This might be the most interesting part of the Iraqi government creation to watch. Thomas Friedman made the point a few weeks ago that Islam (God 3.0) still had not gone through the upgrade that Judaism (God 1.0.1) and Christianity (God 2.0.1) experienced during the Enlightenment and the move towards separation of Church and state. Early on, this clearly is one of the key issues: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...on_re_mi_ea/war_postwar_iraq&cid=540&ncid=716 "Delegates also discussed the contentious issue of religion's role in society. Sheik Ayad Jamal Al Din, a Shiite religious leader from Nasiriyah, urged delegates to craft a secular government. "We want an Iraq that is truly democratic in the sense that it looks at each Iraqi citizen as an individual, he said. "The Islamic community can only flourish in circumstances of freedom which separates religion from politics, so that dictators will no longer be able to speak in the name of Islam." But Nassar Hussein Musawi, a schoolteacher, disagreed: "Those who would like to separate religion from the state are simply dreaming." What nations with large Muslim populations have more or less secular governments now? Off the top of my head... Turkey Indonesia India Nigeria No Arab Muslim countries that I can think of... Anyway, I'm hoping that Bush's little oil grab actually has the side benefit of paving the way for an Arab-Muslim experiment in secular democracy, though I have to admit I'm not holding my breath.