Raffi Khatchadourian
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Raffi Khatchadourian is an American journalist. He is well known for his investigative pieces on an array of topics such as
WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...
, the
Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
,
Tiversa Tiversa is an American cybersecurity firm headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded by a retired chiropractor and real estate entrepreneur named Robert Boback in 2004. The company specialized in trawling the deep web, investigatin ...
, U.S. military experimenting, and genocide. His long-form piece
Azzam the American
" which appeared in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
,'' is one of his most notable works. It was published on January 22, 2007, and was nominated for a
National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
in Profile Writing.


Early life

Khatchadourian was born in
Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...
. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
in
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
. He also earned an International Relations master's degree from
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.


Early career

Khatchadourian began his journalism career in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, where he worked at an English weekly called ''
The Russia Journal ''The Russia Journal'' is a Russian English language, English-language website, which is no longer updated. History and profile ''The Russia Journal'' was founded in 1998 by Indian-born entrepreneur Ajay Goyal, who served as publisher and chief ed ...
''. While there, he worked as the chief
copy editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. ''The Chicago Manual of ...
and wrote news and
editorial An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK) is an article written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or any other written document, often unsigned. Australian and major United States newspapers, suc ...
articles. He has contributed
freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
work to a number of publications after returning from Moscow, including ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'', the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
'', ''
The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...
'', ''
Condé Nast Traveler ''Condé Nast Traveler'' is a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine published by Condé Nast. The magazine has won 25 National Magazine Awards. The Condé Nast unit of Advance Publications purchased ''Signature'', a magazine for Diners Club memb ...
'', ''Smithsonian'' magazine and ''Salon''. Khatchadourian spent time in
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
,
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...
and
Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
in 2001 in order to report on U.S. military involvement in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
for ''The Nation'' and the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. In 2003, prior to joining the staff at ''The New Yorker'', Khatchadourian wrote a five-segment piece for
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
on the construction of an oil pipeline through
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
and
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. Khatchadourian was a fellow at the International Reporting Project (IRP) in 2005. The project, which is run by the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, "provides opportunities for journalists to report internationally on critical issues that are under covered in the news media."


''The New Yorker''

Khatchadourian began working for ''The New Yorker'' in 2003 as a staff fact-checker. He wrote his first piece for the magazine, "Azzam the American," in 2007 and transitioned to a staff writer in 2008. Since then, Khatchadourian has written a number of investigative pieces for ''The New Yorker'' on a range of topics.


"Azzam the American"

"Azzam the American" is the first piece Khatchadourian wrote for ''The New Yorker'', the year before becoming a staff writer for the magazine. The piece was nominated for the Profile Writing category of the National Magazine Awards. It investigated the story of
Adam Yahiye Gadahn Adam Yahiye Gadahn ( ar, آدم يحيى غدن, ''Ādam Yaḥyā Ghadan''; September 1, 1978 – January 19, 2015) was an American senior operative, cultural interpreter, spokesman and media advisor for the Islamist group al-Qaeda, as wel ...
,Oregon-born U.S. citizen who joined
Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
. Gadahn became an English spokesperson for Al-Qaeda's media, serving as "translator, video producer and cultural interpreter," Khatchadourian reported. Although Khatchadourian did not speak with Gadahn himself, he offered an in-depth profile using a number of sources. He spoke to terrorism experts such as Randy Parsons, who was in charge of the Los Angeles F.B.I.'s counterterroism division from 2002 to 2006. The article also cited people who knew Gadahn's family. Most importantly, though, Khatchadourian scoured through essays, videos and audio recordings Gadahn had made in order to learn more about him.


