Democracy is the Key

The democracy in Iraq may not be coming along to the liking of some, but the fact that it is a democracy and it is coming along is in many ways more important.

Despite Bush’s initial insistence on finishing the Iraqi constitution by the deadline, such deadlines are not essential and in many ways may be detrimental. The United States constitution took much time to complete, and considering the situation in Iraq as compared to the situation faced by our founding fathers, a deadline seems rather unwise, if it is necessary. In the end what is really important is that Iraq has a constitution. Meeting the deadlines would be a bonus, and is certainly something to strive for, but an unsatisfactory completion of the document for the sake of the deadline is something no one should want. It will not be a perfect constitution, and may not be satisfactory to most United States observers. However, everything needs to be taken in context.

The role of Islam in the document is drawing some criticism from groups, most notably in terms of women’s rights and their role in society. Such criticism is certainly valid, and the best case scenario would be a secular constitution very liberal in nature, giving women rights similar to those found in the United States and elsewhere. But with these aspirations we must keep something in mind. In our own beloved democracies, women did not get the right to vote until after WWI, and in a few cases such rights did not come until much later. Now, under Islamic law the women would have more restrictions imposed on them than simply no voting rights, but it shows us something nonetheless. Democracies in their inception are rarely perfect. In the United States, the issue of slavery was not resolved, but rather a compromise was eked out in which slavery still existed. The key to democracy is time.

The thing about democracies is that they have a tendency to progress toward what is right. And by “right” I mean freedom, and freedom for everyone, not just a select few. To do as one pleases, to worship as one pleases, to pursue one’s own happiness. But in its initial stages, a perfect free democracy may and probably is too much to hope for. The region’s almost total lack of any kind of democracy throughout its history does not point to a quick and painless transition.

The promising note is that in a democracy, these things have a way of working themselves out. If women truly what rights and responsibilities, they are more likely to get those rights in the lowest form of democracy than in any of the alternatives. Was there any hope for women under Saddam? Is there any hope under any Islamic dictatorship for that matter? No, there is little to none. Under a democracy, however, there is that hope. That is also something we have to consider here. What are the alternatives? When one looks at the other possibilities, some form of democracy looks every bit superior, and in terms of these individual freedoms and rights, it is superior in every way.

When we look at the democratic progress in Iraq, we rightly encourage and hope for one similar to our own. We want women there to have all of the rights that our own women enjoy. We want it to be secular and free from Islamic law. But it may or may not be too much to ask all at once. What is important is that Iraq remains a democracy. More often than not, with a democracy such equality and freedom will come in the future. That is why it is most important to establish some stable democracy in Iraq. So that the Iraqis can look to the future.