[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[Man of the Right]

Powell's speech was highly productive. It put American opinion further behind the President and prompted all of eastern and central Europe to sign on to the coalition. It thinned the ranks of the opposition and put the President's adversaries on the defensive. The Security Council was a tertiary audience.

[Conspiracy Guy]

It's my understanding that Powell's evidence caused such fear that the French have now surrendered to Iraq. Germany is sure to follow.

[KC_Conspirator]

Its infuriating that leftists Europe and the liberals in our own country cared not about anything they feign concern about now when Klinton bombed Serbia. Klinton did not have to go through all of these formalities and nonsense that Bush does with a far better case for military action.

[sd-joe]

"Colin Powell's presentation to the U.N. Security Council yesterday was a waste of time and energy."

NO, it wasn't. This puts out a marker for the UN. It means that if absolute proof will not cause them to support us, then the UN is indeed irrelevant.

Going to war without the French, and going to war without the UN are in the same category.

[Wright is right!]

"Pentagon budget cuts under the last administration had left the U.S. military with short inventories of a wide range of weapons, from cruise missiles to "smart bomb" kits, and worse, without contingency plans to suddenly step up production."

That's the line for public consumption. But I also know (because I saw it on televison) that there is a factory somewhere in MidAmerica churning out 1200 smart bimbs PER DAY EVERY DAY. There IS PLENTY of smart ordnance. Smart bimbs.

The author is largely correct about the media failing to tell the nation about the perils of presenting evidence openly in public. But this is to be expected, since a Republican is in the WH and the GOP controls both houses of Congress. If there were a DEM in the White House, the media would all say that they'd seen the evidence, that it's plenty convincing, but to publicize it would compromise national security.

Michael