Iraq

(AP) The leader of the SIIC, the largest bloc in the Iraqi government, defends Iran against the "accusations raised by the multinational forces."

(AP) Shiite legislators pounded down debate over the proposed debaathification law. (With the oil law similarly stalled, reconciliation is dead. What now?)

(AP) Two American security guards have been detained by the Iraqis in Baghdad after a shooting incident. (I'm sure they're being treated well, but Americans in Iraqi custody can't go down well among the Americans in Iraq.)

(AFP) The official line being spouted by US and Iraqi authorities is that refugees are streaming back to Baghdad, BUT, the NYTimes has an analysis piece looking at the inaccuracy of the numbers. (And, even in the best spin, we're talking 40,000 returning of over 3 million displaced.)

And, I thought this was really interesting. Within the larger politics of the "concerned citizen" groups, the local Sunnis the US has formed into US paid Sunni militias, the Shia led government, which has fought this policy every step of the way, now wants to take over the payments to these Sunni groups.

That's another way for the Shia to get inside this program, to give them leverage, or to blow it up.