Iraq - Heavy Politics

Maliki's allies claim the Kurds threatened to collapse the Iraqi government if they were not granted Kirkuk.

Shiite lawmakers, meanwhile, said the government decision that likely will hand Kirkuk to Kurdish control was forced on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki when Kurds threatened to walk out of his ruling coalition and bring down the government.

The threat and al-Maliki's capitulation dramatically outlined the prime minister's tenuous hold on power and further emphasized the possibility, some say the likelihood, that Iraq could break into Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni regions with little or no central government control.

"The Kurdish coalition exerted enormous pressure on us. One of them was a threat by Kurdish lawmakers to boycott parliament and by ministers to quit the government," said Haidar al-Abbadi, a member of al-Maliki's Dawa party. He described the Kurdish pressures as "blackmail."

I think this is big within Iraqi politics. Either the Kurds really did threaten or, more likely, Maliki is trying to cast Sunni anger away from him and onto the Kurds. (Kirkuk could lead to Sunni-Kurd conflict which would draw the Kurds into the civil war.)

(Reuters) Two Sadr officials were dismissed for talking with the Americans. (The Transport Minister and a parliamentarian.)

(AP) It sounds like the US is about to lay siege to Samarra. "Police in Samarra, however, said U.S. and Iraqi forces had taken up positions around the city, 60 miles north of Baghdad, and imposed an indefinite curfew starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday."

(WaPo) A good analysis of the deaths in Iraq debunking some claims of progress. (Note: "the numbers of unidentified bodies found across Baghdad are rising again, suggesting an increase in sectarian-motivated death squad killings.")

(ATimes) A very deep article on the Sadr/Sistani relationship and how it reflects tectonic shifts within the Shia factions of Iraq.

(NYTimes) Leon Panetta lists the unmet benchmarks.