The Sunni pullout from the drafting comittee for Iraq’s constitution has threatened to derail the fragile political process in the country.

According to the current political timetable, the new constitution is to be completed by 15 August, a national referendum on the constitution is to be held by mid-October followed by full government elections by mid-December.

Hear a conversation with Iraq’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations about the recent troubles at Iraq’s constitution drafting table.

Guests:

Ambassador Feisal al-Istrabadi, Iraq’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, one of the principal drafters of Iraq’s Transitional Administrative Law

James Dobbins,Director, International Security and Defense Policy Center at the Rand Corporation, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and principal author of the Rand History of Nation Building

Juna Cole, Professor of Middle East and South Asian History at the University of Michigan and author of “Sacred Space and Holy War: The Politics, Culture and History of Shi’ite Islam.”