Alwaght- While the Arbaeen march as the biggest human congregation is held every year more magnificent than the year before, the Western officials are annoyed by this spectacular religious ceremony and have already started their endeavor to take the steam out of this 1400-year-old religious event.
After the failure of the economic, political and military projects in Iraq to dominate this oil-rich country, the US has placed the most important focus over cultural influence and soft power to advance its hegemonic goals, and definitely one of the original and powerful cultural sources under whose presence the American cultural project in Iraq is unlikely is the culture of Ashura and especially the universal and glorious Arbaeen congregation.
In the field of software, the White House officials are seeking to promote the Western culture and lifestyle and destroy the original cultural foundations of the country from within under various titles and slogans to corrode the spirit of resistance, self-belief, and independence in the society and pave the way for political and economic dominance through promotion of atheism, immorality, and moral corruption.
To this end, the US ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski, who over the past year was more busy with conspiring and inflaming crisis in the country more than doing her diplomatic job, these days has undertaken cultural responsibility to prepare the ground for promotion of Western culture, something not hidden from the eyes of Iraq that warns about an American cultural conspiracy.
Mohammad Kareem, one of the leaders of the Fatah parliamentary coalition, emphasized that Washington's ambassador is leading broad cultural movements in order to create a gap in the social fabric of Iraq, and political forces and the media must confront this and reveal the truth about it.
Ali al-Fatlawi, another leader in the coalition, said that the American activities in Iraq are carried out under the title of cultural activities and terms, with the aim of advancing “deviant projects”, and the government bears the greatest responsibility to foil these plots through strengthening education system.
Ayatollah Sayed Yasin al-Mousawi, the imam of Baghdad Friday Prayer, reacted to the the American cultural moves to corrupt the Iraqi youths, saying: “We are totally different from America and the West. They are trying to impose their decadent culture and issues like homosexuality and moral corruption in our countries, but the Iraqi nation will never go along with this decadent culture because it is a big and deep-rooted nation.”
The head of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq Qais al-Khazali said: “Embassies and intelligence services spend billions of dollars to spread moral corruption in Iraq's religion, morals and customs.
The member of National Movement (Herak Al-Shaabi) Ahmad al-Shomari said that foreign sides are seeking to promote moral deviations in Iraq and this evil project is meant to propagate homosexual thoughts and moral deviations and anything that damages human values in the society and social cohesion.
The movement intends to file a lawsuit against such terms as gender diversity in the related courts, he added.
Ibtisam Al-Hilali, the head of the National Product Movement in the Iraqi parliament, maintained that “we are witnessing parliamentary actions against the American activities in the country with the aim of spreading moral deviation and homosexuality. The actions of the American ambassador, especially in supporting homosexuality in the Iraqi society, are worrisome, and we must deal with this project through legal and diplomatic channels.”
Reacting to suspicious US ambassador moves, Al-Nakhil news agency chief Mohammad Ali Al-Hakim said that the ambassador's activities are not limited to politics and holding unconventional meetings by her in the holy month of Ramadan was a defiance of the Islamic principles and sharia and a crossing the red lines of Iran's cultural principles.
Mohammad al-Yasseri, an Iraqi affairs expert, noted: “Romanovsky's soft cultural war takes place through the creation of some non-governmental organizations and support for their activities, and the promotion of unrest among the youth and the Westernization of the culture of the Iraqi people is officially on the agenda of the United States.”
Resorting to Fullbright program to attract Iraqi elites
The US has resorted to educational and financial incentives to advance its cultural programs among Iraqis. In this regard, Zainab Al-Mousawi, one of the representatives of the Sadeqoun bloc, warned against the “malicious” American role in Iraq and said, "the United States, through the Fulbright program, attracts bright people from Iraq, including journalists, academics, and others, in order to get them acquainted with suspicious American and Israeli figures to and implement their agenda."
