I read this Steven Vincent post....

....with great interest. Steven reports that shariah law may be instituted in Iraq.

Second, we should not be surprised by Ms. Yaqoub's sentiments. There are many feminists in Iraq who believe the Koran, and shari'a law, are the proper avenues for women's liberation. Some argue that Islam provides women distinct rights which counter the patriarchal customs of tribalism. Others--Ms. Yaqoub apparently among them--believe that women must not contravene Islamic law and, by extension, Allah. Western reporters have tended to ignore voices like these, because they don't fit our concept of "feminism": how can a woman be both for women's rights and affirm shari'a? But there are many Iraqi women who agree with Ms. Yaqoub, more than we think, or wish.

Apparently, in exchange for instituting shariah law, the Shiites are willing to bargain with the Kurds and exempt members of other religions.

In other words, the Shiites seem ready to bargain away many chits in return for their right to control the lives of Muslim women. It is that important to them. As I've argued before, we face a situation similar to the Reconstruction Era when, in order to assure nationwide stability and expedite the end of an unpopular occupation, the North abandoned the Abolitionist cause and allowed the South to re-enslave its black citizens. No doubt Washington will look the other way again. African-Americans were expendable over a century ago; today, in another time, and another land, it is women. But the result is the same. In the name of order and stability, freedom for an entire class of people will be deferred for an indefinite period of time--or until the next revolution occurs.

Vincent ignores a major difference between the despicable compromise made by the North after the Civil War and the present situation in Iraq. In Iraq women support the return to Shariah law. Black Americans were never given such a choice. They were enslaved against their will.

I once had a black friend who told me something startling that I had never considered. He pointed out that blacks are the only people living in America whose ancestors, rather than emigrating to the land of freedom, were brought here against their will.

An Iraqi woman counciled another with these words.

I told her that our country has had three wars and there are not enough men for every woman to marry. So she should not be so selfish and share her husband like a good Muslim wife. I reminded her that God had allowed men to take more than one wife and you don't defy God's orders.

If Iraqis institute shariah law, it will be with the approval of a majority of Iraqis, including women. We may not like that, but that is their choice, not ours.