Iraq

(AP) Maliki claims that provincial elections (a big benchmark and step towards reconciliation) will take place before the end of the year. (If he means it, this would be big for the Sunnis as it is one of their main complaints.)

(AP) In June, the official civilian death count in Iraq was down by about a third.

(I would wager the drop is mostly due to the drop in spectacular carbombings. I see two nonexclusive reasons for this. 1) The US forces have been targeting the carbomb makers, at the very least disrupting their operations. 2) One part of the Sunni/Al Qaeda(extremist) split was over the tactic of spectacular civilian targeting carbombings. They might also be pulling back and targeting symbolic sites like Askariyah and bridges to mend that relationship. We'll have to wait and see.)

(IHT) "A Sunni legislator who says he's joining the "resistance" called Sunday for Arab and international intervention to rebuild Iraq's political system from scratch."

(News24) "Senator Richard Lugar.... has called for an "orderly" withdrawal of US troops in the coming months."

(Reuters) In what sounds like a propaganda stunt, 4 PKK defectors(?) made the claim that "they had seen two U.S. armoured vehicles deliver weapons to the PKK at their camp." (So, why do the Turks want that out there?)