A Disaster in the Making

(AP) -- New doubts arose yesterday over the success of a new constitution after delegates from one province boycotted the proceedings. Delegates fear that the proposed constitution would undermine the autonomy of local provinces.

"If this constitution is ratified, we will break away," said one delegate who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "We did not overthrow one tyranny to replace it with another."

The boycott is the latest in a series of setbacks that have threatened to derail the constitutional process and plunge the fledgling republic into civil war. Nearly thirty percent of the original delegates have abandoned the convention, calling into the question the legitimacy of any document that is eventually submitted.

Of the remaining delegates, many are thought to be sympathetic, if not outright supportive, of the former regime. Human rights advocates fear the constitution will erode protections of free speech, free assembly, and freedom of religion.

Violence continues in the western provinces, as insurgents have launched a massive uprising against the new government's authority. Experts say the insurgents enjoy the support of the local population, and that the violence may become more widespread as dissatisfaction with the constitution grows.

Critics blast the government for failing to plan for the insurgency. "After the old regime was overthrown, we assumed all the dominoes would fall into place, and that democracy would flourish." said one security expert. "We are paying the price for that mistake now."

To some, civil war seems inevitable. "How can you throw all these disparate groups together and expect to have a unified country?" one dismayed constitutional delegate asked. "You can't expect to create a functioning government in such conditions."

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? But the byline for the above article isn't Baghdad, 2005; it is Philadelphia, 1787 (the "boycotting province" is Rhode Island, and the armed uprising is Shay's Rebellion). Amid the media's incessant hand-wringing and reports of impending doom, we would do well to keep things in perspective, and be thankful that the New York Times wasn't around to report on our own Constitutional Convention and tell us how hopeless things were.