"No Secrets"

In 2010, Khatchadourian wrote
No Secrets
for ''The New Yorker''. The investigative article profiled
Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army inte ...
, the founder of WikiLeaks. In the piece, Khatchadourian wrote that Assange wanted to be as transparent as possible concerning his work at WikiLeaks. He captured this as he told Assange's story, from starting WikiLeaks to keeping an eye out for the next leak. Khatchadourian spent time with Assange, and his team at the time, in Iceland. They were working on a leak, code named Project B, regarding two U.S. airstrikes in Baghdad, which took place on July 12, 2007. The video revealed that, along with the intended targets, the airstrike killed
Saeed Chmagh Saeed Chmagh ( ar, سعيد شماغ) (January 1, 1967 – July 12, 2007) was an Iraqi employed by Reuters news agency as a driver and camera assistant. He was killed, along with his colleague Namir Noor-Eldeen by American military forces in the N ...
and
Namir Noor-Eldeen Namir Noor-Eldeen ( ar, نمير نورالدين; September 1, 1984 – July 12, 2007) was an Iraqi war photographer for Reuters. Noor-Eldeen, his assistant, Saeed Chmagh, and eight others were fired upon by U.S. military forces in the New ...
, two war correspondents for
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...
. The leak was given the titl
Collateral Murder
upon release. Assange also revealed his own personal story to Khathcadourian. At the age of 16 he began hacking under the name Mendax, with a group called the International Subversives. Khatchadourian also reported, from a meeting with the WikiLeaks founder on a bench in
Bryant Park Bryant Park is a public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Privately managed, it is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas ( Sixth Avenue) and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. The e ...
after the release of Collateral Murder, that Assange was working on a new project: Project G.


Operation Delirium

Another of Khatchadourian's investigative pieces for ''The New Yorker'', titled
Operation Delirium
" shed light on U.S. military experimenting during the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. The article, written in 2012, focused on Colonel
James S. Ketchum James Sanford Ketchum (November 1, 1931 – May 27, 2019) was a psychiatrist and U.S. Army Medical Corps officer who worked for almost a decade (1960–1969) on the U.S. military’s top secret psychochemical warfare program at the Edgewood Arsenal ...
, and his involvement with the
Edgewood Arsenal human experiments From 1948 to 1975, the U.S. Army Chemical Corps conducted classified human subject research at the Edgewood Arsenal facility in Maryland. The purpose was to evaluate the impact of low-dose chemical warfare agents on military personnel and to te ...
. Khatchadourian unveiled the extent to which a vast assortment of different chemicals were being tested on, often unknowing, U.S. soldiers. The experiments were executed in an effort to create a viable form of
psychochemical warfare Psychochemical warfare — or "drug weapons" — involves the use of psychopharmacological agents ( mind-altering drugs or chemicals) with the intention of incapacitating an adversary through the temporary induction of hallucinations or delirium.D ...
. Ketchum told Khatchadourian about the experiments that took place at Edgewood. Soldiers were given drugs without any preparation or knowledge of what they were taking; they were studied, and then released without counselling or warning of potential effects. Ketchum also told Khatchadourian of an experimenter at Edgewood Arsenal by the name of Dr. Van Murray Sim. Sim believed that the type of psychochemical testing they were involved in required subjects not to have any preconceived expectations. He often gave unwitting people, including high-ranking officers, LSD, without
informed consent Informed consent is a principle in medical ethics and medical law, that a patient must have sufficient information and understanding before making decisions about their medical care. Pertinent information may include risks and benefits of treatme ...
. Despite disagreeing with Sim's methods, and struggling with his own conscience, Khatchadourian reported that Ketchum defended his work at Edgewood.


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * Discusses
Matvey Natanzon Matvey Natanzon (better known by his pseudonym Falafel) (July 5, 1968 - February 14, 2020) was a Russian-born Israeli backgammon player. Life and career Natanzon was born in Soviet Russia and moved with his mother to Azor, a small Israeli town nea ...
, aka Falafel.
* * * * * * Online version is titled "The movie with a thousand plotlines". * Online version is titled "Julian Assange, a man without a country". * Online version is titled "Alan Weisman’s thought experiment becomes a reality". * Online version is titled "The elusive peril of space junk". * Online version is titled "Surviving the Crackdown in Xinjiang". ;Series on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline Project * * * * * ——————— ;Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khatchadourian, Raffi Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male journalists American investigative journalists The New Yorker people American people of Armenian descent 1970s births