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Bolero is perhaps best known from the 1979 movie 10 soundtrack. But Maurice Ravel didn't strictly have romance in mind when he composed the classic piece, music commentator Miles Hoffman says.

Composer Phil Kline saw lyrics in the engravings made on cigarette lighters owned by U.S. soldiers in Vietnam. Veteran William Crapser saw memories of a hell on earth. Jeff Lunden reports.

A report issued Friday by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee says claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction were "not supported by the underlying intelligence." The report blames the CIA for overstating the threat and criticizes outgoing CIA Director George Tenet for skewing advice to top policy makers. Hear NPR's Renee Montagne and NPR's Tom Gjelten.

Writer Jim Knipfel is known for his skewed visions of modern America — and for turning that same clarity on himself. Knipfel spoke with NPR's Margot Adler about his affection for Coney Island during a recent visit to the legendary Brooklyn neighborhood.

Experts warn the multiple military probes into abuses at Abu Ghraib prison will produce much information but few answers about who is ultimately responsible. Critics worry the Bush administration hopes to bury responsibility in mountains of data. Others say documents already leaked point the finger of blame at Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Hear NPR's Jackie Northam.

A new book collects the stories of ordinary Americans who were involved in -- and transformed by -- the country's civil rights movements. NPR's Juan Williams, who compiled the oral histories, discusses them with NPR's Steve Inskeep.

Carl Hancock Rux began his career in the arts as a spoken-word poet. He has ambitiously matured into an author, musician and playwright. Rux discusses his new novel, Asphalt, and his CD, Apothecary Rx.

Farenheit 9/11, director Michael Moore's scathing depiction of the Bush administration's response to the Sept. 11 attacks, opens in U.S. theaters Friday. The controversial film won the top prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan has a review.

Camp Alpha, a U.S. military base in Iraq, was built directly on top of the ancient temple area of Babylon. The base's location was chosen to protect the archeological site from looters. Instead, the base has resulted in damage that some antiquities experts characterize as "horrifying." Hear NPR's Renee Montagne and archeologist John Russell.

When former President Bill Clinton met with George W. Bush before leaving office, he told his successor that Osama bin Laden, the Middle East and North Korea posed more of a threat to U.S. national security than Iraq, Clinton says. In the first part of a two-part interview, Clinton also tells NPR's Juan Williams that bin Laden dominated intelligence discussions at the White House.