Flawed Interim Constitution

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Byline: Bruce Fein, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The appointed and much scorned Iraqi Governing Council promulgated an interim constitution on March 8, 2004. Its defects are alarming. When the Coalition Provisional Authority dissolves on June 30, 2004, Iraq is destined to disintegrate on the installment plan or faster. Styled the "Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period," the interim constitution is illegitimate, amateurish and unenforceable.

It was fashioned by unelected Iraqis untutored in the arts of democratic governance and the rule of law. According to some polls, prominent IGC member Ahmed Chalabi commands less popular confidence than Saddam Hussein.

Neither through popular referendum nor elected representatives have the Iraqi people conferred moral legitimacy on the interim charter, which is no more popularly respected than the French …