Some troubling signs that Iraq is not heading for political reconciliation – the key objective of the surge – any time soon:
Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani, using unusually strong language, told Iraqi state television late Sunday that the contracts signed by the self-rule Kurdish region were illegal.
"No region has the right to go it alone and sign a deal," he said. "This will lead to the breakup of Iraq … oil is the business of the federal government and any attempt at extracting oil without the approval of the federal government is tantamount to smuggling."
The Dish 