Unconventional Weapons Article Analysis

Click here for a link to the article. 

This piece drew me in with the title alone - "Panel Fears Use of Unconventional Weapon." It's not a particularly punchy title, but the thought of an attack on any country, let alone ours, is a frightening one after the recent attacks in Mumbai. 

The lede is a newsy summary lede: "An independent commission has concluded that terrorists will most likely carry out an attack with biological, nuclear or other unconventional weapons somewhere in the world in the next five years unless the United States and its allies act urgently to prevent that." 

This lede gives the reader the who, what, and why. Oddly, it doesn't provide the when, an addition I would make, or the where. However, this is provided in the dateline, it is Washington. The nut graf is found in the second paragraph - the reader should care because the report predicts attacks that might cause harm to them. 

The commission's report is the main source for the article, and rightly so. It is structured to provide information about the report foremost, and then provides background information about the report, including its authors. The conclusion is somewhat of an out-of-gas ending, but it also somewhat mirrors the conclusion of the report itself.