Cheer up folks, there are simply too many western goverments invested into Iraq and they are not going to let it go that easily. Iran is making a lot of enemies even in the arab world and I dont think Iraqis want anything to do with that mess. I think Maliki's got it in the bag, yes there has been some recent violence but everyone agrees that the last few years Iraq has improved at an incredible rate. Under his watch Iraq has made great progress regardless if Maliki had anything to do with or not, the point is since has been in charge good things have happened for the Iraqi people.