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The Doctor, the CIA, and the Blood of Bin Laden
Mattieu Aikins • GQ
The disappearance of the mysterious “Pakistani asset” that helped the CIA zero in on Bin Laden.
The spy games have created an atmosphere of extreme paranoia in Peshawar. Not surprisingly, mentioning Afridi's name tended to bring an abrupt end to conversation. Almost everyone who knew the doctor well had been questioned -- and some arrested -- since the incident, and no one was eager to admit any association with the man. More than once, when asked about Afridi, my interview subjects would in turn ask my fixer, in Pashto, whether I was really a journalist. And the thing was, I had to admit that I was acting a little like a spy. It was necessary, for safety's sake. On my way to meet Afridi's friends and former colleagues, I would disguise myself in traditional clothing -- a long, flowing shirt and baggy pantaloons. I'd have guarded, oblique conversations on the phone and arrange meetings in secluded environments where I could see if I was being followed -- and indeed I was, stopped by the ISI twice.
Getty Images
The Next Jeremy Lin?
Jay Caspian Kang • Grantland
On high school basketball star Chris Tang and the pressures of being the “Great Yellow Hope.”
For his accomplishments on the court, Tang got written up in a couple prep outlets, but nothing much more than could be expected from an international kid playing high school ball in Newport News. Colleges began to express their interest. Videos began to surface on YouTube that showed a reckless point guard running up and down the court in a style that was inimitably AAU — Chris Tang, like so many prep phenoms at his position, could bomb from downtown, he could throw no-look passes, and he could take the ball hard to the rim. He couldn't do much else, but nobody has ever clicked on a YouTube highlight video to watch a player get low on defense, rotate on a pick-and-roll, or bury an open mid-range jumper. Midway through his sophomore year, Tang had become the best Asian or Asian American high school basketball player in the United States. But what did that really mean?
Scott Halleran/Getty Images
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