75
propaganda disappeared completely from the Iraqi street. There were no
signs, however, of any attempts to boost the British cause.^30
Later a quantity of communist literature began to appear. Most of these
publications supported the Anglo-Soviet alliance, but with studied reserve.
A great deal was said about the imperialist exploitation of other nations,
which may have been a veiled attack on the British political outlook. In the
August 1941 edition of The Spark, Britain was openly reproved for its
policy, both past and present, in China and the Far East, though an atmo-
sphere of guarded friendliness was maintained throughout the article. But
there was certainly no indication that the Iraqi communists bore any ten-
der feelings towards the British. On the contrary, they seemed to view the
new Anglo-Soviet alliance as nothing but a frigid mariage de convenance.
However, their repeated attacks on Nazism worked greatly to CICI’s
advantage, as they constituted a kind of ‘sixth column’ operating to good
effect against the Nazi fifth column in Iraq. In a subsequent edition of The
Spark, the communists denounced Nuri as-Said’s cabinet as retrogressive
and attacked those in authority for pursuing too soft a policy on the sup-
pression of Nazi subversive activities. They levelled specific accusations
over the handling of the case against the fascist Sami Shawkat, who was
still at large and continued to pose a danger to the Iraqi state.^31 Nuri Pasha
took great exception to this attack on his government and ordered the
arrest of the article’s authors. However, after being warned of probable
adverse repercussions, as the communists were not opposing him, but
merely asking for more vigour in the implementation of his declared poli-
cies, Nuri relented and let the matter drop. Sooner or later, the question
of how far the Iraqi government dared allow the communists to go was a
problem which would have to be faced. The danger of communism gain-
ing a hold over the country could not be overlooked indefinitely. If prop-
erly adapted to Iraq, communist propaganda would find ready listeners
among the wretched poor in a country with a war economy that featured
an alarmingly high cost of living and galloping inflation. In some of the
Baghdad dailies, there were already signs of the growing popularity of the
Soviets. On 16 December 1941 for instance, Al-Rai al-Am published a
poem written by its communist proprietor full of praise for the Russians in
general and for the defenders of Moscow in particular. One day later, the
same paper published a cartoon showing Hitler being beaten by the ham-
mer and beheaded by the sickle, together with a brief Stalin biography and
portrait. Seeking general appeal, Al-Majalla, a leftist magazine thought to
have been published by the editors of The Spark, included articles on a
RESTORING THE PEACE