Islamic law looms large in Iraqi constitution talks
By Aussiegirl
Looks like there is a sticking point over the institution of Sharia law under the Iraqi constitution which may mean that non-Muslim Iraqis and women will have curtailed rights. If America is siding with the Shiites it would tend to consolidate Iranian influence in Iraq. Did we go to war only to create another Islamist state, and one that is friendly to Iran, to boot? This has always been a possible fundamental flaw in the Bush doctrine of encouraging democracy in the Middle East as a panacea for all political ills. Is a secular democracy compatible with Islam?
Reuters has the story:
U.S. diplomats have conceded ground to Islamists on the role of religion in Iraq, negotiators said on Saturday as they raced to meet a 48-hour deadline to draft a constitution under intense U.S. pressure.
U.S. diplomats, who have insisted the constitution must enshrine ideals of equal rights and democracy, declined comment.
Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish negotiators all said there was accord on a bigger role for Islamic law than Iraq had before.
But a secular Kurdish politician said Kurds opposed making Islam "the", not "a", main source of law -- changing current wording -- and subjecting all legislation to a religious test.
"We understand the Americans have sided with the Shi'ites," he said. "It's shocking. It doesn't fit American values. They have spent so much blood and money here, only to back the creation of an Islamist state ... I can't believe that's what the Americans really want or what the American people want."
Washington, with 140,000 troops still in Iraq, has insisted Iraqis are free to govern themselves but made clear it will not approve the kind of clerical rule seen in Shi'ite Iran, a state U.S. President George W. Bush describes as "evil".
posted by Aussiegirl @ 6:04 PM
2 Comments:
If Sharia is incorporated as the main legal element in the Iraqi Constitution, it is because we haven`t stood our ground, which is because we are rushing this through to mollify our critics. Why are we doing that? Because of the insurrection, which is there because we have been too weak dealing with it and have failed to seal the Syrian and Iranian borders.
You can`t go into something like this half way. The fact that the Mainstream Media and the left have done everything in their power to guarantee an American loss is a testament to the decline of this country; if Bush were half the tyrant he is supposed to be most of the opposition would be in prison for Treason. Quite frankly, I`m not so sure they shouldn`t be!
I agree that this looks frustrating, but I'm not willing to invoke doom and gloom just yet. I think that there are a lot more factors going into this process than most of us realize or would even admit to.
The Iraqis, I think, realize that pluralism is an important component to the new government. And even if they were to institute a strict Shari'a law (which I don't believe is the case; I think we'd be hearing more outrage out of talk radio and Fox News if it were), I think that there's still a value in the Iraqi people choosing their path for themselves. That's the whole point: people choosing their own way are less likely to violently attack other nations, or support those who do.
[$0.02]
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