You read my mind. I was secretly thinking of creating one for myself.

Thanks!

- Congrats to the Red Sox....

- Ok. Based on the "Russian" connection will we see Kerry suck it up and publicly retract the last two days of rhetorical attacks on Bush regarding the stockpile?....

Tomorrow's Washington Times features an article by Bill Gertz in which John A. Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, says that Russian troops "almost certainly" helped Saddam's men clean the Al Qaqaa site out before the Iraq War started.

We'll have more on this tomorrow. One way or another, it appears clear that the 380 tons of explosives that are now "missing" were moved by Saddam prior to the start of the war. I suppose the point is too obvious to be worth making, but 380 tons is a lot of material--approximately 38 semi-truck loads. Yet it has, apparently, completely disappeared, probably because it was shipped to Syria before the war started. Do you suppose that, whereever the 380 tons are now, there might be a little extra room for some vials of anthrax, sarin, nerve gas, etc.?

DEACON adds: If Shaw's version, as reported by the Washington Times, holds up and (as importantly) gets heard, the consequences for Kerry could be serious. The Senator will have (a) jumped to a conclusion that wasn't supported by the facts, (b) assumed the incompetence of our troops, (c) confirmed President Bush's position that Iraq had weapons worth worrying about, and (d) unleashed evidence that, as Rocket Man notes, suggests that chemical and biological weapons could easily have been moved out of Iraq just before we invaded. In light of the final point, though, what puzzles me is this: if the Defense Department has evidence that the Russians helped clean out Alqaqaa, why haven't we heard about this before now (or did I just miss it). Evidence that Iraqi weapons, any weapons, were moved out of the country by the Russians would have been helpful to the administration long before now. Maybe we learned about it recently, as relations with Russia have improved.

http://powerlineblog.com/archives/008341.php

Thank you, this is exactly the type of thing I am currently looking for, a clear and concise description of goings on.

This weekend I am going to be involved in an exchange with a number of family and friends (they read stuff I send, I read stuff they send). Some are leaners who haven't entirely made up their minds, others are die-hard anti-bush folks who are trying to come to grips with my plans to vote bush.

I have a number of things to distribute, different pieces for different people of varying current event knowledge levels and attention spans. This piece is another I will distribute, but am always looking for more. Does anyone have any suggestions (w/ links if possible) for anything from clear summaries such as this one to slightly more emotional (but still level headed) rants that may help me bring some folks around. Thanks.