Women get the shaft in new Iraq

As expected, the new Iraq is slowly being overtaken by Islamic fundamentalism, breaking from Saddam Hussein's strictly secular government. The only one, might I add, in the region. The New York Times obtained a draft of a chapter of the new constitution which guarantees equal rights for women as long as those rights do not "violate Shariah," or Koranic law. The Americans and secular Iraqis banished such explicit references to religious law from the interim constitution adopted early last year.

Under that measure, Shiite women in Iraq, no matter what their age, generally could not marry without their families' permission. Under some interpretations of Shariah, men could attain a divorce simply by stating their intention three times in their wives' presence.

Article 14 would replace a body of Iraqi law that has for decades been considered one of the most progressive in the Middle East in protecting the rights of women, giving them the freedom to choose a husband and requiring divorce cases to be decided by a judge.

The document's writers are also debating whether to drop or phase out a measure enshrined in the interim constitution, co-written last year by the Americans, requiring that women make up at least a quarter of the parliament.

The rest of the Middle East would like to welcome Iraq to the 14th Century.