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The process of drafting Iraq's constitution has been chaotic, as evidenced in the confusing and contradictory final (so far) document. It is neither a template for an Islamist state nor a blueprint for a constitutional democracy. But depending on how the Iraqis handle it, it has elements that could be made to fit either.

The constitutional proposal was due August 15, but at the last minute the drafting commission requested a seven-day extension. When August 22 arrived, the Sunni participants still objected to the draft. A myriad of formal and informal negotiations followed between party and faction leaders, while commission and Parliament members complained they were sidelined. Differing drafts and fragments of drafts circulated around Baghdad and elsewhere while American pundits interpreted their meaning, often without knowing whether the draft they had was an accurate or even recent version.

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad had many sleepless nights as he pushed negotiators to find some compromise. At one point, even President Bush weighed in by phone. Amendments were being drafted until August 28, when finally a draft was submitted to the Parliament and approved by the country's political leadership. This version is being submitted to the country for an October 15 referendum.

Before criticizing the Iraqi negotiators, it is important to realize how difficult their life has been. They had to draft a charter for a country with no robust institutions capable of forming a stable framework for the new regime. Several of Iraq's neighbors worked to make them fail, and bitter internal ethnic and religious divisions, as well as radically differing visions compete for the country's future. Among the major items on the commission's agenda, apart from creating a whole new government, have been federalism (especially regarding the Kurds in the north), the division of oil revenues, and the relation of Islam to the law. They have had to do all this in a matter of months, before the critical eyes of a watching world.

Outside the commission's heavily protected meetings, more than 150,000 foreign troops have been battling with an unseen enemy that murders many more Iraqis than Americans. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist organization "Al Qaeda in Iraq" has again announced that all constitutional drafters are defying God by trying to make man-made laws instead of following Islamic law, Shari'ah. Zarqawi's "judicial court" ruled that "it is a duty to uphold God's law and kill those who have declared themselves God's partners in drafting this void constitution. … All those who write and support this constitution … are apostates." Two of the drafters have already been killed by terrorists.

In comparison, the United States did not finalize its constitution until a decade after declaring independence. Though built on strong institutions and existing state constitutions, along with national consensus on most core issues, the U.S. Constitution was not accepted until the drafters agreed to add the Bill of Rights' ten amendments after ratification. The issue of slavery was deferred in order to get the acquiescence of the Southern states. It would come into force if only nine of the thirteen states accepted it. When George Washington was inaugurated for the first time in April 1789, Rhode Island and North Carolina were still outside the fold.

Understanding what the Iraqis have produced requires a close reading of dense texts. Article 2 states that "Islam is the official religion of the state." This in itself need not create problems. Many states, including established democracies in Europe, have state religions, and the practice is not held to be in violation of international human-rights standards.

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September (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49