BRIEFING: "Iraq: Is it really coming right? In most of Iraq, violence has plummeted and the Americans under a new president look set gradually to withdraw. But will the battered country hold together?" The Economist, 29 November 2008.

NEWS ANALYSIS: "Campaign Promises on Ending the War in Iraq Now Muted by Reality," by Thom Shanker, New York Times, 4 December 2008.

INTERNATIONAL: "Clash in Iraq Over a Plan For Councils Intensifies," by Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times, 4 December 2008.

Good overview from the Economist, which says that the "biggest and currently the scratchiest division is between Arabs and Kurds."

As the NYT articles point out, there's a bit of push-coming-to-shove between the Kurds and Sunnis/Shiia, centering on Mosul and Kirkuk.

So as we shift from combat troops to just those that stay and keep the peace, I still predict it will ultimately make sense to leave trip-wire troops in the north.