Draft constitution for Iraq coming soon...
Iraq is wrapping up writing their constitution as we speak. I really really really really really hope they don't decide to base it solely on sharia (Islamic law). And not just because religious governments scare me anyway, but because of all the rights conspicuously kept from women under sharia (or at least the interpretation of sharia under which most Islamic theocracies operate). To quote some banners hung up around Kuwait after their parliament recently passed a preliminary bill allowing women to vote: "According to Islamic Sharia, women do not have political rights." This prompted the bill to fail in the second round of voting. Sorry, ladies, NO VOTES FOR YOU. While we're at it, let's bury you up to your neck and stone you.
Seriously, under sharia, women are like second class citizens, practically the pets of the men in their lives. I just have one question: Men, what are you so afraid of?
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Saw a good comment on Daily Kos (http://www.dailykos.com) today about this along the lines of:
How many American women died to make Iraqi women less free?
It's a fair point -- Saddam Hussein was an evil SOB but since he was a secular dictator he at least let women wear what they wanted...
The answer to this has a long geneology IMO. Howwever, it is NOT a feature of manhood to dominate or repress women, or anyone/anything else for that matter. I think it is symptomatic of a disease transmitted by highly virulent memes.
Women got to vote in the elections that were held to form this assembly to draft a constitution, right? And now the people that have been put into power, by men and women, to draft a constitution decide that some of those that gave them the power to decide, should not be allowed to give them this power in the future.
I think one thing is true for all nations: The biggest morons always get to be the government.
The Sharia is a version of Islamic law that has gained much force throughout the Middle East and beyond. It is, among other things, singularly bad for women. Not only does it force women into the hajib, it makes rape a death penalty offense-for the victim...
One of the major reasons I was in favor of pre-9/11 US intervention in Afghanistan was to help get rid of such barbaric customs. Hell, one of the successes president Bush claims in Afghanistan is how much better the women there are treated. Under Sharia law, women’s lives can quickly degenerate; random terror can be arbitrarily meted out by courts or a head of household...
The question is, then, if Iraq falls under Sharia law, and one-half the Iraqi population is subject to some of the cruelest laws on earth, will we have accomplished anything? Is Sharia better than Saddam?
The NY Times just posted and English translation of the draft:http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/28/international/iraqtext_new.html?adxnnl=1&pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1125340792-8Qyv+gXcGi82JA5MJPcoHg