Iraqis are voting today on a new constitution. That the vote has progressed this far with support from the country’s three main religious factions is a minor miracle.

Most Iraqis probably haven’t had an opportunity to read the final document. They are being asked to vote on faith for a document that could be changed significantly once it is passed.

Iraqis are being asked to ratify an imperfect accord. The rights of women are not adequately protected, and the distribution of power threatens to break the country into three nearly autonomous parts, a Kurdish north, a Shiite south and a Sunni middle. But the power and money, in the form of oil, are not spread evenly.

Working with some Sunni leaders, Kurds and Shiites managed to mollify the minority enough to avoid a complete boycott. But the insurgency remains centered within the Sunni community and unless its political, religious and economic leaders can be integrated into a new government the country will remain on the verge of a civil war, which in many eyes has already begun.

Regardless of the outcome of today’s vote, Iraq will not recover from its current state until the violence stops. As long as people fear for their lives just to take their kids to schools, as long as bombs explode underneath cars and in marketplaces, until the kidnappings and executions end, there’s little chance for the country to rebuild its political and economic infrastructure.

Peace, however, will not be dictated at the muzzle end of a rifle. The Kurds and Shiites must show the strength to relinquish some power and curtail their desire for revenge against the Sunni minority that benefited most from the rule of Saddam Hussein and his oppression. And, perhaps an even bigger challenge, the Sunni community must turn its back on the insurgents who are waging war against the United States, Kurds and Shiites.

We hope that today’s vote will offer a path forward in Iraq. But images of purple-fingered Iraqis fresh from their trip to the polls won’t be enough. Progress requires that three warring and divided cultures put their historical grievances behind them to rebuild their country.