We've seen the reasons for the Iraqi war change repeatedly over time, as WMD's, terrorist flypaper and violent extremism all took center stage for a time. Now the Iraqi's are about to approve a constitution that includes the recognition of Islam as being above the rule of law. While many right-wing Christians would like to see the same sort of provision in our constitution, many Iraqi's are asking in vain for American help in preventing the enshrining of Islam in the constitution that the Americans have been pushing them to create.
In fact, the American leaders in Iraq are pushing those opposed to Islam's inclusion to compromise, in order to get a constitution, any constitution, by their self-imposed deadline. The Islamist constitution would effectively deny to women many of the rights they had under the reign of Saddam Hussein.
As Digby and Majikethis and some of the conservatives at National Review have pointed out, it's hard to imagine that anyone would have supported this war if they knew that Americans were giving their lives in Iraq not to fight terrorism, but to establish an Islamic government equivalent to the Taliban we removed from power in Afghanistan.
Photo from the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), where it is one of the less-disturbing photos of life under the Taliban.
