bad news for everybody

According to today's New York Times, Iraq's leaders did not meet the deadline for the new Iraqi constitution.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 15 - The Iraqi political process descended toward paralysis on Monday, when leaders failed to meet the deadline for completing the new constitution and voted to give themselves another week to resolve fundamental disagreements over the future and identity of this fractious land.

Several of the leaders said the disagreements, revolving around Islam, oil and the distribution of political power, grew sharper and more numerous as the day dragged on. Some said they were pessimistic that such vast differences could be resolved at all, much less in seven days.

"The differences are huge, and there is not enough determination from the political leaders to solve the problems," said Saleh Mutlak, a Sunni leader in the negotiations. "Almost 50 percent of the constitution is not finished yet."

When read in conjunction with Frank Rich's excellent, but disturbing Sunday column, this setback seems all the more problematic.

Meanwhile, Senators Biden and McCain are calling for more troops to be sent to Iraq. None of this is what the Bush Administration or the American people were hoping to hear.

I don't know about you, but this all sure makes me wish that I had been wrong about the war to begin with. Sometimes it sucks to be correct.