"The Baghdad of today is different from the Baghdad of yesterday."

So were the words of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after a meeting in New York where the two discussed a possible future role for the UN in Iraq as a means to aid economic and political reforms. The Washington Times reports that al-Maliki has assured the Secretary-General that Iraqi Security Forces will be more than capable of protecting UN Delegates while in Baghdad citing that levels of violence in the city have decreased.

To be sure, political reconciliation remains the most difficult goal to be achieved and the UN's ability to be successful in a role designed to facilitate reconciliation can be somewhat questionable. (The United Nations has not proved itself very successful on a number of issues in recent years) However, it is still a very positive area of contention to note levels of violence in Baghdad have reduced greatly. If anything could be pointed at as being the major obstacle impeding political reconciliation it would be the violence in the capital. Hopefully, as the violence diminishes – along with political corruption in the Iraqi government – the goals of stability are attainable.