I had to rub my eyes this morning. A positive story about Iraq led the New York Times–namely, that the unified Shiite slate is committed to secular government. Now, who knows how this will all turn out. But the broad composition of this shiite slate is itself a significant act of political pluralism and the statements its leader have made–about secular government, about the need to reach out to Sunnis, etc.–are a sign of extraordinary political maturity. All this is very encouraging, considering the shia are the majority in Iraq. (Also, don’t look now, but the widely dumped-on–ocassionally by me– Ahmed Chalabi is one of the possibilites for prime minister…)