KURDISTAN, SHIASTAN, & ?:

Envoy Delivers U.S. Vision for Iraqi Constitution: By passing along its suggestions, Washington hopes to help leaders resolve contentious issues and meet a Monday deadline. (Alissa J. Rubin, August 12, 2005, LA Times)

The U.S. approach and that of the Kurds appeared to conflict. Kurds, who have been the Americans' closest allies in Iraq, are adamant that revenue from oil in the three Kurdish provinces should go directly to the regional government, with a portion shared with the central government. The published Kurdish version of the constitution proposed allowing 60% to 65% of the revenue to remain in Kurdistan. [...]

The U.S. also opposes a deadline for the return of the Kurds.

People who have looked at the latest U.S. language say it reflects those positions. They added that the U.S. describes Islam as one source of Iraq's law, not the primary source.

Comments on Thursday by a Shiite leader indicated that Shiites, a majority in the country, were not willing to yield on the role of Islam and that they would insist on being able to form a single political entity.

At a major demonstration in the holy city of Najaf, Abdelaziz Hakim, the leader of the largest parliamentary bloc, said that it was a "sacred goal" for Shiites to form a large region in central and southern Iraq. Sunnis particularly dislike this idea, fearing that it will set the stage for the fracturing of the country.

"We think it necessary to form one whole region in the south," said Hakim, who spoke the day after a lengthy meeting with the senior Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.

The Shiites appeared to be preparing for the possibility that the country as a whole, which must hold a referendum on the constitution, might reject the idea of describing Islam as a primary source of law. If that happens, having a semi-autonomous state in the south could allow the Shiites to impose Islamic rules there.

It makes no sense for us to side with the Sunni Arabs.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 12, 2005 12:01 AM