A moment of silent celebration

A loya jirga (grand council) has approved a new constitution for Afghanistan after three weeks of tense and sometimes rancorous debate and some honorable (because painful) compromises. Probably the two reactions that best sum up my own feelings about the event are found in a January 5 New York Times article. One:

The United Nations special representative here, Lakhdar Brahimi, who helped in last-minute mediation, was the first to congratulate the assembly. "Is the Constitution perfect? Probably not," Mr. Brahimi told delegates. "Will it be criticized? I feel it will be, inside Afghanistan and outside Afghanistan. But you have every reason to be proud and see this as a new source of hope."

And two:

The 502 delegates from all over Afghanistan who have been assembled in a vast white tent in Kabul Polytechnic approved the Constitution by acclamation. They said prayers, then rose and stood in silent respect.

Success measured not by perfection, but by hope. Celebration expressed not in cheers or back-slapping, but in silent respect. Yes, that's it. That's my feeling.

Hope, however, must always be tempered by reality; that's what separates hope from fantasy. The document is remarkable in a number of ways, not only in that it provides for a freely-elected president and assembly but equally in that recognizes the rights of women and that all the ethnic groups are part of the nation. (Sidebar: I think that the remark by Zalmay Khalilzad, US ambassador to Afghanistan, that it's "one of the most enlightened constitutions in the Islamic world" was irritatingly condescending. "Hey, that's pretty good - for you guys.")

But it also says that no civil law can be "contrary" to the "beliefs and provisions" of Islam. While that provides a good deal more latitude for civil law than a declaration that it must be "in accordance with" Islam, I still wonder if it will set off land mines sometime in the future, particularly since it's weaker on that score than the original wording, which said civil law can't run contrary to Islam "or this constitution." Dropping that phrase, which effectively put Islam and the constitution on an equal footing with regard to civil law, implies at least to me a belief that in a conflict between Islam and the constitution, Islam wins.

Few nations (actually, none spring to mind right now) have successfully combined a national religion with true political freedom. I can but wonder if Afghanistan will be the first. If it does pull it off, it will be a remarkable achievement.

The more important issue is whether or not this actually means anything or will it be just another bit of face-saving. The government of President Hamid Karzai it will replace is actually a government in name only once you get beyond a few miles from Kabul and even there has survived only because of the continued presence of foreign troops. In fact, when Karzai arrived to address the loya jirga, he was taken by helicopter rather than drive the one mile from his office due to security concerns. At the final session,

Mr. Brahimi said that despite Sunday's accomplishment, the biggest challenges lie ahead. He lamented the insecurity that ordinary Afghans experience as a result of warlords and their armies and corrupt commanders and the police. Delegates gave him loud applause.

Many interviewed said the most important thing now was the disarmament and demilitarization of the country.

"On the whole it is a good Constitution," said one delegate, Abdul Latif Amiri, from Kandahar. "It will change things if implemented, but at the moment it is not possible to implement it as there are still arms all over the country."

Still - for the moment, silent celebration and respect for what they have accomplished. Keep hope alive.

Footnote: And what was the US take on this? Did we raise a cheer for democracy? Did we pledge the sort of aid it will take to rebuild a country shattered by 25 years of civil war, to make this actually work?

In Washington, President Bush welcomed the new Constitution, saying in a statement that it would "help ensure that terror finds no further refuge" in Afghanistan.

"Hey, wait a minute - how does this affect ME?"