It's a work in progress, but it's progress and seems to be working:

Delegates at a national meeting approved a new Constitution for Afghanistan on Sunday, concluding three weeks of often tense debate.

...For the first time, Afghans have set up a democratic presidential system, with a directly elected president and a two-chamber national assembly; elections are to be held in just six months. An independent judiciary is also being organized.

In a carefully balanced wording, the country will be renamed the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, combining democracy and religion. There is to be a system of civil law, but no law will be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of Islam.

The chief executive will be relatively unimpeded by a rival power, such as a prime minister; some concern remains over a proposed council that could transform theocratic ambition into a permanent presidential veto. But beyond that, the constitution is in many ways as pluralistic as our own, and with respect to the 1788 ratification, far more modern with women:

The grand council, or loya jirga, added some checks and balances to the presidential powers, giving the Parliament a veto over senior appointments and over some policy decisions, and it gave broad language rights to the ethnic minorities in their own regions.

In addition, women were given recognition as equal citizens, and 25 percent of the seats of the lower house of Parliament were set aside for them.

...Mr. Karzai praised his fellow Pashtuns for dropping their language demand, saying: "World power comes from unity, not from discord, but unity, valor and courage. You have displayed it."

He then congratulated the Uzbeks on their new status, speaking in their language.

This is undoubtedly good news, as liberals and secularists have largely shaped the governing document. And far from endangering the constitution, in a progressive atmosphere of Kabul's, lingering references to Islam would seem likely to be marginalized rather than serving as a fulcrum for clerical manipulation. How long will reactionary Fazl Hadi Shinwari serve as chief justice? When he retires or dies in office, will Afghanistan's executive replace Shinwari with another conservative? If not, how long can Afghanistan's old guard possibly hold back secular modernity?

We've just turned the corner of the most important junctures of postwar Afghanistan - headed in a promising direction.