Reuters:

BAGHDAD, Aug 20 (Reuters) – Islam will be ”the main source” of Iraq’s law and parliament will observe religious principles, negotiators said on Saturday after what some called a major turn in talks on the constitution and a shift in the U.S. position.

If agreed by Monday’s parliamentary deadline, it would appear to be a major concession to Islamist leaders from the Shi’ite Muslim majority and sit uneasily with U.S. insistence on the primacy of democracy and human rights in the new Iraq.

U.S. diplomats, who have been shepherding the process closely, declined immediate comment and at least one secular Kurdish politician said Kurds would try to block such a deal.

But an official from one of the main Shi’ite Islamist parties and a leading Sunni Arab negotiator said agreement had been reached, reversing an understanding reached earlier in the recent talks that Islam would simply be ”a main source” of law.

Parliament would not be able to pass legislation that contradicted the principles of Islam, several negotiators told Reuters. One Shi’ite official said that a constitutional court would decide whether laws conformed to Islamic faith.

Nu verkar det med andra ord vara officiellt: Irakkriget är inget annat än en skandal och en katastrof. Detta är en enorm seger för islamisterna, och en enorm förlust för USA och västvärlden.

Var det för detta som nära 200 miljarder dollar och tusentals skadade eller döda amerikanska soldater offrades? Var det meningen att detta skulle ge oss en seger i kriget mot terrorismen? Finns det överhuvudtaget någon neokonservativ som tror att detta kommer sätta någon som helst press på Iran?

Uppdatering:

…a secular Kurdish politician said Kurds opposed making Islam “the,” not “a,” main source of law — changing current wording — and subjecting all legislation to a religious test.

“We understand the Americans have sided with the Shi’ites,” he said. “It’s shocking. It doesn’t fit American values. They have spent so much blood and money here, only to back the creation of an Islamist state … I can’t believe that’s what the Americans really want or what the American people want.” (Reuters.com)