Okay, then. How about an Islamic theocratic democracy? Think of it as a hybrid car.

Excerpts from the Press Gaggle by Ari Fleischer, April 28, 2003

QUESTION: Can I ask you about -- what's the administration's position on whether Islamic Sharia law should be part of the new Iraq? There are a lot of people in Iraq calling for the adoption of the Sharia legal code, which is very strict and very traditional.

MR. FLEISCHER: These are the issues for the Iraqi people to figure out, to settle on themselves. But the administration believes what should guide any of these discussions is transparency, rule of law, tolerance.

QUESTION: So you're open to it?

MR. FLEISCHER: Transparency, rule of law, tolerance. We've always said that there can be an Islamic democracy -- not an Islamic theocracy like Iran, but an Islamic democracy.
If nothing else --
***

U.S. "concession" on Islam said to turn Iraq talks

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. concessions to Islamists on the role of religion in Iraqi law marked a turn in talks on a constitution, negotiators said on Saturday as they raced to meet a 48-hour deadline under intense U.S. pressure to clinch a deal.

U.S. diplomats, who have insisted the constitution must enshrine ideals of equal rights and democracy, declined comment.

Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish negotiators all said there was accord on a bigger role for Islamic law than Iraq had before.
But a secular Kurdish politician said Kurds opposed making Islam not "a" but "the" main source of law -- a reversal of interim legal arrangements -- and subjecting all legislation to a religious test.

"We understand the Americans have sided with the Shi'ites," he said. "It's shocking. It doesn't fit American values. They have spent so much blood and money here, only to back the creation of an Islamist state ... I can't believe that's what the Americans really want or what the American people want." [link]

Update: Billmon has more than a few thoughts about the liquidation of "Democracy Unlimited, Inc. ('Shouldering the white man's burden since 2003')."