The lawmaker further called for immediate government action to stop such programs, which the US ambassador is working on. She noted that the first goal of these programs is to divide the Iraqi society and destroy authentic social norms and traditions.
Fulbright is a high-level competitive program based on competence to receive funding for international education for students, researchers, university professors, professionals, scientists, and artists that enables them to research in American or other universities and research centers.
According to its goals, experts who are attracted to American universities through this program should conduct research in line with the global policies of this country. In a way, this program aims to change the minds of the intellectuals and elites of the developing countries and guide them to the path decided by the US officials and the Israeli lobby.
An example of how the Muslim thoughts are changed by the Westerners is the recent desecration of the holy Quran in Sweden and Danmark at the hands of two Iraqi young men in Sweden, drawing large-scale Muslim reactions across the world. If thousands of Iraqi young people are attracted to the American cultural programs, it would be easier to advance Washington’s evil schemes and these people will somehow play as the West's infantry.
Soft war, the West's arm for influence in Iraq
The American push for moral corruption of Iraq comes as the people and officials in the country call on the US occupation to withdraw its forces, arguing that the main cause of security and political crises in Iraq is Washington. Now, cultural crises fomentation is on the agenda of the White House officials to realize its failed past plans.
Destroying people's beliefs is one of the main tools of the West to crush the resistance of nations for powerful dominance of these countries, and this scenario is currently being implemented in Iraq. The promotion of homosexuality, which is in conflict with the religious teachings of Muslims, is like a poison injected gently by Westerners in Iraq. It ostensibly claims to defend the rights of men and women, but its main purpose is the spread of moral corruption that has encompassed the Western world for decades and now has found a new destination.
The American University in Sulaimaniyah in northern Iraq is one of the American-style higher education institutions in this country. After receiving a grant from the US Department of State in 2017, it was the first university to start its activities in the field of gender studies in Iraq. Also, the British embassy in Baghdad has allocated funds for a number of Iraqi civil society organizations that promote and defend the concepts of gender and adoption.
Additionally, a number of products are distributed in Iraqi markets, especially toys and some other children products that portrait rainbow as the color of homosexuality. These products are distributed without people knowing their meaning and what they symbolize. Some Iraqi ministries also hold seminars to explain the concept of gender to be seen as a type of culture. According to the Iraqi media, these activities have reached a point where copies of the Holy Quran were published with covers in rainbow color. Some sources indicate that the Canadian and American embassies in Baghdad raised rainbow flags on their embassies in open protest against Muslim demonstration against desecration of the Holy Quran. The rainbow flag is a symbol of LGBTQ groups they carry in their so-called ‘pride marches.’
Having failed to realize its evil plans in Iraq after two decades of occupation, the US has resorted to promotion of culture of corruption to indoctrinate the country and align Iraqi youths and elites with its policies.
By building cultural and political influence in Iraq, the US tries to distance this country from the anti-imperial Axis of Resistance and put an end to Iran's spiritual influence among Iraqis. In recent days, Matthew Miller, the spokesman of the US State Department, while referring to the country's policies to reduce Iran's influence in Iraq, said that Washington sends messages to Tehran through intermediaries whenever it is in its interest.
The Americans know very well that as long as religious beliefs rule the nations, it will be difficult to infiltrate them, and this is why they seek to uproot these Islamic beliefs, and cutting off the religious and spiritual ties between Iran and Iraq is also part of this anti-Islamic project.
In general, the path and school of Imam Hussein, the third Shiite Imam and the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, that were created with his and his family's blood and dedication, provide guidance and a starting point to counter moral and intellectual deviations the West is promoting in Iraq.
Confronting West's software and norm-breaking sedition in Iraq with a population young and susceptible to the American cultural project takes organized efforts with the presence of research centers, media, thinkers, and religious scholars to vividly explain the gender culture and its destructive impacts on the Iraqi society. Religious events like Ashura and Arbaeen and cultural sermons to disclose gender agenda and its corrupt consequences are instruments the Iraqis can use to nip the American cultural sedition.
