Easy to miss over the holidays was a very interesting New York Times Magazine piece by John Tierney on the challenge of bringing capitalism and democracy to Iraq: “Rebuilding Iraq Is…Nothing a Few Middle-Class Guys Couldn’t Solve” (December 21, 2003). I’m comfortable with Tierney’s take–which is that real change in Iraq is possible, but only if it moves slowly. What makes this article powerful is the tale of Iraqi entrepreneur Nader Hindo and his family. The story at the end–which seems to come straight out of Owell’s 1984–gives a chilling sense of how Saddam’s system really worked. For a vivid account that links big picture questions in Iraq with real life stories, this article is well worth a read.