A Constitution? Iraqis Are Thinking About Their Lives First

[steve2470]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/international/middleeast/24cnd-voices.html?hp&ex=1124942400&en=79fd808266ac5f7c&ei=5094&partner=homepage

By KIRK SEMPLE
Published: August 24, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 24 - Ali Sami's hands were flying around his photocopy machine like a short order cook's. With customers waiting in his small Baghdad copy shop he was not about to pause for anything, especially not a question about Iraq's new draft constitution.


"What constitution are you talking about?" Mr. Sami, a Shiite, said sardonically. "We are fed up with this thing! We would prefer to solve our problems first, such as electricity, water and security. How come they gathered to approve the constitution while Iraqis are slaughtered?"

As Iraq's political leaders met this week in the fortified Green Zone to try to resolve the remaining disputes over the draft, ordinary Iraqis everywhere were of various minds about what it all meant. The drafters turned in an incomplete document to the National Assembly on Monday and have given themselves until the end of Thursday to finish it.

At the more hopeful end of the spectrum of opinion, some Iraqis say they view the latest developments as a step toward creating a full and thriving democracy. But for others, caught in a struggle for survival amid war and doubtful public services, all the wrangling over abstract concepts could just as well be happening on Mars.

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