EGYPTIAN BLOGGER BIG PHARAOH IS VERY UNHAPPY:

U.S. diplomats have conceded ground to Islamists on the role of religion in Iraq, negotiators said on Saturday as they raced to meet a 48-hour deadline to draft a constitution under intense U.S. pressure. . . .

Why not tell the state department and the US diplomats in Iraq “what the American people want”? Why not side with those Iraqi women who demonstrated for equal rights in downtown Baghdad and not let them down? Why not side with those secular and religious Iraqis who do not want a constitution dictated by Iran? I’d rather have the constitution delayed for 10 more years than rushing it through like this!!

Please take a few seconds to call the US state department NOW and raise this issue. The deadline for the constitution is tomorrow (Monday August 22nd).

US State Department:

202-647-4000

More numbers here.

As he notes, the Kurds are unhappy with this development, and though I’m certainly no expert that seems like a red-flag to me.

Read this item from Austin Bay, too. There are limits, of course, to how much we can tell the Iraqis to do with regard to their own constitution, but given the evidence (mentioned by Publius earlier) that Iraqi citizens are more liberal on the subject of religion than are their representatives here, there seems no reason to rush this, and, in fact, many reasons to hold back.

This makes me wonder what the diplomats are thinking, and I can’t help but feel that they should probably think again.

UPDATE: More on the Kurds’ unhappiness, here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: The Sunnis don’t like it either. That may actually be good news — or evidence that there are wheels within wheels here.

MORE: More here: “The repercussions of this policy are huge. Allowing fundamentalism to take hold in Iraq would be a mistake of epic proportions. Supporting and ecouraging such a move would be, in my mind, an impeachable offense. Be very careful here Mr. President.”