Wednesday

Ohio to Delay Destruction of Presidential Ballots - New York Times
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall August 30, 2006 10:01 AM: "Iran has a defense budget of about $6 billion a year. The United States spends over 50 times more than that. But perhaps comparisons to the USA are misleading. Let's compare our would-be regional hegemon to its neighbors. Well, Israel spends $9.6 billion and Saudi Arabia spends $25.2 billion. Pakistan, immediately adjacent to Iran and nuclear armed, actually has engaged in a recent defense buildup. What kind of quest for hegemony is Iran supposed to be on?"
The Post-9/11 Jackpot(pdf)

Sunday

ArmsControlWonk | an arms control weblog: TCB on The Fleitz of Fancy: "The irony, therefore, is stunning when Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), who heads the House Committee, explained the rush by commenting that “We want to avoid another ‘slam dunk.’” The famous “slam dunk” judgment on Iraq’s WMD was, of course, the result of selective reading of available intelligence (which some call cherry-picking), plus a willingness by some to subordinate the (often prosaic) facts to (sensational) ideological conviction.
That is exactly what has happened in this report. It is a sloppy attempt to lay the ground for another slam dunk judgment and a potential rush to war. It deserves to be recognized for what it is."