that would make a revised Army Field Manual 34-52--the main guide for interrogations before Rumsfeld authorized new approaches--the rulebook. Such an approach would conform with anti-torture laws and treaties. Graham wants to clarify rules for Gitmo tribunals, says spokesman Kevin Bishop. No one at Gitmo has yet been charged, and Graham "wants to see people prosecuted," says Bishop.

McCain and Graham are trying to draft the bill quietly. They are wary of alienating the Bush administration--and their party--according to Capitol Hill sources who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject. At a recent Senate hearing--held to address the Pentagon's latest report on alleged prisoner abuses--other Republicans publicly defended the Pentagon. Pentagon officials, meanwhile, are trying to outflank McCain's and Graham's efforts. Army Field Manual 34-52 is already "being revised," said Defense Department spokesman Flex Plexico.

But the scandal still festers. Craddock repudiated the conclusion of Southcom's report when he declined to follow the recommendation of its main author, Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall Schmidt, and admonish former Gitmo commander Geoffrey Miller. And Schmidt himself defended methods used in late 2002 against Qaeda suspect Mohammad al Qatani that included forcing him to wear lingerie and to perform "dog tricks" on a leash. Such approaches, Schmidt said, were "authorized" under a Field Manual technique known as "pride and ego down." The new report, says Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, a former Army officer, is just "another justification for, I think, terrible mistakes."

Taiwan: The Secret of Ma's Success

With Ma Ying-Jeou's victory in the July 16 party vote for the Kuomintang chairmanship, the stage is set for him to make a run at Taiwan's presidency in 2008. That should please Beijing, since Ma opposed formal independence for the island during his campaign. The KMT favors closer ties with China, and the telegenic Ma's clean reputation and popularity--especially among women and young voters--gives the party its best hope for snatching back power from the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, which took over in 2000.

It's far too early for Beijing to break out the champagne, however. Ma's plan to clean up the KMT's corrupt image--necessary if he's to win in 2008--will put him at loggerheads with some of the party's most entrenched interests. Such a battle could leave the KMT and its allied parties deeply fractured, and easy pickings for the more united DPP. And even if the party survives its internal fight, analysts say the KMT will have to work to distance itself from China and play to Taiwan-first pride in order to win the presidency. If Ma continues to take China-friendly positions, worries KMT member and National Taiwan University political-science professor Lee Si-kuen, "the KMT is going to lose the chance to rule Taiwan forever." Ironic indeed. The very stance that gave Ma his KMT victory could hand his party a defeat.

MASS TRANSIT Getting Defensive? In the wake of the bombings of London's subway and bus system, U.S. Homeland Security officials declared that vigilance on public transportation would be increased. But in private, U.S. officials admit there's not much their government or others can do to improve the security of transit systems. During 2004's U.S. political conventions--held near rail hubs--federal and local police agencies stepped up uniformed and undercover patrols of public transit. The Feds also tested out high-tech gizmos meant to spot traces of explosives from a distance and new profiling techniques that are supposed to help officers spot people who are acting suspicious.

But transit systems have large numbers of access points that, unlike airports, make it difficult to screen people who go in and out. Two senior U.S. counter-terrorism officials, who declined to be named because of security sensitivities, also say existing technology is not overly effective at screening crowds for hidden hazards. Officials fear that investing large amounts of taxpayer cash in unproven gadgets might be a poor use of resources. The most important safeguard against transit attacks, say officials, is increased passenger vigilance. But Homeland Security officials say they are working to address the worries of riders. "From low tech to high tech, there are steps that can and are being taken to increase security for transit passengers," said Mark Hatfield Jr., a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration.

Wealth: Mideast Moolah

Call it the blessing of oil. In a recent study Merrill Lynch and Capgemini report that the number of Middle Eastern households worth more than $1 million has grown by 9.5 percent since last year. The authors also cut their forecasts for the growth rate in total wealth held by households in Asia, North America and Europe but tripled their forecast for the Middle East. They now expect Middle Eastern family-held fortunes to rise by 9.1 percent over the next four years, to a total of $1.5 trillion.

The main reason for the wealth boom is simple, the authors say: rising oil prices. But unlike the 1980s and 1990s, when oil shocks (and windfalls) were temporary, says Capgemini's Louise Brakenhielm, this one could have legs, due to rising demand, limited production capacity and highly volatile markets. (The International Energy Agency also predicts a new era of more expensive oil). All told, says Brakenhielm, the new realities of oil should pump at least an additional half-trillion dollars into the hands of Middle Eastern elites by the end of the decade.

LUXURY Special Issues

The top end of the market has long set the tone in fashion, travel and technology. And while luxury brands know their future lies with the masses from the Middle Kingdom to the American Midwest, their cachet still depends on satisfying their most well-heeled customers. In this double issue we explore the many ways they're trying to do so, from building ever-more-exclusive getaways to rediscovering the value of needle and thread, wielded by a skilled hand. And starting from our next issue, we will follow these trends in a revamped TIP SHEET section. We hope you enjoy the new offerings.

BUSINESS

Good News: You're Fired

John Mack's return to Morgan Stanley was supposed to be a new beginning. He hoped to put an end to the turmoil under his predecessor, Phil Purcell, and gave his staffers a pep talk on his first day, encouraging them to stop looking at Morgan headlines in the papers.

Easier said than done. Morgan Stanley's board has triggered fresh controversy by paying $113 million to Purcell (with $44 million of that in cash) and $32 million to one of his chief lieutenants, 41-year-old co-president Steve Crawford, on their way out. (Mack added to the firestorm by negotiating a package that guaranteed him $25 million a year, but he quickly gave that up in exchange for compensation tied more closely to his performance.) Purcell and Crawford join the growing ranks of executives who've scored big paydays even as they've been shown the door.

