to do.
Things aren't going quite so swimmingly.
<snip>
More than 70 people have died and hundreds have been injured in days of violence sparked by an Iraqi crackdown on Shia militias in Basra.
There have also been violent clashes in Kut and the capital, Baghdad.
On Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki gave Shia militants in Basra 72 hours to lay down their arms or face "severe penalties".
The leader of the Mehdi Army, Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, has spoken of the possibility of negotiations to end the violence.
Gunfights
Iraqi police in Kut said at least 44 people were killed in clashes between Iraqi and US forces, and Shia militiamen, the AFP news agency reported.
In Basra, residents have said that they are beginning to run out of food and water.
Basra's police chief Adbul Jalil Khalaf said he survived an assassination attempt overnight, in which three of his bodyguards were killed.
There are also reports of a bomb strike on an oil pipeline, near Basra, which carries oil for export.
In the capital, Baghdad, groups of hundreds of Sadr supporters gathered in Sadr City, a vast Shia-dominated suburb, to demand Mr Maliki's resignation over the military operation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7316056.stmThe bombing of the oil pipeline was confirmed by BBC International TV.
Iraqis are not giving up their oil.