Hashemite Iraq was better integrated into the global cinema that other Arab countries. Baghdad audiences loved film noir, and the US succeeded in displacing the UK as a source of newsreels, as well. During the Cold War’s first decade, Hollywood continued to pump inexpensive productions and aged celluloid through Iraq, including films made under US government contracts. Local viewers responded thoughtfully to such films, engaging themes such as responsibility and guilt. Against this general background, specific allegations that testing of weapons delivery systems for germ warfare continued after the end of the Korean War, are assessed in the light that public health authorities reported a series of outbreaks of meningitis among audiences in Baghdad cinemas.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.