Iraq’s Sunnis must use political process: senator

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Iraq’s constitutional referendum
should encourage opposition Sunni Arabs to work through the
political process, which would help avoid a regional war,
weaken the insurgency and speed the U.S. pullout, a leading
U.S. senator said on Sunday.

With the U.S.-backed constitution apparently headed for
approval after Saturday’s vote, Sen. Joe Biden said on CBS’s
“Face the Nation” that parliamentary elections in December now
are crucial to quelling Iraqi insurgents.

Sunnis, who are a minority in Iraq but dominated the
country during Saddam Hussein’s reign, had opposed the
constitution as a U.S. plot but apparently did not muster
enough votes to reject it.

“Without a political solution — the Sunnis buying into a
constitution some time after the election in December —
there’s no possibility,” the Delaware Democrat said. “If that
occurs, there’s a possibility that the insurgency that’s
home-grown will decide that the political answer is the way
out, not violence.”

Biden said the strength of the Sunni “no” vote on the
constitution would give insight to Iraq’s future. Even if as
many as 60 percent of Sunni voters had opposed the
constitution, it still would show that a large block had some
faith in a political solution, he said.

“If the Sunnis don’t buy into this constitution over the
next two months by voting for Sunnis in the parliament and
trying to get the constitution amended, we may find a regional
war, not just a civil war,” said Biden, a senior member of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“If it succeeds, the political process, I predict you’ll
see a drawdown of American forces by this time next year.”

Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican from Nebraska, said he also
expected to see U.S. forces leaving Iraq next year.

Hagel said the constitutional referendum also provided an
opportunity for calling a regional security conference under
U.N. sponsorship to discuss Iraq.

“The United States takes a secondary position,” he said.
“Everyone has a role in this because it is a regional problem.
Our influence is waning, will continue to wane, so I think it’s
important to put this into perspective of a regional context.”