Violence continues to flare in Iraq as political leaders eye the August deadline for drafting a founding constitution that would go before voters in October.
Insurgents have wreaked havoc in their cowardly efforts to derail the formation of a democratic government. In recent days, suicide bombings and other terror have reached unprecedented levels, aimed now at the Sunni politicians on the committee that is writing the Iraq constitution.
This week, four Sunni politicians withdrew from the panel after two colleagues were assassinated and a third wounded. Others are boycotting the meetings, saying the obvious: The government can’t protect them.
It is critical that the Sunni minority be involved in crafting a new constitution. The Sunnis were in control under Saddam Hussein, and they are key to helping legitimize the diversity of the new Iraqi government.
American officials are pushing for Iraq’s parliament to meet an Aug. 15 deadline to approve a draft of the constitution to show that the process is undeterred by violence.
Sunni Arab groups largely boycotted the Iraqi election last January. But some leaders realize that if they are to have a voice in the new government, they need to help draft a constitution that will help protect the rights of ethnic and religious minorities. When the Shiite and Kurdish-controlled constitutional committee appointed 55 of its members in May, only two were Sunni Arabs.
In June, under pressure from the Bush administration, the committee added 15 new Sunnis to the committee. Now, the escalating attacks and the Sunni boycott are casting doubt on whether the group can meet the deadline. And that is undoubtedly the intent of the latest attacks – to discourage the Sunnis from taking part in the political process, and to punish those who do so.
In Washington, a Pentagon progress report on Iraq described a nation struggling to build its government and economy while fighting a tenacious insurgency with newly trained military and police forces that still need American help.
Insurgents who are trying to polarize Iraqi society must not be allowed to succeed. The Sunnis take a big risk by getting involved, and it is essential that the government safeguard their participation. Iraq’s founding government will struggle for legitimacy unless all of the nation’s major groups are part of the political process.
