Including Interests of Minority Sunnis in Post-Election Iraq is Key, Says Prof. Ralph Raymond

February 21, 2005

February 21, 2005, Greencastle, Ind. - An article in Indiana's Lafayette Journal and Courier, which offers the thoughts of "several Indiana international affairs experts" on the recent election in Iraq, includes the analysis of a DePauw University professor. The story, headlined "Professors urge role for Sunnis in Iraq," states, "O. Ralph Raymond, a professor of political science and Russian studies at DePauw University, said unless that] minority feels included in the new government, it is unrealistic to hope for an end to the violence," writes Dan Shaw.

"You have to avoid the situation of dictatorship by the majority," Dr. Raymond is quoted as saying. "Majority rule without guarantee of minority rights is a highly illiberal system. There have to be minority guarantees. And one can look forward to the constitution to see how these are going to be factored in."

Shaw notes, "In the United States, legal protection of rights, judicial review and the requirement that two-thirds of Congress pass amendments to the constitution all serve to protect minorities, [Raymond] said."

Later, he writes, "Raymond said the U.S. still must make the difficult choice on when to remove troops.  If it takes them out too early, violence could consume the country and undermine the government.  Yet, if it waits too long, the Iraqi people may come to view their new leaders as puppets of the Americans, he said.  'It's really walking a very narrow line in achieving a modicum of security and removing ourselves as expeditiously as possible,' he said."

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Source: Lafayette (Ind.) Journal and Courier

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