IRAQ IS ANYTHING BUT STABLE AS THIS REPORT OUT OF IRAQ INDICATES

The mainstream press in the United States would have you believing everything is "peachy" in Iraq, but such is not the case as this report from IRAQ TODAY http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/ indicates.

Reported Security Incidents:

KhalisOne civilian killed, 5 injured in a gun battle. (From the description, this seems to be a tribal feud, but it's not entirely clear.)

Khan Bani SaadRoadside bomb injures two civilians

MosulThree university students injured by a sticky bomb on a bus. The VoI story implies they were targeted because they are Christian.Sixteen year old boy killed by a bomb late Saturday.

Dorra village, near KirkukBody is found of a young man dead of gunshot wounds.DiwaniyaIED attack on U.S. patrol vehicle on Saturday, no word on casualties as of now.

Other News of the DayMahdi Abdul-Khadir, injured in the Nisoor Square shooting, says he will not accept compensation offered by Blackwater. "Another plaintiff had said the company had offered $30,000 for each person wounded in the 2007 incident in Nisoor Square and $100,000 to the families of the 17 killed."IRIN gives an update on internally displaced persons in Iraq. Although this story puts a positive spin on the situation initially, it is clear that progress is slow.

Excerpt:
Since July 2008, the government has made a concerted effort to encourage the return of IDPs and refugees to the areas of origin. One element of this initiative was to crackdown on squatters by offering them a one-off payment of 1.8 million Iraqi dinars (US$1,525) to assist them in finding legitimate accommodation to rent. In early 2008, the displacement ministry released its first report on the number of illegally occupied houses - 3,491 in nine provinces: Baghdad, Diyala, Anbar, Salaheddin, Ta'mim, Babil, Kut, Nineveh and Muthana. These included houses, flats, land and other buildings.Abdul-Khaliq Zankana, head of parliament's committee on displacement and migration, said the evacuation decree “has not been implemented properly, as only a limited number of people have returned to their houses so far and the majority is still waiting as their houses are still occupied by other families”.He said the worst squatter neighbourhoods of Baghdad were al-Jamia in western Baghdad, al-Hurriyah in the north, al-Dora in the south and Saidiya in the southwest of the capital. "I swear that I have not heard until now that even one family has been paid the one-off payment,” Zankana told IRIN. He blamed long-winded procedures and bureaucracy.