From what I read today, it appears that neither al-Sistani nor al-Hakim, the man who heads the victorious slate in the Iraq elections. have any intention of instituting Sharia in Iraq anytime soon. So Dianavan's fears appear overwrought, at least for now.

Now we'll see if the problems I raised will be serious--unreasonable expectations of immediate 24-hour water, electricity and lots of jobs as a result of voting--and the idea of taking majority rule but not minority rights seriously.

Added to this, it's still pretty clear that the Kurdish north wants very little to do with the central Iraqi government---all they want is continued autonomy and eventual independence, actually sooner rather than later.

Will the central Iraqi government, weak as it's likely to be, be getting any oil revenues from the Kurdish north? The Kurds, whether part of the new government ( as the number 2 vote-getters) or outside it, will probably not want to cede any power to the government.