Well it's decided. The US is willing to compromise with Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani on little issues like separation of church and state so long as we get our way on one man one vote electoral democracy (which we oppose).

The alleged issues are the absence of a census of subjects of a totalitarian dictatorship where everyone had ration cards and the risk of tyranny of the majority. To me the first claim is patently absurd. It's not like the Ba'athist regime didn't keep track of people. It is true that separate lists are needed in the Kurdish mini states, but I would be surprised if they didn't keep track at all.

If one is planning on introducing democracy eventually (as the Bush administration still claims) one has to confront the risk of tyranny of the majority eventually. I have already written that this can be done with a not democratically written constitution to be approved or rejected by referendum.

Now I wonder about how to avoid tyranny of the Shi'ite Arab majority. This should not be hard as they are 60% of the population. I think that in a first past the post system electoral districts can be designed so a Shi'ite Arab sectarian nationalist party could not obtain a majority. I mean Bremer works for a Texan Republican, he should have access to good advice on gerrymandering.