Representation for Sunnis?

If there is an election in Iraq, and law-abiding Sunnis are under-represented because of the violence, what to do?

Recently, and belatedly, the Bush administration started suggesting some kind of representation for Sunnis that is not based strictly on population, or might represent a group or region rather than simply population. As Kevin Drum says, this seems too late--yet it is a good enough idea that it shows the incompetence of the Bushies that it didn't come up earlier.

Especially since the U.S. provides a model: the U.S. Senate. Every state is equally represented, regardless of population. This may never have made a whole lot of sense in the U.S. It was supposed to help less populous states against more populous ones; it ended up helping to defend slavery, then segregation, and more recently agricultural subsidies. In any case, the Senate is obviously a very powerful legislative body.

When constitution-building was at some kind of fever pitch in Iraq, with serious proposals for the abolition of capital punishment, no right to bear arms, and maybe "economic rights," why wasn't some thought given to representing the major groups in the country, not just population numbers?

Mickey Kaus also has something on "how to include the Sunnis"--one idea is to have a re-vote, as in Ukraine, but Kaus doesn't like that suggestion for Iraq. I posted on the U.S. Senate idea for Iraq a couple of times, months ago. It still seems very difficult to search my old posts.

Thu Dec 30, 2004 1:35 pm MST by robertll | Email Article |

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