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Why America Failed in Afghanistan and Iraq

When America and the WW2 Allies defeated Germany and Japan, we did something we did not dare do in Iraq or Afghanistan; we changed their cultures. Germany had been completely infused with Nazism and Japan with Imperial Shintoism. One of the main focuses after the defeat of Germany and Japan was to dismantle the very culture that gave rise to those aggressive nations. Instead, with Iraq and Afghanistan; we have and are spending a lot of time trying to say that Islam's not the cause of the hostility. We look for other sources, such as the existence of Israel in the middle of otherwise Islamic countries or the tension of the relative opulence of the West compared to the Middle East; anything but Islam.

The principal way of reshaping the cultures of Germany and Japan was a radical rewrite of their constitutions so as to eliminate the elements that lead to the hostile and repressive mindset.

In the case of Iraq and Afghanistan, America and the Coalition allowed those countries to contain within their constitutions, the very element that led and continues to lead such nations to be hostile to principles of freedom and equality. Let us compare just the first lines of the preambles of the U.S., the post-war German, post-war Japanese, post-war Iraqi, and post-war Afghanistan constitutions.

UNITED STATES GERMAN JAPANESE IRAQI AFGHANI
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Conscious of their responsibility before God and man, Inspired by the determination to promote world peace as an equal partner in a united Europe, the German people, in the exercise of their constituent power, have adopted this Basic Law. We, the Japanese people, acting through our duly elected representatives in the National Diet, determined that we shall secure for ourselves and our posterity the fruits of peaceful cooperation with all nations and the blessings of liberty throughout this land, and resolved that never again shall we be visited with the horrors of war through the action of government, do proclaim that sovereign power resides with the people and do firmly establish this Constitution. Government is a sacred trust of the people, the authority for which is derived from the people, the powers of which are exercised by the representatives of the people, and the benefits of which are enjoyed by the people. This is a universal principle of mankind upon which this Constitution is founded. We reject and revoke all constitutions, laws, ordinances, and rescripts in conflict herewith. In the name of God, the Most merciful, the Most compassionate {We have honored the sons of Adam} We, the people of Mesopotamia, the homeland of the apostles and prophets, resting place of the virtuous imams, cradle of civilization, crafters of writing, and home of numeration. Upon our land the first law made by man was passed, and the oldest pact of just governance was inscribed, and upon our soil the saints and companions of the Prophet prayed, philosophers and scientists theorized, and writers and poets excelled; Acknowledging God’s right over us, and in fulfillment of the call of our homeland and citizens, and in a response to the call of our religious and national leaderships and the determination of our great authorities and of our leaders and politicians, and in the midst of international support from our friends and those who love us, marched for the first time in our history towards the ballot boxes by the millions, men and women, young and old, on the thirtieth of January 2005.. In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
We the people of Afghanistan:
1. With firm faith in God Almighty and relying on His lawful mercy, and Believing in the Sacred religion of Islam,
2. Realizing the injustice and shortcoming of the past, and the numerous troubles imposed on our country,
3. While acknowledging the sacrifices and the historic struggles, rightful Jihad and just resistance of all people of Afghanistan, and respecting the high position of the martyrs for the freedom of Afghanistan,
4. Understanding the fact that Afghanistan is a single and united country and belongs to all ethnicities residing in this country,
5. Observing the United Nations Charter and respecting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
6. For consolidating national unity, safeguarding independence, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the country,
7. For establishing a government based on people's will and democracy,
8. For creation of a civil society free of oppression, atrocity, discrimination, and violence and based on the rule of law, social justice, protection of human rights, and dignity, and ensuring the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people,
9. For strengthening of political, social, economic, and defensive institutions of the country,
10. For ensuring a prosperous life, and sound environment for all those residing in this land,
11. And finally for regaining Afghanistan’s deserving place in the international community,
Have adopted this constitution in compliance with historical, cultural, and social requirements of the era, through our elected representatives in the Loya Jirga dated 14 Jaddi 1382 in the city of Kabul.

The blantant Islam is evident in both the Iraqi and Afghani preambles. While it is true that the United States political structure has its own entanglement with religious connotation and as we see from the German preamble, so does it; the generic nature of references allows for a wider expression. It is possible that a "god" to one person is nothing more than nature or even their own determination. But the Iraqi and Afghani constitutions are so infused with Islamicism that any expression against it is dangerous if not unlawful per those constitutions. Indeed, in Chapter One, Article Three of the Afghani Constitution we read:

"In Afghanistan, no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam."

This hardly allows for a more free Afghanistan than what was in place before. Despite all the verbiage of rights and freedoms of the people; not having the right to oppose the state religion is the pivotal difference. America failed Iraqis and Afghanis when we allowed the new governments of those nations to insert Islam back into the culture by imposition. While even in Japan, an individual was free to practice Shintoism, it was prohibited to have Shintoism be the state religion and dictate the thoughts and beliefs of the people by force of law.

The constitutions of Iraq and Afghanistan are woefully intrinsically flawed. You cannot declare basic human rights and then claim that those rights must conform to a state religion.

While I myself am an avowed, practicing Reformed Christian, I would never want any form of Christianity to be the state religion of America.

If there is any hope for Iraq, Afghanistan and the rising new former Islamic nations to truly be free; they need to truly disentangle their political structure from religion. This is not to say religion doesn't play a part in cultures; but to have one expression of thought imposed on a people by the state is not freedom. I urge people in Iraq, Afghanistan and the burgeoning new former Islamic countries to reform themselves into truly free nations; where the extent of the rule of law is for the protection of every individual to live life in relative peace and happiness as long as that pursuit does not threaten the same pursuit of others. Beyond this principle, all other human fashioned law is imposition at best, oppression at least, and tyranny at worst.

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