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The government had earlier announced plans to bypass parliament in an attempt to push through the document.
But as the final hours ran out before the deadline for approving the constitution, Hajim al-Hassani, the speaker of the parliament, appeared to overrule the country's leaders by insisting that negotiations would continue today, meaning that the deadline would be missed for the third time.
The impression of growing crisis in Iraq was reinforced when a new front erupted in the violent rebellion, with Shia Muslims fighting each other with guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the prime minister, made an emergency television appeal for peace and sent two police commando units to Najaf where the fighting had started.
Throughout the day in Baghdad, politicians bickered over how to proceed with the constitution without driving the country to civil war.
Gunmen opened fire yesterday on a convoy of cars used by the president but Jalal Talabani was not in it. Four bodyguards were wounded.
In what appeared to be an attempt to inflame sectarian tensions, the bodies of 37 Shia soldiers, killed with a single bullet to the head, were found in a shallow river south of Baghdad, the latest of several such grim discoveries. Police said they had been stripped to their underwear.
At least 12 people were killed as his Mahdi Army militia clashed with members of the Iranian-linked Badr Brigade in six cities and a Baghdad suburb. Sadr has now formed common cause with the Sunnis, fearing that federalism will play into the hands of Iran.
The Badr Brigade is the armed wing of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which dominated the elections. It wants the southern states to become a semi-autonomous region with partial control over its revenues and security.
Originally posted by Uncle Joe
Yup, Iraq will collapse, the conservatives will be unapologetic. The anti war people will say 'told you so' and in the middle of the recriminations that reverberate around the West tens of thousands of innocent people will die.
Originally posted by skippytjc
Democracy is not the issue.
The reason Iraq MAY collapse (it wont) is foreign jihadist with agendas that have nothing to do with Iraq. The Iraqi's were thrilled two years ago when the US tanks came rolling in. Add a handful of Jihadist’s out for Islamic world domination to the mix to destabilize things and dissent starts. They played their cards perfectly: Kill a bunch of people (mostly Iraqi's) to bring uncertainty and doubt. Then recruit the Iraqi’s themselves to do more of the same and there you have it: Mayhem.
Oh, and btw: Iraq is just fine, and in no way will they collapse. Other sources report daily of all the wonderful things happening there and all of the successes. But you won’t report on those as they don’t fit your “Doom & Gloom” agenda.
Originally posted by skippytjc
Iraq is just fine, and in no way will they collapse. Other sources report daily of all the wonderful things happening there and all of the successes. But you won’t report on those as they don’t fit your “Doom & Gloom” agenda.
Originally posted by Souljah
Originally posted by Uncle Joe
Yup, Iraq will collapse, the conservatives will be unapologetic. The anti war people will say 'told you so' and in the middle of the recriminations that reverberate around the West tens of thousands of innocent people will die.
I guess that's Democracy...
Originally posted by jsobecky
Originally posted by Souljah
Originally posted by Uncle Joe
Yup, Iraq will collapse, the conservatives will be unapologetic. The anti war people will say 'told you so' and in the middle of the recriminations that reverberate around the West tens of thousands of innocent people will die.
I guess that's Democracy...
Or communism, or socialism, or..
But we are talking about Iraq Today and how the USA "imported" Democracy here - but actually casuing a bitter struggle between religious/ethnic groups.
Originally posted by Uncle Joe
Yup, Iraq will collapse, the conservatives will be unapologetic. The anti war people will say 'told you so' and in the middle of the recriminations that reverberate around the West tens of thousands of innocent people will die.
Originally posted by evanfitz
why do I get the feeling that some people on this board will hope for the worse?
Weeks of bitter wrangling over Iraq's constitution ended in disarray yesterday, threatening the country with further violence and undermining efforts towards a timetable for American disengagement.
Two polls published last week suggested that Mr Bush's job approval rating is now at its lowest point since he began the presidency. A Harris poll put Mr Bush's rating at 40 per cent and suggested 58 per cent of the US public had a negative opinion of the President's performance. His approval rating in June was 45 per cent.
A poll for the American Research Group put his approval rating at just 36 per cent. Fifty-nine per cent of the people polled said the country was "seriously off on the wrong track".