Following are quotes from Iraqis as they look back at four years since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

BAGHDAD

* "We have faced terrorism on a scale we didn't know existed in the past four years. Everybody has lost someone close but we can always remain optimistic that everything will improve once everyone agrees using violence for political gain is wrong." - Ahmed Riyadh, 28, barber.

* "If you take away the constant violence by these terrorist groups and the Baathists, you will find that life has improved a lot especially in terms of employment and living standards. Everyone will see this once the Iraqis regain their full sovereignty." - Karrar Haitham, 41, teacher.

* "After four years I can say that the country is lost. We never expected this would happen. We were hoping to live like a European country, not to be living like this." - Salih Abu Mehdi, 43, security guard and father of six children.

MOSUL

* "The Americans came to rob Iraq and to end the Islamic religion... They rebuild what they destroy and we have no security." - Mohammed Ameen, bookshop owner.

* "Are they serious in bringing us democracy when they have lost their own democracies. I watched anti-war protestors in Washington being arrested by police. The Americans have not benefited Iraq and whoever says the opposite is like an ostrich with its head underground." - Marwan Abdul-Karim, 27, works in a mobile phone store.

KIRKUK

* "During Saddam's era security was better but Iraqis were oppressed by the intelligence forces... What did we Kurds get from dictatorships apart from Anfal, displacement and having our women sold to other countries?" - Aras Mohammed, 57-year-old Kurd and father of five.

* "What did we get from Bush's democracy other than racism and sectarian killings? ... Who used to say Sunni or Shi'ite before 2003? When security was lost everything else went, thousands emigrated and the rest are either suffering from an illness or waiting for fate." - Abdullah Fadhil, 34 -year-old Arab.

NAJAF

* "These four years were better than Saddam Hussein's era, but we know that a change of government breeds insecurity, and Takfiris (hardline Islamist insurgents) and Saddam followers who ruled Iraq for 35 years are creating this. But at least we are free to celebrate our religious occasions now." - Hussein Ali Musawi, 33, car mechanic.

* "Saddam's regime was better than this one, the clerics have no use and they are not politicians. If they can't provide basic services and security then they should just go sit in their homes. My husband had his arm cut off by a bomb and we have no income because he cannot work." - Suad Abid Hur, 55, housewife.

ARBIL

* "The liberation of Iraq and the end of Saddam's rule was a dream for us, but the way the American forces behaved in Iraq after Saddam's removal spoiled our joy and ended our dreams." - Ahmed Ali, 33.

* "The political change has been positive on Kurdistan and people can have optimism for the future now." - Ilham Butrus, 45, doctor.

RAMADI

* "All we have seen during the past four years is destruction, murder, kidnappings and fear. We haven't been able to live one single day in comfort since the invasion." - Majid Ahmed Khalifa, 40.

* "We have not seen security these past years. We have seen the killing of innocent civilians and sectarian violence that has emerged after Baghdad fell to the occupation." - Abdul-Basit Kareem, 45.

DOHUK

* "I waited for America to bring us democracy, freedom and human rights and help us achieve some peace of mind but what happened was the opposite. The Americans brought chaos, torture and destruction with them." - Salah Dowsky, 31.

SAMAWA

* "The degree of fear before the invasion did not change after it, only the reasons did. The officials who caused fear before did it through power and fire. The new ones do it through democracy." - Dr. Naji Kashi, 50, college professor.

* "Our city is better than the rest of Iraq in terms of security and our forces try to control some breaches of security that have occurred between now and then. But the occupiers have been here for four years and we don't have security because of the vacuum that was created at the beginning." - Ikram Karim, 46, state employee.

DIWANIYA

* "There were a lot of changes during the last four years. We have had a growing economy and my father was able to purchase furniture after he sold it years ago. But the negative changes are crucial. The killings and sectarianism in general reduce living standards." - Muthanna Yasir, 22, student.

* "The invasion occurred after sanctions and immense human suffering but it brought us good cars for cheap prices and freedom but I quickly forgot about those positive things and all I wanted was to live in security and laws that guarantee justice, freedom and equality." - Ali Jasim, 34, taxi driver.