An Iraqi policeman stands guard near campaign posters for a candidate in the upcoming provincial elections in Amarah, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2009.
Construction cranes and scaffolding are seen at the Golden Dome shrine in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 16, 2009. The shrine is undergoing reconstruction to repair the damage incurred in February 2006, when a huge explosion destroyed the dome of the mosque and immediately ignited fierce sectarian fighting between Sunnis and Shiites across Iraq.
Iraqi Sunnis gather at the Abu Hanifa mosque in Azamiyah northern Baghdad to protest Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 16, 2009.
A campaign poster for a candidate in the upcoming provincial election hangs near the Imam Ali shrine in the Shiite city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009.
Iraqi Sunni women gather at the Abu Hanifa mosque in Azamiyah northern Baghdad to protest Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 16, 2009.
A child is one of more than 300 protesters gathered to protest Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip at a demonstration organized by the Islamic Union of Kurdistan in Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraq on Friday, Jan. 16, 2009.
A child is one of more than 300 protesters gathered to protest Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip at a demonstration organized by the Islamic Union of Kurdistan in Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraq on Friday, Jan. 16, 2009.
Iraqis burn the U.S. flag as they protest Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip during Friday prayers in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 16, 2009.
An Iraqi teen puts up campaign posters for the Jan. 31 provincial election in Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009.
A man is treated for his wounds from a mortar attack in Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009. Police said a mortar round landed near the offices of Kirkuk's governor Thursday evening, wounding two.
An Iraqi vendor wheels his cart past election posters in Mosul, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009. Tensions have been expected to rise ahead of this month's provincial elections as Kurdish and mainly Sunni Arab parties jockey for power.
Iraqis pass campaign posters for the upcoming provincial election in the Shiite city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, center left, attends a ceremony marking the 88th anniversary of the founding of the Iraqi Army in Samawah, on the Euphrates River, about 230 miles southeast of Baghdad, Monday, Jan. 12, 2009.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, center left, attends a ceremony marking the 88th anniversary of the founding of the Iraqi Army in Samawah, on the Euphrates River, about 230 miles southeast of Baghdad, Monday, Jan. 12, 2009.
A man is treated for wounds at a hospital in central Baghdad, Iraq after being caught up in a bombing Monday, Jan. 12, 2009. A series of bombs targeting Iraqi security forces ripped through busy areas in Baghdad on Monday, killing at least nine people, police said.
U.S. Vice President-elect Joe Biden, left, appears with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, right, in Baghdad, Iraq on Monday, Jan. 12, 2009. Biden is visiting the two fronts in the U.S.-led war on terror ahead of the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration.