Where Charter Is Least Of Worries

"Unveiling of constitution in Samawah reveals just how unsophisticated Iraq's democracy is, and how loyal the majority is to the Shiite tribal, religious and political leaders steering the country."

Local Issues Top List In Town in S. Iraq

By Ellen Knickmeyer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, October 7, 2005; Page A12

SAMAWAH, Iraq -- The first copies of the draft constitution that would remake Iraq arrived in this sandy provincial capital in U.S. military helicopters, offloaded with a phalanx of neatly pressed and jacketed Iraqi officials keen to explain the charter.

U.S., Australian and British soldiers carted about half a dozen boxes filled with copies of the charter into the dilapidated, sparely furnished government offices for tribal, religious and political leaders of Muthanna province to peruse late Wednesday afternoon.