The Question of Modern Iraq.

As I see it, the question of modern Iraq is not about whether the Iraqi people can create and agree upon a Constitution. The real question is whether or not Islam is a suitable basis for a free republic. It is not by chance that the free world held a single religious fidelity. Neither is it by chance that the materio-naturalist faith, called 'secular' in our age, was the foundation for the world behind the iron curtain. Republics are made of people, not governments and laws which do not have the respect of the people cannot be enforced.
Why is it that the Israeli surrender of Gaza did not result in a full out civil war? These are people who have lived with Palestinian occupation for many years. To the victor go the spoils of war and Israel was the victor. These people of Israel went so far as to try assimilating the Arab populations into their nation where they would not have received similar treatment if the roles had been reversed. Clearly, the settlers were capable of putting up serious resistance if they had chosen to.
The American Colonies broke free of the crown over a breach of justice which the colonists informed the crown of before breaking away. Likewise, the Confederate states reported that they viewed the northern states to be in violation of the Constitution when they broke away to form their short-lived nation. Whenever a large percentage of a population does not respect the rule of law, law itself breaks down. This has always been the power of the people, even when few of them realize it. Tyrants will try to reinforce such rule of law with application of force.
Peace cannot be maintained with the use of force. You will find that peace is not the absence of war but the opposite of war. To have peace, the population of your republic must willingly submit to the rule of law which that population views as just and fair. Only a small percentage of discontent can be suppressed in order to maintain a viable republic. The longer that you have to suppress discontent, the more concentrated and violent it will become. Eventually, your republic will blow apart from the strain.
This is why I ask if Islam will make a suitable foundation for a modern republic. If you ever react in contrast to your beliefs, then you do not hold the beliefs that you profess. Should Islam prove a good support system for the Iraqi republic, then its people will abide by the Constitution and rule of law will prevail. Islam's biggest challenge will be keeping the leaders of Iraq from becoming as 'secular' as those of Iran. Peace will last as long as the Constitution remains as written and understood by all. A game that is played with rules that keep changing at the whim of a single rulemaker, whether a judge, an imam or an Ayatola, would frustrate the players and lead to the breakup of the republic.
As a Christian, I do not find the concept of an Islamic future comfortable. My brothers are unlikely to have an easy time in such a republic. The concept of brotherly love that kept the peace within the free republics of past centuries is Christian. Our faith demands that we change hearts and minds, not that we cut them out. If this is not true of Islam, as it has not been true of naturalism, then a bloody future awaits Iraq no matter what the ink stained parchment called a Constitution may say.