The signs of failure are hanging all over the American adventure in Iraq.

Violence is up, support for the war in the United States is down and a mother, grieving over the death of her son, has put the president on his heels.

But the delay in drafting a constitution should not be counted among the others.

Iraq’s leaders correctly postponed their work, giving themselves a seven-day extension to complete their work. The United States had pushed hard for the constitution to be complete by Monday. It was a worthy goal and the firm stand likely pushed matters forward.

As the deadline neared, however, the ruling factions appeared further apart, none willing to relent on the fundamental issues dividing them. Questions of federalism and the role of Islam in the constitution will not be easily resolved.

Taking a little more time might create just enough space for a compromise. If the delegates had persisted and met Monday’s deadline, it’s unlikely the document would have drawn the necessary support for ratification. At the same time, the demands of the Kurds, Shiite and Sunnis – and the compromises that might result – could undermine the very idea of democracy.

U.S. history offers an example of a terrible compromise that helped the Constitution win ratification, but cost the nation a bit of its soul. During the Constitutional Convention, northern and southern states came to an impasse on the status of slaves and the Three-fifths Compromise was born. Slaves would be considered less than a full person for the purposes of representation and taxation. Generations of black Americans were denied their personhood, a casualty in the quest to build a new representative government.

In Iraq, the stakes could be just as high for women. If religious law is the foundation for the constitution and government, women’s rights could be dangerously eroded. Like blacks in the United States, they could face life as part person, part property, unequal before the law and at the mercy of others.

If an extra week can avoid such a disastrous turn, it’s worth it. A new three-fifths compromise would be no compromise at all; it would be a complete capitulation to tyranny and the ghosts of another era.