Afghanistan has a constitution
Afghanistan has unveiled a draft of a constitution:
The draft starts by declaring that “Afghanistan is an Islamic Republic,” then later creates the posts of president and vice president, as well as envisioning two houses of congress.
The draft reflects the government’s desire to bring the country together under the banner of Islam, which is practiced by the vast majority of Afghans. However, the hardline Islamic law enforced by the former Taliban regime is not expected to be a part of Afghanistan’s future.
Good luck, guys. By my count, it’ll only be valid for about 200 years.
November 3rd, 2003 at 9:35 am
This is obviously another failure of the Bush Administration although I don’t see excatly how it is a failure. I am sure that Ted Kennedy will let us know in short order. Perhaps the document was written in Texas or something equally horrible.
November 3rd, 2003 at 11:47 am
200 years? You’re optimistic. Afghanistan’s last constitution was drafted in 1991, and was scrapped when the Taliban assumed control. That’s a shelf life of under 10 years. What makes you think this new constitution will fare any better?
November 3rd, 2003 at 12:09 pm
I’m using ours as a reference.
November 3rd, 2003 at 5:37 pm
I realize that, and I know that you’re trying to say that ours is no longer really enforced, a point that I would dispute. But I was making the larger point that I’d be happy with a constitution lasting 20 years in Afghanistan, never mind 200.
November 3rd, 2003 at 6:55 pm
By the Founding Fathers’ lights, the Constitution as they understood it lasted until roughly the 1840’s and Andrew Jackson. By our lights today, it lasted until the Civil War. The War of Northern Aggression đŸ˜‰ stopped the sovreignty of States. The rest is just nailing down the details and unfurling the new flag.
November 4th, 2003 at 12:41 pm
If you mean to say that the War of Northern Agression stopped the ability of states to disregard the federal constitution, then I’d say you’re right. đŸ™‚
The States’ Rights argument would hold a lot more water if not for the fact that 9 times out of 10, the states were clamoring for the right to discriminate against whatever groups they saw fit.