So it seems the Iraqis have approved the new federal constitution. With this hurdle now apparently cleared the people of Iraq are now free to form a new government. Elections are now slated for December. According to Iraq’s election commission, over 70% of Iraqis voted in favor of the constitution. Those who opposed it were largely Sunnis, but apparently Sunnis didn’t vote “No” in large enough margins to derail the constitutional process. The new Iraqi government, however, will have a tough job ahead of it. The vast majority of the minority Sunni population opposed the constitution and it is the Sunnis who make up a large portion of the insurgent terrorists operating in Iraq. The new government will have to be creative in their efforts to placate and re-assure the Sunnis, so as not to foment further violence and possibly civil war. What the vote does tell us is that most of the rest of Iraq are ready to put the past behind them and embrace democracy. There is no doubt that Al Qaeda and the Islamic radicals will do everything in their power to destroy that goal. The Sunnis’ however, should be pleased. Under a federal system, they will have a large degree of autonomy over their local and regional issues, giving them the freedom to choose their own destiny. To the radicals however, autonomy is not the goal, expansion and subjugation is. Their victory is won when representative government is defeated and Islamism is predominant. Only time will tell who will win, one thing is for certain, however, this is no longer America’s war, this is the Iraqi people’s war, they must bear the burdens and endure the hardships or this experiment will forever be foreign to the Iraqi people.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1841803,00.html