Paul Bremer III sier han ikke kommer til å skrive under på en grunnlov som gjør islam til det bærende prinsipp.

Men islam blir statsreligion og inspirator for forfatningen.

During a visit to a women’s center in Karbala, administrator L. Paul Bremer said the current draft of the interim constitution, due to take effect at the end of this month, would make Islam the state religion and «a source of inspiration for the law» — but not the 2_kommentar source for that law.

Her kommer det an på hva man legger i ordene. Inspirasjonskilde kan tolkes meget vidt. Flere ønsker å gå langt:

However, Mohsen Abdel-Hamid, the current president of the Iraqi Governing Council and a Sunni Muslim hard-liner, has proposed making Islamic law the «principal basis» of legislation.

Iraqi women’s groups fear that could cost them the rights they hold under Iraq’s longtime secular system, especially in such areas as divorce, child support and inheritance.

USA sier de vil bygge et demokratisk Irak. En grunnlov som skrur klokken tilbake for kvinnene vil være en dårlig begynnelse.

Hva gjør Bremer hvis forslaget til grunnlov går for langt i den retning?

Bremer was asked what would happen if Iraqi leaders wrote into the interim charter that Islamic sharia law is the principal basis of legislation. «Our position is clear,» Bremer replied. «It can’t be law until I sign it.»

Bremer Suggests U.S. May Block Islamic Law in Iraq