Wednesday, April 28, 2004

AL-SADR
Here's a really good profile of Moqtada al-Sadr from the Christian Science Monitor. (thanks to Kevin Drum)

Another interesting article from CSM on why the Iraq Governing Council has failed.

"We sit in the council while the country is burning and argue over procedure,'' says Sheikh Yawar, a Sunni tribal leader who lived abroad until last year. "We're like the Byzantines in Constantinople, debating whether angels are male or female with the barbarians at the gate."

Procedure is, of course, important when writing a new constitution and designing a system of representative government. When used correctly, it can help cultivate a sense of legitimacy for a new government. When abused in various stalling measures, as seems to have happened with the council, it destroys legitimacy. It's somewhat understandable that the various religious and tribal factions would be arguing over procedure in an attempt to safeguard their own future power, as it's not clear from day to day or hour to hour how the new Iraq will look or which faction will eventually dominate, which is a direct result of the Bush Gang's poor planning.

posted by Matt Duss @ 2:50 PM

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