WP: Key Panel in Iraq Considers Expanding

[maddezmom]

Key Panel in Iraq Considers Expanding
For Sunnis, a Bigger Say on Constitution

By Jonathan Finer and Bassam Sebti
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, May 28, 2005; Page A14

BAGHDAD, May 27 -- The committee responsible for writing Iraq's permanent constitution is weighing a proposal that would permit political parties, tribes and other organizations in Sunni Muslim strongholds throughout the country to select additional committee members.

The move would strengthen the Sunni minority's role in drafting the document that will serve as the foundation of the new Iraqi state and help bring Sunni Arabs, who ruled the country under former president Saddam Hussein but largely boycotted Iraq's Jan. 30 parliamentary elections, back into the political process.

Iraq's Shiite Muslims and ethnic Kurds -- who are overwhelmingly Sunni but historically at odds with Sunni Arabs -- currently dominate the 55-member committee, which next meets on Saturday. Sunni Arabs, who make up as much as 20 percent of the population, hold just two seats. One proposal under consideration calls for 46 new members to be added, of whom 15 to 20 would be Sunnis.

The Iraqi government has pledged to include more Sunnis in the political process, a step urged by U.S. officials here and in Washington, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Last weekend, some Sunni religious and political leaders formed a new political bloc and signaled their desire to participate in drafting the constitution.

~snip~
more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/27/AR2005052701517.html

[thebigidea]

1. gotta love how they simplify Iraq into the Shiite/Sunni/Kurd dynamic

as if all it takes to make a legitimate government is the right racial/religious mix...

how insulting to Iraqis this must seem. Then again, the whole situation is an insult to humanity.

Can you imagine if we operated like this? "Ok, we need 3 Catholics, 2 Protestants... 1 Mormon... uh, point five Scientologists..."

[RaulGroom]

2. No, no no

Holding us up to the same standars to which we hold others is "moral equivalence," a horrible thought crime. You must have misspoken.

I'm sure you meant to say "all Iraqis are evil racists who will surely kill each other if the noble Americans are not around to make them play nice."

Your error has been noted on your permanent record.