Insurgents Killing Sunni Candidates

In advance of Thursday's Iraqi vote, the New York Times reports that insurgents have killed a Sunni canddiate. But in a sign that the Sunni minority is buying into the electoral process:

More than 1,000 Sunni clerics, meanwhile, issued a religious edict, or a fatwa, urging Sunni Arabs to vote in Thursday's balloting -- offering a seal of approval as members of the disaffected minority are expected to turn out in large numbers after mostly boycotting the landmark Jan. 30 polls.

Getting the Sunni minority to buy into the political process is a key hurdle in the democratization process. While Sunni's may have a political plan to combine with other minority groups to counter the Shiite majority, the fact that they have a political plan, as opposed to a violent plan, is a major step in the right direction.

Add to that the fact that Insurgents are killing Sunni candidates may backfire in the insurgents' quest to destabilize the country. While it has been said that Sunni's have lost the most in the fall of the Hussein dictatorship, killing a Sunni candidate may be the biggest mistake made by the insurgents. If the Sunni's are disaffected and oppose the democratic politics of the coming Iraqi republic, the dissension is internal. But if insurgents feel the need to kill Sunni candidates, the dissension is external to the people of Iraq, which is going to solidify their efforts.

Finally, the fact that Sunni clerics endorse the election means that there is a chance that the Sunni's will have a bigger say in the electoral process and in the future government. That puts them in the game and you can't win if you aren't in the game.