Report Finds Little Progress On Iraq Goals  —  Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office report.  The document questions whether some aspects of a more positive assessment …

For Idaho Paper And Reporter, Craig Story Posed a Moral Dilemma  —  Dan Popkey, the Idaho Statesman reporter who spent eight months digging into allegations that Larry Craig had engaged in gay sexual encounters, recalls a recent stroll around the Republican senator's childhood ranch with a couple who have known him for decades.

Terrorism Policies Split Democrats  —  Anger Mounts Within Party Over Inaction on Bush Tactics  —  A growing clamor among rank-and-file Democrats to halt President Bush's most controversial tactics in the fight against terrorism has exposed deep divisions within the party …

Survey: Less Than Half of all Published Scientists Endorse Global Warming Theory  —  Comprehensive survey of published climate research reveals changing viewpoints  —  In 2004, history professor Naomi Oreskes performed a survey of research papers on climate change.

Clinton Donor Under a Cloud in Fraud Case  —  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign said yesterday that it would give to charity $23,000 it had received from a prominent Democratic donor, and review thousands of dollars more that he had raised, after learning that the authorities in California …

The Ignatius Cycle  —  David Ignatius says that in retrospect we should have done more to cheat on Iyad Allawi's behalf in the January 2005 elections.  Atrios seems to think he can debunk this talking point by simply noting that, in fact, the US intervened massively on his behalf …

A Rigged Report on U.S. Voting?  —  After the 2000 Florida election debacle, Congress established a body called the Election Assistance Commission to improve voting and democracy in this country.  Two years ago, the commission approached me about doing a project that would take a preliminary look …

Thompson announcement date likely today  —  Fred Thompson's campaign-in-waiting will hold a 4 p.m. conference call today with supporters to brief them on plans for the former Tennessee senator's presidential announcement next week, according to an e-mail obtained by Politico.com.

Edwards On Track in Iowa  —  John Edwards is betting that a strong showing in the Iowa caucuses will catapult him into national contention, and so far his strategy in the state is on track.  A new TIME poll of likely Iowa caucus goers, taken a week after Edwards' seven-day …

Pentagon won't make surge recommendation to Bush  —  WASHINGTON — In a sign that top commanders are divided over what course to pursue in Iraq, the Pentagon said Wednesday that it won't make a single, unified recommendation to President Bush during next month's strategy assessment …

Locked, Loaded and Looney  —  As the Army's suicide rate hits record levels in the Iraq war, there's small wonder practically everyone in Congress wants to deal with the parallel emerging crisis of depressed veterans tempted to take their own lives.  Everyone, that is, except Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma.

Smoking Gun from the Future:  —  On 8/26 at about 1200 hours I was working a plainclothes detail involving deviant conduct in the men's room at the Pepsi Center during the Democratic Convention.  We had received civilian complaints of disorderly persons using this particular facility and had made several arrests.

IAEA: Iranian cooperation significant  —  VIENNA, Austria - The U.N. nuclear agency said Thursday that Iran was producing less nuclear fuel than expected and praised Tehran for "a significant step forward" in explaining past atomic actions that have raised suspicions.

SKULLDUGGERY IN CALIFORNIA....Matt Yglesias, after a bit of throat clearing about the current attempt by Republicans to finagle a chunk of California's electoral college vote via a new initiative, says: … Since I was one of those Californians he mentions, I should revise and extend here.