Looks like the Iraq civil war is on

The Shi'ites and the Kurds have essentially told the Sunnis to go fuck themselves:

Shiite and Kurdish leaders drafting a new Iraqi constitution abandoned negotiations with a group of Sunni representatives on Friday, deciding to take the disputed charter directly to the Iraqi people.

With the American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, standing by, Shiite and Kurdish representatives said they had run out of patience with the Sunni negotiators, a group that includes several former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. The Shiites and Kurds said the Sunnis had refused to budge on a pair of crucial issues that were holding up completion of the constitution.

The Shiites and Kurds reached their decision in meetings that ran late into Friday night, disregarding the Sunnis' pleas for more time.

The Shiite and Kurdish representatives sought to play down the importance of leaving the Sunnis out, saying that with their Baathist links, they had never truly spoken for the broader Sunni population. The Iraqi leaders who drafted the constitution defended it as a document that would ensure the unity of the country and safeguard individual rights.

"The negotiation is finished, and we have a deal," said Ahmad Chalabi, the deputy prime minister and a member of the Shiite leadership. "No one has any more time. It cannot drag on any longer. Most of the Sunnis are satisfied. Everybody made sacrifices. It is an excellent document."

Further proof that Chalabi is a kissin' cousin to the Bush Administration. When things get completely FUBAR, call it a success and keep moving.

And sure enough, right on cue, here comes the spokesman for Planet Delusional:

In Washington, a senior State Department official insisted that events in Iraq were "moving in a positive direction." He said all Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis who have been taking part in the talks were continuing to discuss details and refinements.

"What we are watching now is the endgame of this process," the official said. "We don't want to get ahead of the Iraqis and make any announcements, but all the parties are involved in the process."

"There are still ongoing conversations about it," he said.

So there you go. In future, car bombings and the inevitable "ethnic cleansing" tocome will be redefined by the Administration as "ongoing conversations."