The deadline being imposed on the Iraqi framers is artificial, as virtually all deadlines are, but it might have some beneficial effects. A deadline *does * concentrate the mind, and given the many divisive issues with which the Iraqis must deal in drafting their constitution, that’s probably for the best. People are dying in Iraq every day as the insurgency grinds on and on, and if a spiffy new constitution pleases a majority of the country *and * takes some of the wind out of the sails of the insurgents, so much the better.