November 9, 2011: The Sunni Arab minority (about 15 percent of the population, who until 2003 had run Iraq for centuries) is divided on how to deal with the democratic government (which is dominated by the Shia Arab majority, who are over 60 percent of the population.) Some Sunni Arabs want to work with the democratic government. But many old school Sunni Arabs want their power back. The government has continued its de-Baathification program, which seeks to identify unrepentant Baath Party members, and ensure that they do not get a government job, or lose such employment if they already have it. This is like the de-Nazification program in Germany after World War II. The main goal of both programs was to insure that the tyrannical parties (Nazi and Baath) were not revived and get back in power.

There are still thousands of Sunni Arabs willing to die to regain control of the country. These Sunni Arab radicals are driven more by a desire for power and wealth, than by religious radicalism. Those remaining terrorists account for about 14 incidents (bombs, shootings, kidnappings) a day. Back in 2006-7, this violence had peaked at over 140 incidents a day.  

It's mostly about money. The Sunni Arabs used to have most of it, now they don't. It’s also about territory. The Shia are taking back land they believe the Sunni Arabs stole from them. This extends to province boundaries. There is currently a violent feud going on between Sunni Anbar and Shia Karbala provinces over a border dispute.

November 6, 2011: Kuwait declared that it had not agreed to allow the U.S. to station another 4,000 troops (a combat brigade) on its territory.  That may change, but Kuwait is certain that the West will come in to help them if there are any problems. That's because of all the oil, which the West needs.

November 1, 2011: For the first time this year, monthly terror related deaths were up in October (39 percent more than September). There were 258 deaths (29 percent civilians, 38 percent security forces, 33 percent terrorists) in October, which was 39 percent higher than October 2010. There are fears that the Sunni Arab terrorists are going to make a maximum effort to use violence to overthrow the Shia government. This appears to be madness, but that's how the Sunni Arab roll in Iraq.

October 28, 2011: The UN approved the payment of another billion dollars of Iraqi oil revenue to Kuwait, as compensation for damage Iraq did to Kuwait during its invasion and occupation of 1990-91. So far, $34 billion has been collected and paid, and another $18 billion is due. This reparations program is very unpopular in Iraq.

October 27, 2011: Sunni Arab-majority Salaheddin province, which includes Saddam Hussein's home town, declared itself autonomous, like the Kurdish north. This was an effort to slow down the continued effort to destroy remnants of the Baath Party. The Shia dominated central government responded by arresting over 600 members of the disbanded Baath Party, which ran Iraq for over four decades. Baath was dominated by the Sunni Arab minority. The call for autonomy was fueled by a growing police activity against Sunni Arabs suspected of pro-terror sympathies.

October 26, 2011: Turkish warplanes continue to bomb PKK targets in northern Iraq. Turkey denies having sent ground troops in.