While Iraq is enjoying a lull in violence political developments are still stagnant. After promises of reconciliation between sectarian and ethnic factions there is little to show the Iraqi people.

Sunnis promised to rejoin the government and hav e suspended negotiations for now. Sadrists, the Shiite followers of militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr, are completely isolated and Maliki's cabinet has not refilled either of the parties' spots. Below are some political cartoons depicting the situation. Ultimately everyone wants the power and compromises are few and far between.

Abovet he man in red holds a paper that reads "The Foreign Agenda" as he stabs "National Reconciliation in the back."

Below the man on the right asks, "What happened with you after all these honeyed promises of reconciliation?" The man on the left sits on the floor with a broken chair underneath him.

"We've got diabetes," he answers.