Iraqi Constitution News

The Iraqi legislature has reached an agreement on the constitution and a vote should take place this week:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Parliament on Wednesday approved a set of last-minute amendments to Iraq's draft constitution, sealing a compromise aimed at gaining Sunni support in this weekend's crucial referendum, the parliament speaker said.

The deal - which greatly increases the chances the constitution will be passed in Saturday's vote - came as insurgents pressed their campaign to wreck the referendum. A suicide bomber killed 30 Iraqis at an army recruitment center in a northern town where another bomber had struck just a day earlier.

Iraq's top leaders, including the Kurdish president, Sunni Arab vice-president, and Shiite prime minister, lined up on stage before the gathered lawmakers in parliament, lauding the deal as a show of unity between the country's often divided factions and communities.

The hour-long session, attended by 157 of parliament's 275 members - ended without the lawmakers voting on the amendments, but Parliament Speaker Hajim al-Hassani said no actual vote was necessary and that the compromise was approved.

Excellent news. Zarqawi and Zawahiri will be non-plussed:

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a letter to his top deputy in Iraq, al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader said the United States "ran and left their agents" in Vietnam and the jihadists must have a plan ready to fill the void if the Americans suddenly leave Iraq.

"Things may develop faster than we imagine," Ayman al-Zawahri wrote in a letter to his top deputy in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "The aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam — and how they ran and left their agents — is noteworthy. ... We must be ready starting now." (Related: English translation of the letter)

Senior U.S. military commanders have said that Iraqi security forces are improving significantly and some U.S. forces could return home early next year. Yet skeptics have raised concerns about whether such statements simply let the insurgency know how long they must wait for the U.S. to leave.

James Taranto has more analysis.