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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2005-08-01

Some Story, No Story, Whatever--They're Trying

Some outlets were reporting today the the Iraqis were going to ask for an extension to get their Constitution written. According to Dexter Filkins and Joel Brinkley, that's not right--they're committed.

Under intense American pressure, Iraqi leaders agreed Sunday to finish writing the country's constitution by the middle of August, raising the possibility that they will leave unresolved some of the fiercest disagreements over the future of the Iraqi state.

The 71 Iraqis empowered to write the constitution turned down a proposal to extend the Aug. 15 deadline by six months, an extension that some Iraqis contend is necessary to help bridge the vast differences that still divide Iraq's Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

Among the most divisive issues are the rights of women, the role of Islam and the scope and reach of Kurdish self-rule.

These are pretty touchy issues, to be sure. I suppose, if it took James Madison and George Washington three months, plus the Federalist Papers and that whole ratification thing to get our Constitution, it should take these guys, who have a recent history of Saddam and God knows what other history before that, a little while to get their thing done, also.

But these guys got a taste of Freedom on January 31st. I don't expect they'll be pushing away from the table any time soon.
Posted by: Michael / 8/01/2005 12:16:00 AM

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