Your Tuesday morning surprise

I know you were convinced they would have that constitution hammered out, but...

Iraqi factional leaders failed to meet Monday's deadline for drafting a constitution in an often-rancorous debate that appeared to have widened rifts among Shiite, Sunni, Kurdish and secular groups while slipping from a time line pushed hard by the United States as it considers future troop withdrawals.

  SF Gate article

So they appealed to parliament for a one-week extension, which they got.

Iraqi officials presented the extension as a success. They smiled and shook hands among themselves and with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who strolled on the floor of parliament ahead of the late-night vote.

"This to my mind is real democracy and proves to the world that Iraq is writing its own constitution," National Assembly speaker Hachem Hassani told members of parliament.

[...]

Even so, none of the major sticking points appeared to have been resolved, and new ones emerged in the last days of the talks.

But at least now Buttie and the Boys can proclaim that the coming week's death and destruction in Iraq is the result of the insurgency making a last great effort to derail Iraq's new freedom. Another one of those "spikes" in the violence, eh?

With hopes fading by early Monday, Western officials were pointing to interpretations of the country's interim U.S.-written charter that they said would technically allow more time for the drafting.

[...]

Under terms of the interim charter, the National Assembly was to dissolve if it failed to meet Monday's deadline, and elections would be held for a new parliament that would try again. The literal 11th-hour vote Monday night -- technically an amendment to the interim constitution -- sidestepped that provision.

Ah, yes. An amendment.

We have ways.

U.S. officials downplayed the significance of the delay, and Bush expressed confidence the Iraqis would reach consensus.

"I applaud the heroic efforts of Iraqi negotiators and appreciate their work to resolve remaining issues through continued negotiation and dialogue," Bush said in a statement. "Their efforts are a tribute to democracy and an example that difficult problems can be solved peacefully through debate, negotiation and compromise."

  Chicago Sun Times article

All options are on the table, of course. And force is only used as a last resort.

[T]he last-minute decision to postpone the deadline raised serious questions about the ability of Iraq's varied factions to make the necessary political compromises. Some Iraqi citizens were worried about the exposed fractures in the country's leadership.

"We are disappointed because we risked our lives when we went out to polling stations, but now we see each political bloc searching for its own interests," said Taha Sabir in Baghdad. "We expected a better life, but we got only many crises such as electricity and fuel shortages."

If agreement on a constitution is reached, Iraqis will vote around Oct. 15 to accept or reject the charter, leading to more elections in December for the country's first new government under the new constitution.

At which times, you may expect more "spikes" in the violence, right Rums?
But let's back up a minute. If they vote to accept or reject the charter (by which I assume the reporter means "constitution") in October, then the December elections are dependent upon acceptance. If there's no new constitution, how can there be elections for the country's first new government? I think they'd be back to square one: voting a new parliament to attempt to hash out a new constitution. Kind of where they are now.

Of course, I could be wrong.

We have ways.

Meanwhile, Iraqi troops clashed with guards of former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's Iraqi National Accord, leaving several guards injured, a statement by the group said Tuesday.

However, an official at Allawi's office, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not permitted to speak to reporters, said the incident occurred Aug. 7 between soldiers and guards near the Iraqi National Accord's main office in western Baghdad.

He said one guard was seriously wounded and is still in hospital. It was not clear why the group waited more than a week to release the statement.

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