Key members of the committee writing the new Iraqi constitution said Sunday they need another month to finish the draft, threatening U.S. efforts to maintain political momentum to combat the insurgency...
Mr. Talabani met with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and afterward insisted the deadline must be met. Mr. Talabani, a Kurd, began urgent consultations with parliament leaders to head off a delay...
Under the original deadline, the National Assembly had until Aug. 15 to approve the charter and submit it to a national referendum in mid-October. That formula was strongly supported by the Americans.
But major differences remain among the ethnic and religious groups represented on the committee, including disputes over such issues as federalism, dual nationality and the role of Islam.
In sum:
The only thing that the constitutional drafters have agreed on so far is that they need more time to actually reach a workable agreement. But the U.S., having decided that some arbitrary timetables are entirely to its liking, wants whatever the committee can produce by mid-August, regardless of whether or not all (or any) ethnic groups are satisfied with it.
Somehow this doesn't strike me as a recipe for stability. Not that anything the U.S. has done in Iraq can be classified as that.
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