Check out my new story in the Nov. issue of Vanity Fair (George Clooney on the cover). If you’re into hip hop, or bling, you might find it interesting. It’s on the trials of Jacob Arabo, a.k.a. Jacob the Jeweler, jeweler to the stars and a hip hop icon. He’s been accused of money laundering for a Detroit-based drug ring, the Black Mafia Family.

The best piece in the issue is “Rules of Engagement,” by William Langwiesche, on the killing of Iraqi civilians in Haditha; I’ll give you the deck, which reads: “On November 19, 2005, in Haditha, during Kilo Company’s third tour of duty in Iraq, a land mine planted by insurgents exploded beneath a Humvee, killing a 20-year-old Marine. What happened next—the slaughter of 24 Iraqi men, women, and children—was not entirely an aberration. These actions were rooted in the very conduct of war. As the men of Kilo Company face investiagtion, William Langewiesche exposes the political, military, and human realities that now make such carnage routine.”

Why are we in Iraq?