'I have no future in Iraq'
- 23 Apr 07, 04:19 PM
As part of Salam Pax's Window on Iraq - for Newsnight's continuing - Baghdad student Ahmed despairs of life in Baghdad after university.
The security situation in Iraq is very bad and maybe this affects us young people the most. We can't find jobs, there is nothing to do for fun and even going to college is difficult.
I was hoping things would get better after the war. And in the begining they did: we saw things in Iraq which we have not seen before like satellite television and mobile phones. It was a good period but it didn't last for more than a couple of months. Then the explosions, the killings and the kidnappings began.
I never thought it would get this bad. Who would have thought that we would have curfews at six in the afternoon and all shops closing at 5pm? Shops used to stay open until 10pm at night in Baghdad.
About a year ago I had a conversation with a friend about the situation and our future. He told me that maybe by the time I graduate many local and foreign businesses would open in Iraq and we would have lots of job opportunities.
Unfortunately what I see today is that the few businesses which did start up after the war are closing down.
Most of my friends who graduated can't find any work and many have left the country. Those who are working here are in professions which have nothing to do with their university degrees.
I would be lucky to find work at a private business because they pay better than the government does but then again working in government buildings is safer because they have better security.
Wherever I find a job it has to be well paid because the cost of living has gone up so much, with every salary increase everything around us gets more expensive.
Nothing I see on the news shocks me anymore. I have seen worse on the streets with my own eyes, there is so much violence and not all of it gets mentioned in the news.
I don't really see any difference in the situation since the start of the new security plan. There are more checkpoints and more house-to-house searches but the explosions are the same and so is the kidnapping and the killing. Nothing different.
I find it very difficult to talk of my future in Iraq. Who knows where the next car bomb might go off? If I do stay alive until I get my degree the first thing I want to do is leave. I don't have any hope that the situation in my country is going to get better.
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the best thing George Bush could do now is to quicly withdraw the US Troop from iraq because their staying in iraq has no positive impact on that country. except if he has some other personal interest stayin in Iraq.
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Salam Pax wrote .... "we saw things in Iraq which we have not seen before like satellite television and mobile phones."
But let's not forget that after the invading US Troops BLEW UP all the Telephone Exchanges and Radio & TV Stations, the phones and TV's that people already had WOULDN'T WORK ANYMORE !
And what's the point of a TV, Satellite or otherwise, if there's NO ELECTRICITY to power the thing !
Does it really matter whether a government is a Dictatorship or a so called Democracy. I rather live under a "Good" Dictator, than in a country run by a Corrupt Democracy.
The real test of any government is .... are its citizens, Happy, Healthy and Secure ?"
Now tell me if ANY Iraqi citizens can meet those three requirements ?
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how is hte future like in iraq.?
do oyu think there will be a stable in life in iraq?.
the best way to do is to withdraw the troops of the US Troops and British Troops.
let the poeple of iraq handle their on matters. bush and blair they have done their part.
thanks
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