Table of Contents

10 QUESTIONS: William F. Buckley on right-wing kooks, John Kerry and The Passion of the Christ 8

LETTERS 10

NOTEBOOK

NOTEBOOK: What Condoleezza Rice will tell us about 9/11, Bush 41's birthday bash, policing baseball fashion 17

MILESTONES 22

IN THE ARENA: Joe Klein on Kerry's best strategy for these partisan times 25

WORLD

Rage in Fallujah U.S. officials vow to retaliate for the brutal murder and mutilation of four American civilians in Iraq. But can anything quell the simmering anger of Iraqis? 26

Soldiers for Hire A look inside the shadowy world of the private armies that now patrol the war zones 32

ISRAELI DIRECTION: Bruised battler Ariel Sharon tries to orchestrate a pullout from Gaza even as he faces a possible indictment over bribery 34

NATION

Indecision 2004 Both candidates have been known to change their mind, so why is President Bush the consistency candidate--and how can John Kerry lose his reputation as a waffler? 36

FOUND BUT STILL LOST: Why a college student in Wisconsin appears to have faked her own abduction 41

BUSINESS

I Want My Slim TV Why plasma is the toast of the tech sector 42

THE TYCO MISTRIAL: A first-person account of a dysfunctional panel, by Juror No. 11 47

TRUMPED? Casino woes cast doubts on the Donald's managerial skills 50

GLOBAL AGENDA

Michael Elliott challenges Samuel Huntington's view of immigration 52

COVER STORY

Why Did Jesus Die? Mel Gibson's film and Holy Week prompt believers to explore a still thorny query: Exactly what was the divine calculus by which the Crucifixion saved humanity? 54

ARTS

Video Why Hollywood's big names are now "game" 62

RADIO: New liberal gabfest 66

MUSIC: Prince's comeback 68

BOOKS: Portraits of Stalin and Joseph Califano 69

YOUR TIME

LIFESTYLE: Fashion's Latin lines, Buddha manga, spray-on hose 77

HEALTH: Bad buckyballs, suspect supplements, measles moment 78

MONEY: Gas gambits, credit cards get PIN-pricked, Google mail 81

PEOPLE: The war to play Janis, Bob Dylan shills panties, Ricky Gervais on dealing with desk jobs 83

ESSAY: Michael Kinsley on the hazards of big-time punditry 84

COVER: Christ Carrying the Cross, by Andrea Solario. From Scala/Art Resource, NY