DID NEWSWEEK JUMP THE GUN WITH THEIR COVER STORY SAYING IRAQ STANDS ON THE BRINK OF A DEMOCRACY?

NEWSWEEK magazine ran a cover story this week http://www.newsweek.com/id/234281 saying IRAQ stands on the brink of becoming a democracy.

The IRAQ elections are scheduled for next week, March 8, and there are still major differences between the various factions hoping to be elected.

Security has been tightened all over IRAQ as a series of suicide bombings have taken place in the past couple of weeks.

However, according to IRAQ Today, http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/ the following incidents of violence were reported yesterday in IRAQ:

Reported security incidents

Diyala Prv:#1: Three Iraqi soldiers were wounded on Monday in a bomb explosion targeting their patrol in eastern Baaquba, a security source said.

Kirkuk:#1: In Kirkuk, a missile landed on Monday night in a popular neighborhood in central Kirkuk but did not explode, police sources told Alsumaria News.

#2: A police director in Kirkuk has survived an assassination attempt when an explosive device hit his motorcade in southwestern Kirkuk, a local police chief said on Tuesday. “This morning, Col. Hussein Nemat Hawas, the director of the Dabas police station, Kirkuk, escaped an attempt on his life when an explosive device hit his motorcade near al-Rabe Bridge, southern Kirkuk,” Brig. Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The blast caused damage to one of the vehicles and knocked down an electricity pole, but no casualties were reported, the official explained.

Mosul:#1: One civilian on Tuesday was killed in an armed attack in Mosul City, according to a local security source. “This morning, unknown gunmen driving a vehicle opened fire on a civilian in eastern Mosul, killing him on the spot,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Two Iraqi servicemen have been injured in an attack on a voting center in eastern Mosul, a local security source said on Tuesday. “Two Iraqi soldiers assigned to protect an electoral center in Zahrat al-Madaen School, al-Tameem neighborhood (eastern Mosul) were wounded when a gunman threw a hand grenade at the center,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.