Sunnis will help draft Iraq's constitution

Following the conventional wisdom that the Victim becomes the executioner the moment you give it the power, one exepcted that would be the case with Iraq's Shia majority when it came to drafting the country's constitution, given that the Sunnis boycotted the iraqi january elections and that their minority oppressed the Shia majority during the ruling days of Saddam. I am happy to report that conventional wisdom is wrong this time: Sunni Arab leaders are expected to present by Thursday a list of 25 to 35 Sunni Arabs willing to help draft a permanent constitution, an official with a parliamentary committee overseeing the drafting said Sunday in an interview. The 55-member committee, dominated by Shiite Arabs and Kurds, the two groups that won big in the January elections, would then work with those Sunni Arabs to write the constitution, said the official, Bahaa al-Aaraji, a follower of the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr. The additional Sunnis would not have formal voting power to approve or reject the draft, Mr. Aaraji said. But he added that the committee would agree to approve only a draft reached through a consensus with the Sunnis. The committee, which has only two Sunni Arab members, is trying to work out a way to be more inclusive during the constitution-writing process. Sunni Arabs, who ruled Iraq under Saddam Hussein and are leading the insurgency, largely boycotted the elections and are underrepresented in the National Assembly. The White House has been urging the new Iraqi government to ensure that Sunni Arabs have a fair say in the drafting of the constitution. Iraqis, despite everything that is happening around them, are doing it the right way. Kudos to them!