It has been ten years since freelance journalist Steven Vincent, an idealistic war reporter and former art critic, was kidnapped and murdered in Basra, Iraq, as an upsurge in violence bedeviled the U.S.-led occupation. His translator Nour al-Khal -- an aspiring young poet whom Vincent saw as the representative of a more modern Middle East -- was shot and left for dead. The crime remains unsolved, though rogue Iraqi policeman associated with Iranian-backed Shiite militias were suspected of targeting Vincent -- possibly over a provocative op-ed, “Switched off in Basra,” that the freelance journalist had published in The New York Times two days earlier. It warned that British occupation forces were ignoring militias that were infiltrating Basra's police department and terrorizing the local populace with their religious zealotry. The previous January, conservative Shiite parties had come to power in local elections.  Photo credit: Mark McQueen for Spence...(Read Full Article)