It's called "Turd in the Punchbowl" Syndrome

and the Roanoke Times has it bad when it comes to anything done by the Bush Administration. Instead of lauding the bravery of the Iraqi people and the historic day in the Middle East, the RT runs a front page article entitled "Low Sunni turnout may undermine election, some say." You have to wonder how upset the RT was when white Afrikaners didn't vote in South Africa.

Fortunately, there are people like Arab scholar Fouad Adjami who can offer us more than wishful thinking. With regard to the Sunnis, Dr. Adjami mentions in an interview at weblog Belgravia Dispatch that:

"A lot of people have been predicting that now that the election is over, there will be a big effort to bring the Sunnis into the constitution-writing process.

Everyone I've spoken to in Iraq, Kurdish leaders and Shiite leaders alike, will tell you no one has any intention to put together a new political process in Iraq that eliminates the Sunni Arabs. The Sunni Arabs will have a place at the table. By the way, no one really knows for sure what the Sunni Arabs are as a percentage of the population. I've seen figures as low as 13%. I've seen figures as high as 20%. So, cut it any which way you want, the Sunni Arabs are at best 20%, at worst 13% of the population of Iraq."


Likewise, columnist Mark Steyn says "Iraq Will Be Just Fine.