Glimmer of Hope?

Via ABC news:

Iraqi negotiators reached a breakthrough deal on the constitution Tuesday and at least one Sunni Arab party said it would now urge its followers to approve the charter in this weekend's referendum.

Under the deal, the two sides agreed that a commission would be set up to consider amendments to the charter that would then be put to a vote in parliament and then submitted to a new referendum next year.

The agreement would allow the Sunnis to try to amend the constitution to reduce the autonomous powers that Shiites and Kurds would have under the federal system created by the charter, negotiators said.

I give Bush and Co. until tomorrow morning to start heralding this development as another sign of democracy at work. Let’s not get carried away yet, but productive negotiations are definitely a step in the right direction.

--Matthew McCoy