Medary.com

Shiite majority in Iraq offers one more compromise to the Sunni minority:

Sunni Arabs, meanwhile, said federalism, especially al-Hakim's demand for a Shiite mini-state in the south, remained the major obstacle. But they said the Kurds were unwilling to budge on that issue in order to protect their own self-ruled region in three northern provinces.

"Federalism is now the core issue. In light of Kurdish intransigence it makes it difficult to hope for a compromise," said Sadoun Zubaydi, a Sunni member of the drafting committee.

Sunni Arabs fear that federalism will lead to the breakup of the country and deprive them of oil wealth, concentrated in the Shiite south and the north, much of it in areas the Kurds rule or want to incorporate.

The Sunnis apparently don't understand that federalism is the only way Iraq will stay together. The Kurds (and to a lesser extent the Shia) won't accept any less. It's time for the Sunnis to learn the democratic principle that "half a loaf is better than none."