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EVEN BEFORE Iraq's constitution was ratified, dire predictions were being made that it would pave the way for the creation of an Islamic theocracy. But whatever problems the new constitution poses for the future of Iraq, the role of Islam in the state is not likely to be one of them.
...Article 2 establishes Islam as "the official religion of the state" and "a basic source of legislation"; no law can be passed that contradicts "the fixed principles of Islam." But the constitution deliberately leaves those fixed principles to be defined by the natural democratic process in accordance with the changing will of the Iraqi people, and it unequivocally states that no law can be passed that contradicts the basic rights and freedoms outlined by the constitution. Among the first of these is that all individuals have a right to freedom of creed, worship, practice, thought and conscience.
This could be offer an opportunity for Islam to reform itself. The Koran calls for Muslims to kill non-Muslims or make them accept second-class citizenship. The Iraqi constitution relegates that kind of behavior to the past for Muslims in Iraq.
Wars 'less frequent, less deadly':
Wars around the world are both less frequent and less deadly since the end of the Cold War, a new report claims.
The Human Security Report found a decline in every form of political violence except terrorism since 1992. "A lot of the data we have in this report is extraordinary," its director, former UN official Andrew Mack, said.
It found the number of armed conflicts had fallen by more than 40% in the past 13 years, while the number of very deadly wars had fallen by 80%.
While the rest of humanity learns to avoid war, Islamofascists increase the use of their preferred form of war-making, terrorism.
