Meanwhile, over in Iraq, the Shiites and Kurds are busily fixing the constitutional referendum and hoping no one gets too upset about it. The UN seems ticked off, but with the US distracted by hurricanes, indictments and lottery commissioners nominated to the SCOTUS, will the real power in Iraq just let this skate through?

Most likely. The US government is interested in stability, not democracy, in Iraq. They've made the gamble that passing a constitution over the objection of the Sunnis is less risky than letting the constitution fail and starting all over. I have no idea if they're right, but I have to observe that their track record to date isn't comforting.

UPDATE 10/5: The goalposts have been returned to their original position.