Mudhafar al-Husseini

Mudhafar al-Husseini was a reporter, fixer, and translator for The New York Times in Baghdad for two years. He is author of the CPJ Blog series, “Finding Refuge.”

Mudhafar al-Husseini

An Iraqi in America: A year still unclear

I just can’t believe that it’s been almost a year since I arrived in the States. It’s been very quick, seemingly quicker than waiting in a drive-through line for a restaurant. 

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An Iraqi in America: ‘Time is like a sword’ here

It has been almost nine months since I arrived in the United States. I can’t believe how fast life is moving and how different my family’s days are now are from the old days—that was a beautiful time. Everything is changing now. There’s no simplicity for us anymore.

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An Iraqi in America: In the middle of nowhere

We are all stuck in the middle of nowhere. Millions in Iraq and millions outside it face an ambiguous future. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis fled Iraq under Saddam’s regime, which lasted for almost 40 years, but since the led-American invasion in 2003 that number has exceeded 4 million, according to United Nations estimates.

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An Iraqi journalist in America: Gathering my family

Nearly six months after my arrival in the U.S., most of my family has finally joined me in Arizona. Making the trip from Baghdad was my father, who turned 63 in October; my mother, who is 50; and my 16-year-old brother, Anas, who is very eager to discover this big country.

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An Iraqi journalist in America: Finally … Red Lobster

Most of the Iraqi refugees who recently arrived in America were shocked by the economic situation here. I was prepared. I knew about the difficulties of finding a job in America, and I knew I could count on assistance from the American government through my status as a journalist with The New York Times. Even…

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An Iraqi journalist in America: The other side of the war

It’s been more than three months since I realized one of my most important dreams by coming to the United States. Still, I never thought that I would come here as a refugee, maybe because my Iraqi dignity and pride simply wouldn’t accept such an idea. 

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An Iraqi in America: How I became a refugee (Part II)

As a child, I never thought about becoming a journalist. I never really felt pulled toward any particular field. I just loved to feel free and try new things, especially when it came to hard work.

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An Iraqi in America: How I became a refugee (Part I)

On a cold winter evening–Jan. 29, 2004–I was getting ready to start my first night shift as an interpreter for the U.S. Army in Baghdad. It wasn’t really that cold, but my whole body was chilled. It was around 6 p.m. but already dark. I was an 18-year-old freshman in the College of Arts studying…

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An Iraqi journalist in America: California pilgrimage

I couldn’t say anything. I didn’t want to blink and waste a single moment of looking at the beach and the Pacific. I had never seen an ocean. If I could set up a tent on the sand, I thought, I could stay there forever. I have loved the seas, rivers, and oceans since I studied…

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An Iraqi journalist in America: Fastening my seatbelt

It’s been almost a month since I arrived in the United States. Oddly, I haven’t felt homesick or strange here even though this is my first time ever outside Iraq. I was born in Baghdad in 1986. I never lived anywhere else. Baghdad is where my father and mother were born, fell in love, and…

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