Leaders Warn Iran Over Nuclear Site  —  PITTSBURGH — President Obama and leaders of Britain and France accused Iran on Friday of building a secret underground plant to manufacture nuclear fuel, saying the country has hidden the covert operation from international weapons inspectors for years.

Democrats Are Jarred by Drop In Fundraising  —  Complacency, Absence of Big Donors Cited  —  Democratic political committees have seen a decline in their fundraising fortunes this year, a result of complacency among their rank-and-file donors and a de facto boycott by many of their wealthiest givers …

Terror Case Is Called One of the Most Serious in Years  —  WASHINGTON — Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, senior government officials have announced dozens of terrorism cases that on closer examination seemed to diminish as legitimate threats.  The accumulating evidence …

The Afghan Imperative  —  Always there is the illusion of the easy path.  Always there is the illusion, which gripped Donald Rumsfeld and now grips many Democrats, that you can fight a counterinsurgency war with a light footprint, with cruise missiles, with special forces operations and unmanned drones.

So Off Message  —  From the new Times/CBS poll out this evening ...  “Would you favor or oppose the government offering everyone a government administered health insurance plan — something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get — that would compete with private health insurance plans?”

White House Regroups on Guantanamo  —  With four months left to meet its self-imposed deadline for closing the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Obama administration is working to recover from missteps that have put officials behind schedule and left them struggling to win the cooperation of Congress.

Wilson to Dems: You “mislead”!  —  Joe Wilson, wallowing in his new found millions, is lending a bit of his unlikely bad-boy appeal to the National Republican Congressional Committee, popping out a fundraising letter blasting Nancy Pelosi for failing to post all bill online 72 hours prior to votes.

Ruling expected by noon on GOP bid to block Kirk appointment  —  A Suffolk Superior Court judge has promised to decide before noon today whether to grant a request by the state Republican Party to block the appointment of Democrat Paul G. Kirk Jr. as interim US senator.

Translator collapsed during Khadafy's rambling diatribe  —  After struggling to turn Khadafy's insane ramblings at the UN into English for 75 minutes, the Libyan dictator's personal interpreter got lost in translation.  —  “I just can't take it any more,” Khadafy's interpreter shouted into the live microphone - in Arabic.

The Logic of Paul Kirk  —  In naming Paul Kirk, the former Democratic National Committee chair, to fill Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, Gov. Deval Patrick (D) of Massachusetts followed the cardinal rule of Hippocratic politics: First, do no harm.  —  Patrick clearly learned from the experience …

It's Easy Being Green  —  So, have you enjoyed the debate over health care reform?  Have you been impressed by the civility of the discussion and the intellectual honesty of reform opponents?  —  If so, you'll love the next big debate: the fight over climate change.

At the U.N., Terrorism Pays  —  It was my duty as defense minister to stop Hamas rockets.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  This week the United Nation's Human Rights Council produced a 600-page report alleging that Israel carried out war crimes in Gaza.  The Goldstone Report …

Elementary School Students Taught to Sing Praises of President Obama  —  Nearly 20 young children are captured in an online video as they sing songs that overflow with campaign slogans and praise for “Barack Hussein Obama,” as they repeatedly chant the president's name and celebrate his accomplishments.

Election 2010: California Senate  —  2010 California Senate: Boxer Beats Fiorina, DeVore  —  So far, so good for incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer in match-ups against her two best-known Republican opponents to date in California's 2010 race for the U.S. Senate.

Why France's Health Care Is So Good, The Public Option So Bad and the Co-Ops So Incomplete: An Interview With Kent Conrad.  —  Sen. Kent Conrad chairs the Budget Committee, serves on the Finance Committee and was a member of the Gang of Six.  I spoke to Conrad today about what Americans …