Two years upon his graduation from economy and management department of Iraq's prestigious Baghdad University, 26-year-old Hazem Sharif has been in unemployment as his war-torn country has anything ranging from sectarian strifes, terrorist attacks to all sorts of crimes but businesses.
"My heart bleeds for the reason that my country has been lost. No wonder that the Iraqi youths, including me, hate the US occupation since most of us are unemployed, living in squalid and dangerous conditions," Sharif complained to Xinhua reporter.
Ironically, the young Iraqi man used to be a pro-US like most of the Iraqi youths at the beginning of the US-led war against Saddam as they were convinced that there will be a brilliant future waiting ahead after they were released from the Saddam regime.
However, things always go contrary to one's wishes. As the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war comes today, the Iraqis see nothing heralding a better-off life but daily chaos which were absolutely away from Iraqi streets under Saddam's reign.
Now that security is still reachless despite a US military surge, the reconstruction and reconciliation process is nowhere to start, say nothing of economic development.
"The most critical issue the Iraqi youths have suffered as I think is the increase of impoverishment due to unemployment," Sharif said. However, what he and his peers concern most is apparently off the beat of the Iraqi status quo, which is still in the mire of chaos.
The country's unemployment rate stands as high as 20 percent or more for now. However, the unemployment can not be alleviated at a time when reconstruction has not yet started at all.
