One that bothers me is this:

As the fellowship of the Ring moved south, they were often shadowed by various servants of evil. A flock of birds spyed their position, and it is implied that many beasts could observe them and report. Who knows how many unseen and unrecognised spies tracked the progress of the company. It is to be assumed that these were servants of Saruman and not Sauron. Okay, now Saruman knew perfectly well that the company was escorting the Ring. He didn't know what they were going to do with it, but he knew they had it. Why then did he choose to sit back and watch. A well organised Orc ambush could have settled the problem for once and for all.

Another similar issue is the progress of Sam, Frodo and Gollum into Mordor. They have been observed on the road, and the servants of Sauron, if not Sauron himself knew they were coming. He must have suspected they had the ring with them , or why else was the order given not to touch any of their property or do them any harm, not even take a ring? Yet, little is done to stop them. If they were just common bandits moving that way he could have had them caught and killed on the spot. Yet the security mesures in place to deal with anything more serious seem grossly inadequate.