Iraqi Constitution

So there is heated debate about religion and government like there has not been here for some 230 odd years.No their demacracy will not mirror ours after all we have spent 2+ centuries getting where we are today.If they move at least to where we were at the turn of the 20th century that is a huge step from the 13th were they live today with modern weapons instead of swords. The right of women to vote is not a prerequisate for democracy after all they did not get the right to vote here for over 100 yrs and blacks almost 200, civilizations evolve in a democracy as we have done not stagnate and breed hatred. We were/are Judeo-Christian and our society reflects that in our very freedom as will theirs with the balancing force of freedom and democracy. You can not move an 11th century culture to the 21st over night, so we shouldn't push to hard against some deep cultural beliefs,it took us time,2+ centuries and still learning and growing, so we do show a time tested model in our very simple and elegant Constitution. (Further reading here.) And Please Do!

God, Man and the Common Weal

A great democratic experiment is taking place in Iraq.

BY REUEL MARC GERECHT

Monday, August 8, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT
Although it appears the Iraqis are going to meet the Aug. 15 deadline for writing a new constitution, we shouldn't worry if they just can't do it "on time." It will certainly be dispiriting to many Iraqis and Americans--particularly in the Pentagon, where the counterinsurgency troop requirements for Iraq and Afghanistan haven't dovetailed well with Donald Rumsfeld's plans for a smaller "transformed" military. All of Washington wants the Iraqis to be more expeditious than our own Founding Fathers, who took years of trial and error to hammer out the mother of all modern constitutions.
Yet the Iraqis are where we want them to be: divided on critical matters of politics and faith, but still determined to resolve their differences through a binding written compromise. Their discussions are hot and sometimes intractable because all the parties know these debates matter. Federalism and the political role of Islam--perhaps the two most troublesome subjects--are critical issues throughout the Middle East. No one in Washington should want these debates toned down or curtailed.