2009

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…

CPJ called on U.S. military forces to charge or release journalist Ibrahim Jassam, who has been imprisoned in Iraq for one year as of today. Jassam, a freelance cameraman and photographer working for Reuters, has not been charged with a crime, and no evidence against him has ever been disclosed. U.S. forces have made only…

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. 

New York, July 20, 2009–Authorities in Kirkuk province must bring to justice those responsible for the 2008 murder of journalist Soran Mama Hama, at left, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on the eve of the anniversary of the reporter’s slaying. On the evening of July 21, 2008, unidentified gunmen murdered the 23-year-old reporter for the…

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.

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…

Before the war, I was an artist, a sculptor, and an art teacher in Baghdad. Life wasn’t so easy back then and I had to find another job in order to make a better living for myself and my wife and two kids, but even so, life was sweeter than it is now–I didn’t have…