Many Iraqis apathetic or uninformed on the constitution

I read it here, on Riverbend’s great blog, first. You should read the whole of that wonderful post there… Bottom line: a conversation with her nieghbor, Umm F., to whom River has loaned one of her much-marked-up copies of the constitution…. Only to find that Umm F has split the bundle of papers in two and is using the two bundles to sweep dried berries off her porch…
Riverbend:

“But what will you vote?” I asked, watching the papers as they became streaked with the crimson, blood-like tooki [berry] stains.
“You’ll actually vote?” She scoffed. “It will be a joke like the elections… They want this constitution and the Americans want it- do you think it will make a difference if you vote against it?” She had finished clearing the top edge of the wall of the wilting tooki and she dumped it all on our side. She put the now dusty, took- stained sheets of paper back together and smiled as she handed them back, “In any case, let no one tell you it wasn’t a useful constitution- look how clean the wall is now! I’ll vote for it!” And Umm F. and the hedge clippers disappeared.
It occurred to me then that not everyone was as fascinated with the constitution as I was, or as some of my acquaintances both abroad and inside of the country were. People are so preoccupied trying to stay alive and safe and just get to work and send their children off to school in the morning, that the constitution is a minor thing.

And now, here is a poll from the United Nations, as reported by Duraed Salman of IWPR’s Baghdad bureau:

a recent nationwide public opinion survey conducted by the United Nations found the majority of respondents – slightly over 60 per cent – knew little or nothing about the constitutional drafting committee. Nearly 77 per cent had not seen a copy of the proposed constitution, and 91 per cent had never participated in constitutional discussions hosted by civic or non-governmental organisations.
On the streets of Baghdad, posters encouraging citizens to vote were torn down so often in some neighbourhoods that the government decided to stop replacing them. The UN began distributing five million copies of the proposed constitution for public distribution just a little over a week before the referendum. And a government-sponsored media campaign that was supposed to outline in simple language details of the draft has proved ineffective.
Instead, the media has focused almost entirely on the politics surrounding the referendum on the proposed constitution, [sociology professor Adul-Qadir] Hamdi asserted, and has ignored explaining the document itself.
“The public only knows about the disagreements among the blocs drafting the constitution,” he said.
Some residents are so unaware of the upcoming vote that they believe it is for a new Iraqi cabinet. Others are not registering to vote because they say the results are already fixed. And some argued they are too consumed in trying to survive to pay attention to the referendum.
“What vote are you talking about?” asked Amjad Sa’ad, a 31-year-old security guard. “When our basic daily needs are met and our security is restored, then we will care about such things.”
Zuhra Abdu-Samad, 53, reacted angrily when asked about the upcoming referendum, indicating that it would not produce anything of value. “It is just like shaking a fruitless palm tree,” she said.

… Yes, or maybe a tooki tree. But then, at least you can use the constitution to help clean up the mess?