US concedes ground to Islamists on Iraqi law

Reuters reports U.S. diplomats have conceded ground to Islamists on the role of religion in Iraq, negotiators said on Saturday as they raced to meet a 48-hour deadline to draft a constitution under intense U.S. pressure. U.S. diplomats, who have insisted the constitution must enshrine ideals of equal rights and democracy, declined comment. Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish negotiators all said there was accord on a bigger role for Islamic law than Iraq had before. But a secular Kurdish politician said Kurds opposed making Islam "the", not "a", main source of law -- changing current wording -- and subjecting all legislation to a religious test. "We understand the Americans have sided with the Shi'ites," he said. "It's shocking. It doesn't fit American values. They have spent so much blood and money here, only to back the creation of an Islamist state ... I can't believe that's what the Americans really want or what the American people want."

My main concern about Islam being mentioned in the Iraqi Constitution, is that since the majority is Shiite, it may become the Shiite version of Islam, and that the Kurds and the Sunnis may not like that. However I do understand their concern, since even though our Constitution was written in what was a definitely Christian nation, where on Independence Day, 1776, nine of the original thirteen colonies had official state churches, and where at the time of the adoption of the First Amendment in 1791, which only wanted to prevent Congress from naming a specific church to be the official church of the entire US, four of the fourteen states still recognized an official state church, yet subsequently our Supreme Court has decided that we had a Wall of Separation between Church and State which prevents any level of the government, even local schools, from celebrating Christmas.