The Iraqi Governing Council has a approved an interim constitution for the new Iraq, one of the biggest steps towards a sovereign Iraqi state by the July deadline. The new Iraqi Constitution acknowledges the Islamic faith as a source of law, but does not place Iraq under shari’a. The new document also provides significant authority for Iraqi Kurds to administer Kurdish areas of Northern Iraq.
While there are certainly changes that will be made, the Iraqi Constitution is an important first step. Just agreeing to such a fundamental document is crucial in itself. This shows that the Iraqis are willing to enact change at the negotiating table rather than the battlefield. The jihadis have been trying to tear the fabric of Iraqi society apart by driving wedges between Sunni, Shi’a, and Kurd. So far they’re failing miserably.
The Iraqi people have seen tyranny for decades. Now they want freedom, and that movement is as unstoppable as an avalanche.
This is just as an important step for the U.S. as it is for Iraq.
Promoting freedom democracy in the Middle East is one of the long-term goals of the war against terrorism. President Bush set forth this strategy very eloquently in the Advance of Freedom speech he gave at the National Endowment for Democracy and the Three Pillars speech he gave at Whitehall Palace.
If this strategy is to have a chance to succeed, we must ensure that governmental structures are in place that will give freedom a chance. Iraq’s interim constitution seems to lay the groundwork to do just that.