Iraq's Endangered Schools; Teaching has become a dangerous, often fatal, occupation in war-torn Iraq, where higher education is the latest casualty.(Cover story)

Byline: Zvika Krieger

Saad Jawad does not like to take chances. The University of Baghdad professor goes to the campus only once or twice a week, varying the days to throw off any would-be killers. He does most of his work at home on the Internet, and most of his private meetings with students are by phone. "Other than my short trips to the campus, I'm at home almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he says.

Iraq's ivory tower is under siege. Thousands of academics have fled the country, classes are frequently canceled, students often stay home and research has slowed to a standstill as sectarian militias increasingly target academia. Between 250 and 1,000 professors have been killed since the 2003 invasion, according to different estimates. Many more have received bullets through internal mail, had death threats tacked to their office doors, or received anonymous phone calls warning them not to come to work, often for showing a lack of zeal in the sectarian conflicts. "Professors are usually more secular than the general population, more open-minded, interested in things other than religious proselytizing," says John Agresto, senior adviser to the Higher Education Ministry in Iraq from 2003 to 2004. "Their secular nature is what is getting them targeted."

In addition to assassinating professors, insurgents have also started bombing university campuses, killing dozens of students and faculty members. And in their quest to secure sectarian enclaves, militias have made universities throughout the country unsafe for anyone of the "wrong" ethnic group. "Terrorism is targeting scholars in an almost ...