No! It can't be! Positive news from Iraq? In the AP?

It's true! Iraq President Averts Political Crisis. That's the headline of this story from AP.

Go Figure! Newsweek is still trawling for some legitimacy for it's recanted and utterly discredited Qu'ron-Gate story. Perhaps AP took a hint? In any event, the news is indeed good. The Iraqi president may be wedging the pro-saddam Sunnis from the disgruntled disempowered Sunnis. The latter may be more willing to halt insurgent campaigns than the latter. Meanwhile, he denies them any opportunity to draw Shia and Kurds into the insurgency by shoring up support in those parties. He and the government are now the secure gatekeepers. The Sunnis know where to go if they want a voice in their future:

The latest move to lure the reluctant Sunni Arab minority into the political process came amid reports that the Iraqi government and U.S. Embassy were both engaged in backchannel negotiations designed to get the Sunni-dominated insurgents involved in the political process.

At the same time, the government has undercut ties with the Sunni community by supporting the Badr Brigade militia of the Shiites and the pesh merga of the Kurds. Only Wednesday, Talabani, speaking at a public ceremony, praised the militia as being the "heroes of liberating Iraq."

Of course, AP has to include some sky-is-falling meme in an Iraq story. Apparently, the one here concerns the upcoming constitution vote in mid August:

Iraq's 275-seat parliament has until mid-August to adopt a new constitution that hasn't yet been written, must be acceptable to Iraq's voters, and is expected to deal with the tough issues of role of Islam in public life and the type of electoral system Iraq should have.

The document will face a nationwide vote two months later. If adopted, it will provide the basis for a new election to be held by December.

"It's all down to time," said Mariam Taleb al-Rayes, a Shiite legislator and one of nine women on the 55-deputy committee that meets in a second-story room behind dusty windows taped with a plastic coating to prevent the glass from shattering in case of explosions.

There are many doubters. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw isn't one of them:

"Many, many people said there was no chance of meeting a Jan. 30 deadline for elections, no possibility that the elections could take place in a free way. They were wrong on both counts," Straw said after meeting Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

"I have every confidence that you will be able to meet those deadlines, the constitution will be delivered on time, there will be a referendum, and the elections will take place in December," he said.

Securing the committment of the Sunni coalition will ensure that the constitution has credibility with the 20% minority. It will also demonstrate that Iraqis can come together to decide the fate of their nation. No longer must they live according to which type of Iraqi they are. Unity will give them the willingness to achieve the national culture they desire and deserve. With the people behind the constitution--and the government that emerges from it--the insurgency will face the prospect of combatting the manifestation of the Iraqi people's will. Already certain Sunni tribes have had enough of Al Quada foreign fighters and their twisted vision of Islam. To stand against the new Iraq would become unthinkable. Expect a large bang as they go out, however. Desperate times, desperate measures.