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February 2003

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Features

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The Enduring Splendors of, Yes, Afghanistan

A writer and photographer crisscross a nation ravaged by a quarter century of warfare to inventory its most sacred treasures

Testimony from the Iceman

The 5,000-plus-year-old Neolithic man discovered a decade ago is telling scientists how he lived and died

Mission Impossible?

An international campaign to rid the world of polio has made dazzling progress. But some experts question whether the scourge can ever be eradicated

Matisse & Picasso

As a new exhibition makes clear, these friends and rivals spurred each other to change the course of 20th-century art

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Shoot-out at Little Galloo

Angry fishermen accuse the cormorant of ruining their livelihood and have taken the law into their own hands. But is the cormorant to blame?

Iceberg Wrangler

When a million-ton iceberg threatens your $5 billion oil platform, who you gonna call? Jerome Baker

Evict bonus army

Marching on History

When a "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans converged on Washington, MacArthur, Eisenhower and Patton were there to meet them

Wildland Firefighters

Departments

Indelible Images

The Calm Before Desert Storm

Two months before the Gulf War began in 1991, President George H. W. Bush greeted U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia

The Object at Hand

Cast in Bondage

From the mid-18th century to the end of the Civil War, owners marketed the labor and skills of their slaves

People File

Southern Comfort

Traveling back roads, brothers Matt and Ted Lee track down authentic foods for mail-order customers hankering after a taste of the Deep South

Editor's Note

Grim and Beautiful

Learning to love complexity

From the Secretary

World Class

Smithsonian associates circle the globe for fun and firsthand adventure

The Last Page

Going Postal