According to this article from the Washington Times the Iranian-backed Shiite party in Iraq will likely get the office of Prime Minister, and Shiites will get all the major ministries. I'm not sure this will do anything to dampen the insurgency. In fact, if this article from the Washington Post is to be believed, the prospects for all-out civil war are getting better all the time.

Here is a roundup from the BBC on the latest fallout from the cartoon controversy.

Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard says the cartoon controversy is something created by the radicals and the Middle Eastern governments that support them.

Olivier Guitta, also writing in the Standard, says the cartoon controversy is actually just one tactic being used by the Muslim Brotherhood (a radical Islamist organization) as part of their overall strategy to conquer the West.

Arnaud de Borchgrave likens the cartoon controversy to a new intifada and, as he has in his previous writings, seems to be warning his readers that a true 'war of civilizations' is just on the horizon.

Finally, LTC Ralph Peters, USA(Ret.), has a lengthy piece on the RealClearPolitics site about the power of religious faith in human history and its relation to our current geopolitical situation.