Government · Nationwide · August 20, 2026
Iraqi Christian Woman Wins Final Ruling to Restore Christian Identity in Records
What Alinsky tactic is being used
One of the thirteen rules is in play here.
Rule 4
“Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”
The case was won by holding the Iraqi state to its own written commitments rather than by outside pressure: ADF International and Maryam's lawyers set Article 26(2) of the National Card Law No. 3 of 2016 — which converts minor children when a parent embraces Islam — against Article 2 of Iraq's own constitution guaranteeing freedom of belief for Christians, Yazidis and Mandaeans, and against Iraq's treaty obligation under Article 18 of the ICCPR. The Court of Cassation was in effect asked to close the gap between what Iraq's founding text promises and what its civil registry actually records. The tactic worked precisely because the gap was real and documented.
Counter-Rule 4 · Radical Integrity
Close the gap between stated values and actual practice before anyone else finds it. This tactic only works where the gap is real.
Apply the same standard to ourselves this month rather than only to Baghdad: the principle just vindicated is that the individual, not the state, names their own faith — so do not repeat the story in a form that claims more than happened. Read the ADF International release (adfinternational.org) and the text of Article 26(2) before speaking about it publicly, and say plainly that Maryam's two younger sisters remain registered as Muslim and that the ruling is one case, not a repeal of the law. If your church publicly claims to support the persecuted church, ask the missions committee for the actual budget line and date of approval, and close any gap you find between the claim and the ledger.
Chapter 3 sets out the rules; Chapter 15 answers each of them in turn. This is that pairing applied to this story.
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