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"An obstacle to a lasting settlement"
Iraq's main sects are spiralling towards civil war.
The powerful spiritual leadership of Iraq's majority Shiites this week was insistent that the interim constitution that Washington had nursed to the table for Iraqi signatures was, in fact, an interim "interim constitution" that would have to be rewritten.
The US occupation authorities claimed the charter as a victory and rushed on. But when the next step was identified as forming an interim government, officials greeted media questions with we-don't-know shrugs of the shoulders.
The fraught nature of that contest, which is edging towards civil war in post-Saddam Iraq, is underscored by the ducking of critical issues in the interim constitution in a way that denied all corners what they wanted - but gave them each a veto over the others. British Iraq expert Toby Dodge described it to The Guardian as a US victory that has been gained at the expense of "clarity, certainty and even stability".
The US occupation authorities claimed the charter as a victory and rushed on. But when the next step was identified as forming an interim government, officials greeted media questions with we-don't-know shrugs of the shoulders.
The fraught nature of that contest, which is edging towards civil war in post-Saddam Iraq, is underscored by the ducking of critical issues in the interim constitution in a way that denied all corners what they wanted - but gave them each a veto over the others. British Iraq expert Toby Dodge described it to The Guardian as a US victory that has been gained at the expense of "clarity, certainty and even stability".
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