Many big Morgan shareholders--who've watched the firm's stock fall nearly 50 percent in recent years--are outraged, particularly about the pay for Crawford, who was never a star banker or big moneymaker at the firm. "Someone could argue that Purcell's $44 million was necessary to get him to leave," says Rich Ferlauto of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents public pension funds that hold Morgan Stanley stock. "But Crawford's money was just so out of bounds." Morgan has been flooded with complaints from large investors about the deals, NEWSWEEK has learned, and the firm is bracing for possible shareholder lawsuits demanding the money be returned. Eight former Morgan execs who agitated as a group for Purcell's ouster are also weighing a proxy fight to remove the Morgan board, NEWSWEEK has learned. A Morgan spokesman declined to comment.

DOCUMENTARIES

Broadcast Optimism

After decades of turmoil, you'd be forgiven any skepticism about prospects for peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict. But John Marks, the American creator of a new television documentary about the violence, is convinced the pessimism is counterproductive. "I just find a huge amount of cynicism in the Middle East," he says. To diffuse it, he produced the four-part mini-series "Shape of the Future," which began airing on Israeli, Palestinian and Abu Dhabi TV on July 2. The films feature interviews with moderates on both sides of the security barrier. The basic message: on the traditional obstacles to a peace agreement, the two sides are more in tune than each might think. "[Both] realize it's not possible to win everything," says Marks.

What's most innovative about the films, however, is what they do not show: the familiar scenes of graphic violence. "We made a film without bloodshed," says Marks. "We didn't have to show people with their legs blown off." Of course, the series--containing episodes focusing on Jerusalem, settlements and Palestinian refugees--does rehash some familiar ground, and the overall tone is predictably saccharine. But the filmmaker's good intentions are admirable in a region that could benefit from calm heads and fresh eyes.

BOOKS

Tibetan Truths

In 1958, at the age of 26, Shu Wen went to Tibet "for love"--it was that simple. "My husband was a doctor in the People's Liberation Army. His unit was sent to Tibet. Two months later... he had been lost in action." That is how Shu, a Chinese dermatologist, began to recount the tale of her 36-year odyssey through northern Tibet to Beijing-born journalist Xinran, in 1994. Now Xinran has transformed that story into "Sky Burial," a haunting new book set in a mysterious, unimaginably medieval country. Shu's Tibet is no Shangri-La. It is a land of vast, empty spaces, harsh, cold winds, silence and isolation, and life without medicine or basic amenities. This is not the romanticized country we've imagined through Hollywood films or the spiritual sophistication of the Dalai Lama. Instead, one witnesses the raw life of the nomads who rescued Shu from near death. She lived and traveled with them, loved them and became one of them, before finally unraveling the enigma of her husband's tragic but heroic death along with the mysteries of an ancient ritual--the Tibetan "sky burial."

Then, Shu returned "home" alone, weary, disillusioned and Tibetanized; with China changed beyond recognition during the post-Mao years that she had missed, she found herself more isolated in her own country than in distant Tibet. Xinran's spare prose echoes the austerity of the landscape and the silence of its people, as she reveals Shu's enduring love and a spirituality born of maturity and experience.

Trollz: Red Hairing

Ruby is 14, with a star-shaped gem on her belly. She listens to hip-hop, carries a yellow cell phone and loves sushi. In her online journal, she puts this on her to-do list: "Practice looking flirty in the mirror." We're talking, of course, about a troll. This fall, the short, ugly dolls that collectors have been after since the 1960s are about to be reborn. DIC Entertainment is bringing them back as skinny, purse-carrying teenage girls with crushes on boy trolls (they wear jeans and sneakers and don't look like the old trolls, either). Andy Heyward, CEO of DIC, says the new line of Trollz will be arriving "like the Normandy invasion." In addition to their doll incarnation, the characters will appear in direct-to-video movies, videogames and books and as part of a fast-food promotion. Online, tween fans can create their own trolls and mix potions that cause (and cure) zits. The Trollz are different from other vintage brands--like the Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake--in that a new story line has been invented to match their back-to-school wardrobes. The Cliffs Notes version: five girls named after gems (the others are Topaz, Amethyst, Onyx and Sapphire) live in the town of Trollzopolis and must stop the evil gremlin Simon--a "rebel without a cause or a sense of style"--from taking over. How do you know he's the villain? Duh. He's short and ugly.

Q&A: Willie Nelson

A new cd ("Countryman"), new movie ("The Dukes of Hazzard"), on the road again (with Dylan)--won't Willie Nelson, 73, ever slow down? He spoke with NEWSWEEK's Jac Chebatoris:

There's a pot leaf on the cover of the new CD, and you say in the liner notes you may have been too blunted to remember to thank everyone. Can we guess why this record took 10 years to happen?

Let your imagination run with that one.

Why the new reggae-country blend?

It just works nice--and you can't keep from moving. Instead of crying in your beer, you're dancing in your beer.

You've been married four times. Were your wives always on your mind when you were on the road?

Yeah, I've really discovered that there's no such thing as an "ex-wife"--there's only "additional wives." It works better if you look at it that way.

What's this project you're promoting called BioWillie?

It has to do with biodiesel-- vegetable oils. The first diesel engine was designed to run on peanut oil. If we took the billions we're spending for war and backed our farmers to grow fuel, backed wind machines, solar power, we could bring our troops home and be more secure.

Do you wish you could just come home, quit touring and chill out?

Well, every time I think I'm tired of it, I go home for a while and then I get really tired.