No There has been a dramatic decrease in sectarian violence; the situation in Anbar province and within the Sunni community in general has been transformed; the Maliki government has been incredibly supportive of efforts to go after Shiite militiamen.
After threats of sectarian violence earlier this year, the situation grew calmer.
But, in a measure of Iraq's sectarian division, this terrible situation may buy Maliki a third term.
Indeed, said Navi Pillay, the United Nations' top human rights monitor, "the increasing number of foreign fighters crossing Syria's borders to support one side or another is further fueling the sectarian violence, and the situation is beginning to show worrying signs of destabilizing the region as a whole".
With Mr Hariri and his political heirs largely associated with the country's Saudi-supported Sunni community, and Syrian-backed Hezbollah championing the Shia, the prosecution risks further inflaming sectarian tensions in a situation where violence has erupted with mounting frequency in recent weeks, in large measure as a spill-over from the war in Syria.
In Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki's installing of a Shia-dominated government, political marginalization of Sunnis increased an already polarized situation and sectarian violence that would result in alienated Sunnis welcoming ISIS.
Worried more about the security situation and the sectarian rift, most Iraqis are likely to vote as they have done since 2003, across sectarian lines.
For her and others — and Allawi himself — he was the best hope to, as his party put it, overturn a situation "based on sectarian quotas" that "lacks belief in real participation".
Iraqi reconciliation seems a distant dream and most Middle Eastern governments, while calling publicly for an end to the occupation, acknowledge privately that any sudden American withdrawal could worsen an already catastrophic situation by turning sectarian chaos into fully fledged civil war.
We live in a sectarian country where the security situation is not secure, the borders are not bordered up and people lack confidence in the security institutions and courts.
