Nobody could have anticipated

More failure after 1,640 prior days of consistent failure?

BAGHDAD, Sept. 12 — A carefully constructed compromise on a draft law governing Iraq’s rich oil fields, agreed to in February after months of arduous talks among Iraqi political groups, appears to have collapsed. The apparent breakdown comes just as Congress and the White House are struggling to find evidence that there is progress toward reconciliation and a functioning government here.

Although, I have to admit, I have no real interest in national exploitation -- though that doesn't mean I would choose over it, regional exploitation.

UPDATE: As Atrios commenter Linda notes, somehow -- AMAZINGLY -- Mayberry's most FABULOUS resident Huckleberry Lindsey Graham was wrong again:

Within the next weeks, not months, there will be a major breakthrough on the benchmarks regarding political reconciliation. And after the last two weeks of being a reservist, you could see Sunnis and Shia and Kurds taking a second look at Iraq.