The ban was imposed with the support of the Iraqi exiles on the Governing Council. But it is opposed by many Iraqis who say Sunnis are needed to rebuild Iraq. They argue that Iraqis can and must distinguish between senior Baathists guilty of crimes in the old regime and low-level technocrats.
Experts have been warning for some months that failure to include the Sunnis in the new Iraq is a recipe for civil war as soon as U.S. forces leave. Some say even those sympathetic to the anti-U.S. insurgency must be included, lest they be left behind as spoilers.
Bush administration officials see the leadership vacuum among the Sunnis as a danger -- but so far, there appear to be no specific plans to remedy it.
"Our job ... is to reach out to Sunni tribal leaders, make it very clear in word and in deed that they do have a future in the political system of the new Iraq," Armitage said this month. "This is a very time-consuming and arduous process, but it is a most worthy one."
* Drafting a constitution:
The U.S. timetable calls on the Governing Council to write a temporary constitution -- Fundamental Law -- by the end of February, but that job could be just as complex and controversial as writing a permanent charter. The Fundamental Law is supposed to set out a schedule for electing delegates to the constitutional convention, a federal system to divide power between Baghdad and the country's 18 provinces, and a bill of rights.
The U.S. wants to include the rights of free speech, assembly and religion, guarantees of due process and a statement of equal rights for all Iraqis regardless of gender, religion or ethnic origin.
But many of those provisions may generate controversy among Iraqis. U.S. officials acknowledge, for example, that a guarantee of equal rights for women could meet with resistance from Islamic conservatives, although the Governing Council already has agreed to the principle in an earlier document.
In addition, Ayatollah Sistani is demanding a clause that says that nothing in the constitution can contradict the laws of Islam; and some think he may get it.
* Playing chicken with the Governing Council:
Much as the U.S. wants to ensure that the appointed Iraqi Governing Council is dissolved on June 30, there are fears that some council members are maneuvering to hold onto power -- and to win lucrative reconstruction contracts in the meantime.
