Bringing Democracy to Iraq

by Paul on August 21, 2005

So, it wasn’t just about the WMDs, and it wasn’t just about 9/11. We’re supposedly all about bringing democracy to the region, and replacing the evil Saddam with a (presumably secular) democratic nation that will be a shining beacon in the region. Iraq will become the strongest PR weapon in the fight against radical extremist Islamists, showing what freedom and secular democratic government can do.

Or not.

Under a deal brokered Friday by the American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, Islam was to be named “a primary source of legislation” in the new Iraqi constitution, with the proviso that no legislation be permitted that conflicted with the “universal principles” of the religion. The latter phrase raised concerns that Iraqi judges would have wide latitude to strike down laws now on the books, as well as future legislation.

At the same time, according to a Kurdish leader involved in the talks, Mr. Khalilzad had backed language that would have given clerics sole authority in settling marriage and family disputes. That gave rise to concerns that women’s rights, as they are enunciated in Iraq’s existing laws, could be curtailed.

Finally, according to the person close to the negotiations, Mr. Khalilzad had been backing an arrangement that could have allowed clerics to have a hand in interpreting the constitution.

It couldn’t be that Mr. Khalilzad is rushing because of a “deadline”, could it? We know that the President is strongly against any “artificial timetables” for our work in Iraq, since they would “send the wrong message” to the Iraqis, our troops, and our enemies.

The question of Islamic law drew strong public protests from Kurds.

The working draft of the constitution stipulates that no law can contradict Islamic principles. In talks with Shiite religious parties, Kurdish negotiators said they have pressed unsuccessfully to limit the definition of Islamic law to principles agreed upon by all groups. The Kurds said current language in the draft would subject Iraqis to extreme interpretations of Islamic law.

Kurds also contend that provisions in the draft would allow Islamic clerics to serve on the high court, which would interpret the constitution. That would potentially subject marriage, divorce, inheritance and other civil matters to religious law and could harm women’s rights, according to the Kurdish negotiators and some women’s groups.

Khalilzad supported those provisions and urged other groups to accept them, according to Kurds involved in the talks.

“Really, we are disappointed with that. It seems like the Americans want to have a constitution at any cost,” said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish member of the constitutional committee. “These things are not good — giving the constitution an Islamic face.

“It is not good to have a constitution that would limit the liberties of people, the human rights, the freedoms,” Othman said.

Other delegates also complained about pressure from Khalilzad.

“His main interest is to push the constitution on time, no matter what the constitution has in it,” said Salih Mutlak, a Sunni delegate who has been outspoken against some compromise proposals.

“No country in the world can draft their constitution in three months. They themselves took 10 years,” Mutlak said, referring to the United States. “Why do they wish to impose a silly constitution on us?”

So, to review, we attacked a mad and brutal dictator, and toppled his fairly terrorist-hostile and relatively women’s-rights friendly regime, to deprive him of weapons of mass destruction he didn’t have and wasn’t building, to keep them out of the hands of terrorists he wasn’t working with, so that we could plunge Iraq into chaos, provide a training ground for more terrorists, armed with explosives we didn’t keep from them, and start a low-level civil war, which, if we’re very lucky, will be defused by creation of an Islamic state that represses women, where clerics have legal authority.

Huh. So that’s the “noble cause” behind the “mission” we need to complete. I’m sure Casey Sheehan, and the now nearly 2000 like him, would feel honored.

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