To New York Times Islamic Laws are scarier than the frightening scenes of carnage

Most of the Bush administration’s justifications for invading Iraq have turned out to be wrong. Bu the one surviving argument for overthrowing Saddam Hussein was an important one: it was a chance to bring freedom and equality to the citizens suffering under a brutal dictatorship. For those of us holding onto that hopw, this week brought disheartening news on multiple fronts.

Most chilling of all are the prospects for Iraqi women. As things now stand, their rights are about to be set back by nearly 50 years because of new family law provisions inserted into draft of the constitution at the behest of the ruling Shiite religious parties. These would make Koranic law, called Shariah, the supreme authority on marriage, divorce and inheritance issues.

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Unless these draft provisions are radically revised, crucial personal freedoms that survived Saddam Hussein’s tyranny are about to be lost under a democratic government sponsored and protected by the United States. Is this the kind of freedom President Bush claims is on the march in the Middle East?

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Mr. Bush owes Americans a better explanation for what his policies are producing in Iraq than tired exhortations to stay the course and irrelevant invocations of Al-Qaeda and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Most days the news from Iraq is dominated by suicide bombers and frightening scenes of carnage. Occasionally, the smoke clears for a day or two to reveal the underlying picture. That looks even scarier.

‘Off Course in Iraq’

The New York Times Editorial, page A26

Thursday, July 21, 2005