Nouri al-Maliki is the man holding the unenviable post of Iraq's Prime Minister, and in true political form today, he has promised to bring an end to the 'brutal insurgent and secratian violence' currently gripping his country...
Now that's a promise worthy of a politician, indeed.
Mr. al-Maliki says the appointments of the key Defence and Interior Ministers, who will be independant and without ties to Iraq's several armed groups.. will be complete within two or three days..
That is a promise, that if fulfilled, would seriously make one consider the presence of God.
Any particular God, for that matter.
Meanwehile, the killings go on, with the semtex-vest brigade claiming another 20 or so victims at a Baghdad restaurant.
One tends to lose count of the victims. And this in itself, should give those in charge of these military cells, pause. For if it becomes too commonplace to be blown to sheds while munching one's hummus in a public place, then the impact is lost.
It becomes, as it always has been in reality, pointless murder.
'Maximum force' is what has been promised by the new government. We'll see what effect that has, and how in effect it differs from the approach the Americans and British have been following since they set boots on that foreign soil.

Now, again, we're back to a matter of trust. This time in the Middle East, where the consiquences can be much more explosive (no pun intended). There's to be no nuclear deal between Iran and the United States, because each has been quite frank in their dislike and distrust of each other's systems.
It seems likely there is good reason for Tehran to be deveoping nuclear weaponry. It's stated goal is to wipe Israel off the map, and take the last genuine foothold the West has in the Levant away. However, there is also the good argument, that Iran needs power supplies, and who can fault them for opting for nuclear, when we in Britain are doing the same.
So, it's all 'trust'.
Personally, I deplore the day the internal combustion engine was invented.