So with the "handover of power" complete in Iraq, it's time to assess what's next as the country moves towards elections. Time magazine was kind enough to put together a nice little listing of who the key players are for its readers.

Speculation remains that now since Iraq is supposedly running its own affairs, declaring martial law won't produce the political backlash as if we had done it (even though it'll be the US sanctioning such a move behind the scenes anyway).

The new government is currently restricted to setting up the January elections, and maintaining security. Their strategy at this point is to reassemble large portions of Saddam Hussein's old Baathist army to maintain security.

Meanwhile, the rift between the Shiites and the Kurds on the future of Iraq remains troubling. The Shiites represent a majority of the population, and want that to be reflected in terms of authority in the new government. Meanwhile, the Kurds up north want to retain veto power in that new government, something Shiite leaders like Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani strongly oppose. Sistani is advocating the constitution be disolved after the election.

Let's start the betting. Will it be elections on schedule, or imposed martial law coupled with power grab by interim government?