As the U.S. prepares for a full drawdown of troops in Iraq, we check in with Lubna Naji, a recent graduate of Baghdad Medical School. She says she is less concerned with the withdrawal of troops from her country than the restoration of services like electricity and water supplies. Life there is “barely tolerable,” she says.

Although the security situation used to be worse before, every other aspect of life is has worsened. Lubna Naji shares her first-hand perspective as a young student in Baghdad.