Sure, it's their fault

Visiting US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Iraqi leaders to "get on with it" in preparing a new constitution on Wednesday [...]

[...]

Rumsfeld, on an unannounced visit to Baghdad, called on Iraqi leaders to draft and approve a constitution without delay, warning that any hold-up would fan the insurgency.

  Sify article

I wonder how that went over. Oh, wait. He didn't exactly say it to their faces.

"Now's the time to get on with it," Rumsfeld told the travelling press as he flew in from Tajikistan for talks with Iraqi leaders and US commanders.

Chicken hawk.

Doesn't matter. Iraq's new buddy isn't going to be the USA.

Iran's Minister of Industries Es'haq Jahangiri said that Iran is ready to contribute to reconstruction of Iraq's industries.

  Iran News article

Don't get your panties in a wad. We're going to bomb Iran pretty soon. They'll be needing that money for their own reconstruction.

Humam al-Hamoudi, the head of the constitution drafting committee in the Iraqi parliament, has called a leadership summit for Thursday and Friday to discuss the current draft. I interpret this move as a sign that the committee itself is deadlocked.

  Juan Cole post

Cole quotes some of the draft, including this interesting paragraph (parenthetical portions exist in the draft itself, denoting areas of contention):

The second paragraph says: "Islam is the official religion of state, and is the fundamental source of legislation. It is impermissible to pass legislation that contradicts its essential verities or its laws (its essential verities about which there is consensus). This constitution safeguards the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people (in its Shiite majority and its Sunnis) and respects all the rights of the other religions.

Is that a bit contradictory? Islam is law, but other religions are respected.

And it sure looks to be like we bought those Iraqis their freedom and democracy, albeit at the high price of blood...

Paragraph 11 says, "Thought and practice, under whatever rubric, is forbidden that adopts racism, or declaring a Muslim to be an infidel, or terrorism . . . especially the Saddami Baath. It is not permitted for it to be part of political pluralism in the state."

The ellipses cut out language that seems to be proposed to make praising or instigating any of these things illegal. This paragraph probably is influenced by post-war German law making Nazi extremism illegal.

Mission accomplished.

Read the rest of Cole's analysis.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.