It's a Constitution!!! Congratulations! [maybe]

Breaking News!

Sky News is reporting:

A final version of the Iraqi constitution has been completed and is set to be approved, an Iraqi Government spokesman has said.

Read it here.

This has not been confirmed by any of the wire services.

OK! Reuters confirms that Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kubba has announced that a draft of the constitution is complete and that it will be voted on later in the day.

Read it here.

Bloomberg confirms that there will be a vote on the draft constitution today.

Read it here.

Whoops! FOX News reports that the assembly will not vote until tomorrow at the earliest.

Now renewed fighting has broken out among Shiite militias. It appears that al-Sadr can't control his own guys.

Now the Guardian confirms that there will be no vote on the constitution tonight.

Talk about a fluid situation! There will be a last ditch meeting among party leaders tonight, and the assembly can be called into session if an agreement is reached.

Down to the wire again.

Read the Guardian piece here.

Well, they failed to meet their self-imposed deadline. So is it a constitution or not. Mosaic on Link surveys the Arab media and, not surprisingly there are conflicting reports. Abu Dhabi reports that the presentation of a draft constitution to the assembly has been put off indefinitely. Jordan TV repeats comments by Kubba to the effect that the draft will be presented today and that it is a pure formality because [and here he's getting ridiculous] the constitution was actually approved on Monday. No it wasn't.

Meanwhile the Sadrists have withdrawn from the interim government and al Sadr is urging his followers to vote "no" on the constitution. At least the fighting among Shiite factions has ceased.

And, to make things worse, the "insurgents" have stepped up their atrocities, carrying out not only bombings but mass ritualistic executions [just like Saddam did] in the south.

I fear that everything is starting to come apart under pressure from the "insurgents." If it does there will be civil war -- brutal beyond all imagining. So far the Iraqi people have shown a heroic determination to make democracy work. It is their leadership, both religious and secular, that is letting them down.