Ghaith Abdul-Ahad: ‘No one consulted us Iraqis about a war’

The journalist tells Roxanne Escobales about how the 2003 invasion failed his country, the importance of the BBC World Service and flourishing Iraqi fiction.

The World Today
4 minute READ

In his latest book, ‘A Stranger in Your Own City: Travels in the Middle East’s Long War’, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad revisits 20 years of his reports from Iraq and the Middle East. Scattered throughout are his pen-and-ink drawings depicting street and battle scenes. With a background as an architect, his move into journalism was accidental as he made his way through Baghdad in the days following the United States’ invasion and hitched a ride with a journalist who hired him as a translator. His reports for the Guardian brought the reader into the heart of the war.

What was it like reviewing 20 years of reporting on Iraq for your book?

Subscribe to read all issues

Articles from the current issue are free to read by all, the archive is exclusive to magazine subscribers and our members. Subscribe or become a member to view articles from the archive.