From the Publisher

By Robert L. Miller

Observant readers will shrewdly connect the smiling fellow at right, surrounded by assault rifles, with this week's cover story on the proliferation of guns in America. Shrewd connection, but wrong. That's New Delhi bureau chief Edward W. Desmond, who has seen his share of these weapons and the wars they fuel in south Asia since his arrival last October. Two weeks ago, Desmond managed to fly to Kabul, the Afghan capital, which faces a turbulent future as Soviet soldiers withdraw and the rebels move in. The nine- year-old war has proved a special challenge to Western reporters who have sneaked in, flown in under fire and otherwise struggled to report a story purposely shrouded in mystery. Desmond's first trip inside the country provides a brief but penetrating glimpse at a city not yet ready to lay down the guns. "Next time I go it will be different," says Desmond, "but how, I do not know."

The Soviet-backed Afghan government likes to control the news by supplying foreign correspondents with official "guides." Though Desmond's assigned minders complained that it was unauthorized, he managed to drive a few miles out along the snowy Salang Highway to a new Afghan army base currently guarding the Red Army's exit route.

Desmond, 30, on his first posting abroad, is not always under fire. He was showered with rose petals while covering the national elections in Pakistan that brought Benazir Bhutto to power. An Amherst College graduate who joined TIME as a reporter-researcher five years ago, he often can't avoid the dark side of his beat. In chronicling another election in Sri Lanka, Desmond spent days trying to make contact with violent Sinhalese rebels, whose campaign of murder frightened many voters away from the polls. Now back in New Delhi, Desmond will continue to keep TIME's eye on the disordered corners of his region, but hopes to spend more time close to his base. That will bring no shortage of hot news though. India is scheduled to hold its national elections by December.