Quote of the day: Shh! If we tell you a secret about the Taliban in Afghanistan, will you promise not to tell President Bush or President Karzai?

"Five years after the Afghan invasion, the Taliban are fighting back hard, carving out a sanctuary where they--and Al Qaeda's leaders--can operate freely."
"In her new book, Annie Leibovitz, our most famous photographer, places celebs side by side with surprisingly personal images of love and loss. An exclusive."
--cover story of this week's Newsweek (oh no, not the one at right, the one below)

As Al Kamen explains in his Washington Post "In the Loop" column:

We Can't Handle the Truth?

The same publication may at times use different cover stories in different parts of the world--usually because reader tastes vary widely. So the Oct. 2 edition of Newsweek's cover in Europe, Latin America and Asia features a jihadi fighter on the cover, headlined "Losing Afghanistan." The lead: "Five years after the Afghan invasion, the Taliban are fighting back hard, carving out a sanctuary where they--and Al Qaeda's leaders--can operate freely."

U.S. readers were spared that depressing blast. Instead, the Newsweek cover here was of photographer Annie Leibovitz and her three adorable children, headlined "My Life in Pictures." The lead said: "In her new book, Annie Leibovitz, our most famous photographer, places celebs side by side with surprisingly personal images of love and loss. An exclusive."

In a week when Afghan President Hamid Karzai is meeting with President Bush, the Taliban was moved inside? Well, gotta know your readers. Besides, if you have an "exclusive" . . .

ALSO TALKING--Fareed Zakaria plays the good corporate soldier

Newsweek's international editor, Fareed Zakaria, offered this explanation to the International Herald Tribune:

International editor Fareed Zakaria said the magazines often have different covers because they are tailored to different audiences overseas and in the United States. In the U.S., Newsweek is a mass-circulation magazine with a broad reach, while overseas it "is a somewhat more upmarket magazine for internationally minded people who travel a lot," he said.

"Afghanistan is sort of the first victory in the war on terror. For that to be going badly is tremendous," Zakaria said. International editions feature a photograph of what appears to be a Taliban fighter with a grenade launcher.

U.S. editions featured a photo of Leibovitz, one of America's premier photographers, on the cover with several children.

Zakaria noted that the Afghanistan story was also promoted on the cover of the U.S. editions, and that the magazine had negotiated an exclusive for Leibovitz's new book.

WELCOME TO 'JIHADISTAN'

Of course we know that our Annie wouldn't have been bumped from the U.S. cover even in the event of earth-shattering breaking news. You know, something like: "President Bush Declares Terrorism Really, Really Bad--and Democrats Who Support It Too."

Now if that Taliban fighter had been banned from the U.S. cover in favor of, say, a few really cute puppies, well, then who would complain?

Oh yes, one last question for Fareed Z: This business about the Afghanistan story being promoted on the cover of the U.S. editions--um, would that be the cover line: "AL QAEDA & 'JIHADISTAN'"? 'Cause we don't rightly know what the heck that means. Is it the same as "LOSING AFGHANISTAN"? That we get.

Uh, just asking. Of course Newsweek's broad, mass-circulation U.S. readers, being so much less upmarket and internationally minded than their international counterparts, probably have no trouble with "AL QAEDA & 'JIHADISTAN'"--we bet that cover line is making copies of the magazine fly off U.S. newssstands.