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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lurqer who wrote (29194)	9/30/2003 5:46:15 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Exit strategy? There is no exit strategy from a Tar Baby - that's why it's a Tar Baby. Washington's exit strategy from Iraq received a setback on Tuesday as a deadline for the first step in drawing up a new constitution slipped away because of divisions in the Iraqi Governing Council. Popular ratification of a constitution lies at the core of the "seven steps to Iraqi sovereignty" laid out by Paul Bremer, the US civilian administrator in Baghdad. Colin Powell, secretary of state, has spoken of a six-month "deadline" for writing a new constitution. But, as of Tuesday night, a key committee selected by the Governing Council had not met an end of September deadline, already put back by two weeks, for delivering its final recommendations on how to choose a body to write the constitution. Members of Iraq's Governing Council made clear on Tuesday the final decision over the constitutional process rested with them alone, and they would take "however long it takes" to agree a method of selecting the constitution's drafters. Richard Armitage, deputy US secretary of state, on Tuesdaty denied before a congressional hearing that Mr Powell was trying to install a provisional government that would operate on the basis of Iraq's 1958 constitution. But analysts close to the State Department predicted the Bush administration would return to the concept of installing a provisional Iraqi government with limited sovereignty if it became clear that a six-month timeframe for drawing up a constitution was unachievable, as argued by members of the 25-strong Governing Council. And more from news.ft.com JMO lurqer