-The interim authority that was fashioned by the US and the Iraq Governing Council was to be headed by a triumvirate (Shiite, Sunni, Kurdish) that could act only when unanimous. This was intended to head off leadership by the Shiite majority (i.e., democracy).
-Ayatollah Sistani allowed Shiites on the Council to vote for the plan, but said that part provided for minority rule and must be changed–or he would declare the interim authority illegitimate.
-This is one reason why we have not been able to say to whom we are transferring power on 6/30.
-Now the UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi has made the change Sistani wanted: there would be a president and two vice-presidents (and a prime minister). So the US will either have to yield to Sistani or reject the UN plan. If they reject it, the differences between Bush and Kerry over Iraq will become stark–and, for Bush, unsustainable.
-What’s next?
Interesting Dilemma for Bush Policy in Iraq
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