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Iraqi Constitution

By: Steve Goddard

Sep 10, 2005

After reading the translated version of the draft constitution, I couldn't help but smile. Not a happy smile or even a mocking smile. I would call it a resigned smile. This is one that comes as you watch someone follow a course of action you are certain will bring trouble and, yet, there is nothing you can do about it. No measure of counsel or rebuke or warning will sway. The ship has sailed and it will not return. I'm old enough to know that this happens in every culture.  I am American by birth and have seen this hard-headedness, as we call it, many times and in many arenas. I have been guilty of it myself. But after working among Kurds for many years, I know it is their cup as well and they drink it in full.

This is more than evident in the wording of the draft constitution which the Kurdish members of the interim parliament have endorsed. Chapter 2, Article 1, 1a states, " No law may contradict Islamic standards. " I don't like that but I can, in some respects, accept it; the Iraqi people are, after all, predominantly Muslim. But here is where my mouth begins to crease upwards (smile). Article 1, 1b of the same chapter states, " No law may contradict democratic standards. " Maybe I'm simply an ignorant American but, tell me, are those two "standards" synonymous? Can there really be democracy in a state ruled by Islam? Interestingly, there was no overt mention of womens' rights in the draft I read, something I've heard repeatedly is a key component of present Kurdish political thought. Why is that? Could it be that a land that is " part of the Islamic world " (Article 1, #3), ruled by a constitution which " guarantees the Islamic identity of the Iraqi people " (Article 1, #2) precludes it? I have my opinion but I also have my dream; to see  those in Baghdad representing the Kurdish people, these people I love, slow down rather than back down, stay strong rather than be strong-armed and that by anyone, including the U.S. My dream is that Kurdistan will stay free and grow free. My dream is that someone will change my smile.