PressEthic

After Sept 11, the US administration and its foreign policy put democratizing middle east high on their agenda. US congress has agreed on a special budget for that costly project. Of course, launching war on Iraq to oust Saddam and his regime has been the main stepping-stone to set the ball rolling.

Responding to what US foreign policy demands, other steps have been taken by some of the Arab world governments. Examples of these shifts appeared in countries like Saudi Arabia that held their first municipal elections in their history last year. Last week's elections in Egypt with all its foggy and unclear results, was an attempt towards a political reform. The Sudanese government agreed to include the southern Christian community in Sudan to run their region and to participate in the central government. Electing a new moderate president for the Palestinian authority under whom Israel-Palestine has seen a kind of normalization, and dissolving Lebanon's pro-Syrian government . These have all been steps towards achieving bigger regional changes towards democracy in the Arab world and middle east.

But the most important step among all, which needed big financial and human costs at the expense of the US, is the Iraq war hoping that, after Saddam, Iraq would or should become the example that the west in general and America in particular has dreamt of for years. They wanted Iraq model to be not less democratic and secular than those Muslim countries that separated Islam from their system of governments, like in Turkey.

But what recently happened in drafting Iraq's new constitution was again strengthening the role of Islam. According to article No.(2) of the Iraq's newly drafted constitution "Islam is the official religion of the state and is a main source of legislation". This is not a notable gain neither for the US nor for the secular wing in Iraq and this is where the expensive stepping-stone of democratizing middle east turns to a stumbling block. Is this really what the US and its foreign policy wanted to achieve in Iraq? Does the US administration and congress want an Iraq whose legislation and law will be based on Islamic law "Shari'a"? Can the US civil and secular efforts be considered as successful if Iraq will produce a society whose men are allowed, according to Islam, to marry four women each? Is this creating a civil society or the opposite?

According to article No.(9) of the newly drafted constitution, Iraq's Supreme Federal Court will consist of "a number of justices who are experts in the Islamic legislation...". This means the future Iraqi supreme court will simply be a conservative one.

Thus, the two above mentioned articles of Iraq's draft constitution are enough to empower the Shiite clergies who will ban or condemn civil rights of the Iraqi individuals like the Iranian government. This is a good step towards creating a new Iran inside Iraq.

In brief, what will state people's rights and duties in Iraq, if the Iraqi people will vote for the constitution in October's referendum, is a constitution that will abort America's dream of secular and civil Iraq, where they cost them a lot in terms of human lives and money to start a democracy campaign in the region.