"When Will People Learn, Democracy Doesn't Work."

Hot off the presses, it's Iraq's new constitution. The AP reports the document is grossly vague, riddled with contradictions and - surprise, surprise - short on freedom.

Protections granted in one section of the document seem undermined elsewhere, several scholars and political analysts said.
[snip]
Many tough questions about individual liberties, including the ultimate role of Islamic law in society and women's legal protections, are open to interpretation or left for future legislatures or courts to decide.
[snip]
Although the final constitution guarantees women's right to vote and mandates that women make up 25 percent of the elected Council of Representatives, it does not definitely resolve whether women will have full property rights in every area of the country or ensure they can do such things as file for divorce on their own, scholars said.

The same section of the charter that guarantees "full religious rights for all individuals and the freedom of creed and religious practices" decrees that "Islam is the official religion of the state and is a basic source of legislation."

"The whole document is a mix of contradictions" that are unworkable in practice, said David Phillips, a senior fellow at the private Council on Foreign Relations who has worked with Iraqi opposition political groups and Iraqi Kurds..."It hard to spin this as a success," Phillips said.

Most disturbing is the following section:

"No law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam," the charter states, followed by a guarantee that "no law can be passed that contradicts the principles of democracy."

The Bill of Rights (and individual rights in general), of course, contradict the principles of democracy, if democracy is taken to mean majority rule (as it usually is).

Still, it's great to see the rule of law and some level of freedom taking root in the Middle East. The fact that the Iraqi people will get a chance to approve or reject the constitution in a national election next month reassures me that the deaths of thousands of people and the expenditure of hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars was not a total waste.

Tom Palmer has an interesting story to tell in the latest issue of Cato's Letter about the growing support for liberty in Iraq (PDF). To the People's Baylen Linnekin made an interesting case last month for getting out of Iraq ASAP. Radley Balko told war supproters "I told you so" last week. Nick Gillespie took on pro-war Christopher Hitchens earlier this week.