"Sistani and the other grand ayatollahs will press for as much Shariah - or Islamic law - as possible in Iraqi law," said Juan Cole, a history professor and specialist in Shiite Islam at the University of Michigan. "They can afford to be patient if they can't push through everything now."

The first casualty of an Islamic-based Constitution will be equality between the sexes, which is rather ironic when you consider how many women voted in last Sunday's election:

The clerics generally agree that the constitution must ensure that no laws passed by the state contradict a basic understanding of Shariah as laid out in the Koran. Women should not be treated as the equals of men in matters of marriage, divorce and family inheritance, they say. Nor should men be prevented from having multiple wives, they add.

One tenet of Shariah mandates that in dividing family property, male children get twice as much as female children. "We don't want to see equality between men and women because according to Islamic law, men should have double of women," said Muhammad Kuraidy, a spokesman for Ayatollah Yacoubi. "This is written in the Koran and according to God."

Will the Kurds and Sunnis stop the theocratic-minded Shiites?

A former administration official said the White House was relying on veto power by the Kurds and possibly the Sunni Arabs to limit any moves toward a Shiite theocracy.

The Sunnis are not exactly on Bush's team: They are demanding a timetable for the U.S. exit from Iraq as the price for participating in the drafting of a new Iraqi Constitution.

Many observers believe that the constitution, which the national assembly is supposed to draw up, will only command nationwide respect if the Sunni Arab elite that dominated all previous governments, is drawn into the process.

For more expert analysis, visit Professor Juan Cole . For more on the election results, go here.