It's nice to see that some folks in Baghdad can have some peace, even if not water, sewer and electricity.

And it sounds as if the seeds of discontent are still being sown without a prospect for resolution or reconciliation. The Shia are telling the Sunni to in effect "shove it" and there are many problems with the Kurds, who speak a different language, have a different physical appearance and don't care to belong to the rest of the country.

Baghdad is flooded with US troops and the Mehdi army has stood down. The ethnic cleansing of Baghdad's neighborhoods is progressing nicely, resulting in some decrease in violence.

"Mr Maliki has also signally failed to offer any meaningful political incentives to the main Sunni Arab groups to rejoin the government, for example through addressing their concerns on the stalled oil law or expediting provincial elections, let alone those related to broader questions such as federalism and the make-up of the security forces.

"In a recent speech on the occasion of the southern holy city of Karbala being handed over to full Iraqi control, Mr Maliki dismissed the clamour of Sunni Arabs for national reconciliation as a bid to destabilise the government, and he remarked pointedly that it was not possible to turn the clock back—rubbing in the message that the current situation of Shia dominance supported by the Kurds as the price for their relative autonomy was here to stay."

It doesn't seem, though, that the fundamental situation has changed much.

Arf