Religion and the Cold War: A Global Perspective

6. The Campaign of Truth Program: US Propaganda in Iraq during the Early 1950s

113 Chapter 6 The Campaign of Truth Program US Propaganda in Iraq during the Early 1950s Ahmed Khalid al-Rawi Sensing the danger of the spread of Communism in the Middle East during the late 1940s and early 1950s, the US government worked hard to counter Soviet attempts to find and expand a breeding ground for its ideology. To influence the hearts and minds of people, US propaganda endeavored to expose the negative aspects of Marxism-Leninism in order to convince the Arab masses that Communism represented a common enemy for both America and the Arab world. In this chapter, the discussion is mainly focused on Iraq, since Communism flourished in that country during this period. The Iraqi Communist Party (ICP) gained wide popular appeal that frequently exceeded the popularity of other Communist parties in the Arab world. US propaganda targeted a variety of sectors of Iraqi society but focused especially on the molders of opinion, many of whom were religious leaders. As for means, the US Information Bureau provided financial assistance; distributed magazines, pamphlets, and posters; manipulated news and radio broadcasts ; and promoted books, libraries, music, movies, cartoons, and educational activities. But among the most effective strategies was involving religion in propaganda activities, because of its importance to Iraqis’ daily lives. The US propaganda efforts concentrated on portraying Communism as an atheist ideology that was the sole enemy of Islam, and featured stories of persecution of 114 | Religion and the Cold War: A Global Perspective Muslims within the Soviet bloc. At the same time, the US embassy in Iraq tried to project the idea that unlike the Soviet Union, America was a friend to all Muslims, as both were united against a godless enemy. Like the US State Department, the Iraqi monarchy opposed Communism because it called for establishing a republic, overthrowing the capitalist feudal system, and giving Kurds independence in northern Iraq—hence, the Iraqi penal code prohibited the propagation of the Communist ideology. The Iraqi, British, and US governments were thus joined in their propaganda efforts to stop the spread of Communism. This chapter argues that the US government used all the propaganda tools at its disposal—playing especially on Muslims’ religious sentiments to counter the Communist threat—for two reasons: its fear that the Soviet Union might establish in Iraq a basis of ideological expansion in the Middle East, and its concern over the future domination of the rich oil fields of Iraq and the rest of the Persian Gulf region if Moscow supplanted US hegemony. US Propaganda in the Early Cold War Propaganda was a basic tool used by the US government during the Cold War. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the US government supported various European institutions and bodies that played a role in propaganda. For example, the New York–based National Committee for a Free Europe, officially founded in June 1949, supported Eastern Europeans in getting rid of Communism. Also, the Berlin-based Congress for Cultural Freedom, a gathering of intellectuals and writers who started working in June 1950 to counter Communism, was supported by the CIA. The US government created Radio Free Europe, which advocated capitalism and attacked Communist ideology; it started broadcasting in Czechoslovakia on July 4, 1950, and then in Romania, Hungary, and Poland.1 US propaganda activities went through four main stages in the 1940s and 1950s. The first phase, from 1945 to 1947, was headed by the US Interim International Information Service, later renamed the Office of International Information and Cultural Affairs. The second stage, from 1947 to 1949, was run by the Office of International Information and Educational Exchange. In the third stage, from 1950 to 1951, President Harry Truman expanded overseas propaganda activities under the Campaign of Truth program. Building on the work of his predecessor, President Dwight Eisenhower established the US Information Agency (USIA), which started a new phase in US propaganda activities overseas.2 However, Communist propaganda was frequently more effective than US efforts to win the hearts and minds of people in many places around the world. US Propaganda in Iraq during the Early 1950s | 115 In light of this, two committees were established during Truman’s administration to review the work of the US information programs: the President’s Committee on Governmental Organization and the President’s Committee on International Information Activities. The two committees “agreed that two years of hard-hitting anti-Communist propaganda under the Campaign...