A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

The polling went off without a hitch. Security was maintained. Sunni participation went up (though laughably, this was noted as a bad thing on ABC's This Week program today since increased Sunni participation would lead to increased resistance which would somehow lead to a civil war. Note that these would-be Cassandras are the same people who tried to find doom and gloom in the January 30th elections because there was a lack of Sunni participation. You just can't please some people, I guess).

And now, it would seem that the Iraqi constitution was ratified: 

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that initial assessments indicate Iraqis had probably approved a controversial constitution, although the turnout alone showed the fragile new political process has taken hold despite a deadly insurgency.

"There's a belief that it has probably passed," Rice told reporters traveling with her, based on accounts from people in Iraq who are seeing preliminary vote tallies. At least 63 percent of Iraqis voted Saturday, she said, an increase of about 1 million voters over the first democratic election in January for a transitional government. Much of that increase, she said, comes from the higher participation of Iraq's minority Sunni Muslims.

The violence also was lower and produced fewer lethal attacks than in January's vote, she noted.

Speaking in Washington Sunday afternoon, President Bush congratulated the Iraqis and noted that higher number of voters, especially among the Sunnis.

"This is a very positive day for the Iraqis and, as well, for world peace," Bush said in brief remarks to reporters. "Democracies are peaceful countries. The vote today in Iraq stands in stark contrast to the attitudes and philosophy and strategy of al Qaeda and its terrorist friends and killers."

The constitution requires a simple majority to be approved, unless two-thirds of voters in three of Iraq's 18 provinces voted against it. Then the constitution would not pass and Iraqi leaders would be forced to draft a new document to be submitted to voters.

News services from Baghdad reported Sunday that unofficial returns suggested large numbers of voters rejected the constitution in the Sunni strongholds of Anbar and Salahuddin provinces. But according to other unofficial results, Sunni voters may not have been able to reach the two-thirds threshold in Diyala province east of Baghdad or in Nineveh province in the north, where Sunnis also are a large percentage of the population.

We will have to see what the official word is. But it would seem that there is good news from Iraq. The much-missed Arthur Chrenkoff would no doubt be pleased. And all indications are that he--and we--should be.

But of course, as this post notes, would-be Cassandras abound.

(Cross posted on Red State.)