An article published by the New York Times confirmed that the poor economic, political and security conditions currently prevailing in Iraq were not the image Iraqis wanted after the overthrow of the US-British invasion of Saddam Hussein's regime 20 years ago.
The article revealed that many Iraqis see the country's economic future as bleak, as there have been no positive economic results despite the huge revenues of oil wealth, as a large part of it has been wasted in major unfinished projects, and another percentage has been lost due to rampant corruption, while a large proportion of the income is spent on the public sector, which has become a hope for Iraqis to escape poverty.
The newspaper quoted a communications engineer as saying that the salary he receives ($ 620) is barely enough for the end of the month, stressing that Iraqis know that their country is rich and has enormous wealth, but they do not benefit from those goods as they hoped after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime.
Poverty line
According to the New York Times, figures from the Iraqi Ministry of Planning confirm that about a quarter of Iraqis live either at or below the poverty line. The World Bank currently estimates the poverty line threshold at $2.15 per capita per day.
Most worrying for Iraqis right now is endemic corruption, which has taken root due to the sectarian distribution system of power. Transparency International ranks Iraq 157th out of 180 countries in the corruption index.
Many Iraqis accuse armed militias and Iran of undermining Iraq's sovereignty and democracy, as many of these militias are linked to political parties and operate outside the Iraqi military leadership.
They also stress that the sectarian quota system put in place by the Americans has undermined from the outset any hope for a democratic system of government.
Spoils of power
Political analyst Sajjad Jiyad said the government is now a "coalition of rivals" working to share government spoils, which gives an idea of how difficult it is to run the state on this basis.
The article cited as an example of this corruption as "theft of the century", as it turned out that $2.5 billion was recently stolen from tax secretariats, and a large percentage of that large amount was transferred out of the country. The Iraqi judiciary has ordered the arrest of several senior officials in connection with this case, which caused a major stir inside and outside Iraq.
The New York Times article stated that one of the aspects of the crisis in Iraq is the problem of unemployment, as Iraqis assert that to get a government job, it is necessary to have a high broker in a ministry or within a political party, or to pay a certain amount of money to a specific person in a party or in the department in which they want to work.
Security disturbances
In terms of security, many Iraqis are still suffering from sectarian violence, such as in the northeastern province of Diyala, and the New York Times said that more than 40 people have died in the province, in sectarian killings since last January.
The security threat from IS also remains.
The weakness of the Iraqi state after the US invasion made it fertile ground for regional and foreign powers to protect their strategic interests, highlighting that the Iranian regime has proven to be the most adept at exploiting the power vacuum following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.