VANITY FAIR

No. 531

November 2004

SPECIAL REPORT

326 THE PATH TO 9/11 The 9/11 commission sidestepped a vital question: Could better intelligence cooperation have prevented the attacks? Debriefing key C.I.A., F.B.I., White House, and European sources, Ned Zeman, David Wise, David Rose, and Bryan Burrough reconstruct the lost opportunities, the ongoing tug-of-war between the agencies, the Clinton White House's reluctance to go after bin Laden, and the Bush administration's failure to treat the threat seriously. Plus, David Wise investigates what Dick Cheney was doing while the president was in a Florida second-grade classroom on September 11.

FEATURES

320 THE MAVERICK KING It's a long road from the trailer park to 21 Jump Street to 21st-century stardom, and Johnny Depp has taken every unexpected turn. In London, Steven Daly finds the eccentric genius of Pirates of the Caribbean with kids on the brain, five movies—including this month's Finding Neverland— on the way, and Paradis (Vanessa, that is) awaiting in the South of France. Photographs by Mark Seliger.

345 2004 WORLD-MUSIC PORTFOLIO Enough about Britney Spears, American Idol, and Clear Channel Entertainment. V.F.'s fifth annual portfolio goes around the globe in 40 pages, featuring top artists from every corner—Ravi Shankar, Jane Birkin, Peter Gabriel, Youssou N'Dour, Sean Paul, and Bebel Gilberto among them— while Sting champions the planetary vibe. Photographs by Mark Seliger, Julian Broad, Jonas Karlsson, and other top photographers.

FANFAIR

149 30 DAYS IN THE LIFE OF THE CULTURE Helen Schulman on Michael Frayn's Democracy. Elissa Schappell's Hot Type. Hot Tracks. Hot Reels—Lisa Robinson sings the praises of Ray; Bruce Handy on the sexually charged Kinsey; Adam Laukhuf laughs with Team America. Richard Merkin uncovers nude photos by Harold Lloyd; World Beat; James Wolcott reads from presidential favorite "The Pet Goat." Christine Muhlke on the iibertalented Tara Subkoff; John Brodie visits men's mecca Alpha, then strolls down Venice's Abbot Kinney. Dany Levy raises a chalice to Debbie da Glass Lady; Aaron Gell tours New York's newly renovated MoMA. Lauren Bacall reads Jim Wooten's We Are All the Same; Night-Table Reading. Emily Poenisch decompresses at Molton Brown's new airport spa. My Stuff—Laird Hamilton.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 44

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30

COLUMNS

178 FIRED GUNS In this month's diary, Dominick Dunne identifies a new trend in celebrity trials—playing musical lawyers (Exhibit A: Phil Spector, on defense attorney number three)—and goes back to keeping tabs on William Kennedy Smith, who's embroiled in another sexual-harassment suit. Photograph by Jayne Wexler.

184 TAILORED NEWS It may be that the only people who don't think U.S. news organizations have been corrupted by their corporate owners are the journalists themselves. Reviewing the press's monothematic packaging of 9/11 and giddy embrace of the Iraq invasion, Michael Wolff detects a bias that has to do less with left or right than with the bottom line.

193 THE TRASHING OF JOHN McCAIN As John Kerry knows, the Bush-Rove team can run a mean—and meanspirited—campaign. No one understands this better than John McCain, whose 2000 presidential run against the man he is now supporting was effectively ended in the South Carolina primary by a highly orchestrated smear job. Richard Gooding returns to the scene of the crime and investigates the politics of personal destruction.

206 U2'S UNFORGETTABLE FIRE On the release of U2's 11th album, Lisa Robinson revisits two decades of close encounters with Bono, Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr., who've stayed loyal to one another and their audience despite the distractions of supermodels, Hollywood, and political activism.

230 AFGHANISTAN'S DANGEROUS BET Sexual politics take on new meaning in Afghanistan, as once-enslaved women become courageous participants in this month's planned elections. Christopher Hitchens reports from a land in which bombs, warlords, and America's war on the only viable crop (opium) have yet to stamp out hope.

238 HALL OF FAME Jennifer Massoni nominates Ashley Judd, who has followed up her triumph in De-Lovely with campaigns against AIDS and teenage obesity. Photograph by Matthieu Paley.

240 ORDER THE FISH The secretary of agriculture says beef in the U.S. is safe. Tell that to biostatistician Barbara Kowalcyk, who lost her two-year-old son to E. coli 0157:H7 poisoning. Interviewing Kowalcyk and other experts, Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser argues that American meat is frighteningly susceptible to dangerous pathogens, thanks to an administration bent on pleasing big agribusiness donors.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 56

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 44

258 AMERICAN ANTHEMS At a time when there are plenty of reasons to take a stand, most pop performers ignore the headlines. Recalling the patriotic tradition of protest songs such as Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" and Pete Seeger's "We Shall Overcome," John Mellencamp cites 10 artists who rocked the nation. Photograph by Kurt Markus.

266 DAWSON'S STREAK Norman Jean Roy and Krista Smith spotlight Rosario Dawson, who's gone from the stoops of Lower Manhattan to a starring role as Mrs. the Great in Oliver Stone's fourth-century-B.c. biopic, Alexander.

268 A CASE OF KIDNAPPING David Boies has never been one to shy away from a legal fight, be it the anti-trust suit against Microsoft or A1 Gore's 2000 election challenge. But among the toughest of his career has been representing University of Florida M.B.A. Amy Habie in a custody battle with her Guatemalan tycoon husband. In an excerpt from his memoir, Courting Justice, Boies describes the professional and emotional toll of Habie's fight for her twins.

286 JONI MITCHELL'S LAST WALTZ? Elvis Costello was a teenager when he first heard Joni Mitchell, a creative touchstone for him and many leading musicians. More than three decades later, with two recent albums sealing Mitchell's legend, Costello explores the Saskatchewan songstress's heart and mind on topics ranging from Duke Ellington to love songs to two Nietzsches—the philosopher and the cat. Photographs by Art Streiber.

VANITIES

307 MILLER TIME More from the diaries of Private First Class Ricky Gonzalez, by Douglas McGrath. Intelligence Report: Living Presidents, by Adam Leff and Richard Rushfield. Neal Pollack raises more questions about John Kerry's Vietnam service. The Pentagon's Operation Iraqi Freedom Customer-Satisfaction Survey, by Bruce Feirstein.

ET CETERA

96 EDITOR'S LETTER The Black and White of It

102 CONTRIBUTORS

114 BEHIND THE SCENES

134 LETTERS Arms and the President

176 PLANETARIUM Snared Scorpios

403 CREDITS

406 PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE Tom Waits

TO FIND CONDE NAST MAGAZINES ONLINE, VISIT www.condenet.com; TO FIND VANITY FAIR. VISITwww.vanityfair.com.