Iraq's constitution: Recipe for disaster

U.S. need for success rushes process, leaving out already restive Sunnis

By PATRICK COCKBURN
THE INDEPENDENT

At the beginning of World War I, an Austro-Hungarian general led his army to catastrophic defeat against Serbia because he made a premature advance based on the need to mark the birthday of Emperor Franz Josef with a striking victory.

The determination of American diplomats in Baghdad over the past few days to force a draft constitution through the Iraqi national assembly at high speed is not aimed at producing a political success to coincide with the birthday of President Bush. But it has everything to do with the desperate need of the White House, as popular support for the war in Iraq ebbs by the day across the United States, to show that it is making progress. It is not Iraqi but U.S. political priorities that are paramount.

It is turning out to be a recipe for disaster. The draft constitution submitted at the last minute Monday night would turn Iraq into a loose federation while the basis for laws would be strongly Islamic.

"There will be no central government like before," declared Humam Hamoudi, the Shiite chairman of the parliamentary committee drawing up the constitution.

The constitution is the fruit of cooperation between the Kurds and Shiites who dominate the national assembly. The views of the Sunni members of the constitutional committee, mostly co-opted because few Sunnis took part in the general election in January, were largely ignored.

But it is the 5 million-strong Sunni Arab community in Iraq is the base of the insurgency in which almost 2,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed over the past two years. "If this constitution passes, the streets will rise up," said Salih Mutlak, a Sunni delegate.

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