News Analysis: For Bush, Smaller Goals in Iraq - New York Times
As Iraq's draft constitution was presented to its National Assembly and honored at a brief ceremony largely boycotted by Sunnis, President Bush joined with others in his administration on Sunday in praising the charter as a milestone in the transition to democracy and the battle against insurgents.But in the disarray in Baghdad that was becoming evident, with Sunnis and some Shiites vowing to defeat the constitution and others angrily predicting a surge in anti-government violence, statements by the president and others in his administration had the air of making a case that the situation was not as bad as it looked.
Let the goalpost moving begin!
The Bush administration seems to have gotten off to a quick start on their effort to retroactively diminish expectations for progress in Iraq. There is confusion over the status of the new constitution, and the immediate future of the Iraqi political situation: will Sunni parties participate in the constitutional referendum? If the constitution is defeated, will there be enough goodwill to elect a new government and restart the constitutional process? In other words, a marginally cohesive polity just got a lot more unstable.
A failure, you say? Goodness, no. It's good "progress," which is really all we can ask for. What? You thought we expected a constitution that would have broad enough consensus and buy-in to deflate elements of the insurgency? You misunderstood. We were actually aiming for a chaotic "process" that would herald "more desperate, more despicable and more vicious" violence.
It would be even more incorrect to suggest that the unanimous condemnation of the draft constitution by Sunni negotiators was, somehow, indicative of wider Sunni Iraqi sentiment. Those are the minority opinions of a few. Which is why they were a part of negotiating this country's constitution. Get it?
"There are strong beliefs among other Sunnis that this constitution is good for all Iraqis, and that it adequately reflects compromises suitable to all groups," [Bush] said.
See? More progress: all the Sunnis who weren't at the constitution party really, really love this constitution.
