- Shiite members of Iraq’s Governing Council refused to sign the interim constitution at the last minute Friday after the country’s top Shiite cleric rejected two clauses of the document, Iraqi officials said.

The United States, which plans to open its largest embassy in the world on July 1 in Baghdad, will still exert considerable diplomatic influence on the fledgling Iraqi government. More than 100,000 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq after power is handed over.

And the UN mandate which allows US troops to stay in Iraq expires on March 31. They'll stay, but not legally (what's new?) if nothing is signed with an Iraqi government. Which won't happen without a constitution.

Kinda tough to hold places like this together, isn't it. One of the genuinely puzzling matters is how Saddam did it even though the country was awash with weapons and explosives.

I know he was repressive. But America is trying repression, too, and it's not working for the US.

OK. He was more repressive. And it worked better. But the average citizen seemed happier with their own government, except for the US imposed sanctions, which did not affect Saddam.

It's another puzzlement, I guess.

Arf