Four days before his death, Army Staff Sgt. Darrell Ray Griffin Jr., an infantry squad leader in Baghdad, sent an E-mail to his wife, Diana. “Spartan women of Greece used to tell their husbands, before they went into battle, to come back with their shields or laying on them, dying honorably in battle. But if they did not return with their shield, this showed that they ran away from the battle. Cowardice was not a Spartan virtue … Tell me that you love me the same by me coming back with my shield or on it.” Read the rest of this entry »

White House officials have lately been spared the lampooning montages that have become a staple of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, thanks to the Hollywood writers’ strike. But the show’s influence persists. Mike McCurry, former Clinton White House press secretary, visited a school outside Washington, D.C., and found, following a show of hands, that kids get most of their news from the satirical program. But Dan Bartlett, former Bush communications director, isn’t worried. “I went on The Daily Show with great reservation and came out unscathed,” he says. “Others haven’t.”

Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq–”Fallen Angel” is the call that no one wants to hear on the radio. It’s the Army’s code name for a downed coalition aircraft. Read the rest of this entry »