Iraqi leaders on Saturday pushed the country's highest court to issue a quick ruling on hundreds of candidates who have been banned from running in March elections, warning that parliament will settle the controversy if the judges don't.
The reason we pressure the Iraqis to subvert rule of law is that we feared the Sunni threat:
Some Sunni leaders have threatened to boycott the election if the ballot purge stands. That, in turn, risks throwing the election in chaos and its results in doubt.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill has called on Baghdad to find a fair solution to make sure the new government is widely accepted as credible so it can be seated soon after the elections.
The problem is, if Baathists are allowed in, will Shias and Kurds be happy with an election that could appear to be the wedge to restore a Sunni Arab dictatorship?
And would the Sunni Arabs really be stupid enough to boycott elections again when the last boycott is recognized as a grave error? And all to protect some Baathist-leaning candidates? Don't forget that the Shias have their Iranian-led brethren to turn to if they believe they need to go outside the law to stop the Baathists:
Radical Shiite Islamists who claim to have kidnapped a US military contractor of Iraqi origin said on Sunday they are also holding a second American hostage captured two years ago.
We should be promoting rule of law and not trying to rescue Baathists.
