Subversive Iran accused of undermining Iraq and causing deaths
Iraq has endured years of subversive attacks by its hardline neighbour, Iran, that have undermined its western-backed government and been “directly responsible for the deaths of many Iraqis”, according to Britain’s departing ambassador. The stark assessment was made by Christopher Prentice at the end of a seven-year stretch as one of the government’s most-senior regional advisers, during both the lead-up to the 2003 invasion and the fraught occupation. Prentice said the departure of British forces in April had been “liberating” for Britain, because it was no longer regarded as an occupier.

The Truth Of Iraq’s City Of Deformed Babies
An Iraqi doctor has told Sky News the number of babies born with deformities in the heavily-bombed area of Fallujah is still on the increase. http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Sky-News-Returns-To-Fallujah-Lisa-Holland-Revisits-The-Children-Born-With-Deformities/Article/200908415371946

Blackwater Attempted to Bribe Iraqi Officials
In the aftermath of the 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad by operatives working for Blackwater, top company officials including then-president Gary Jackson “authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091123/scahill

Iraq MPs approve election reform
The Iraqi parliament has approved a crucial election law ahead of national polls due in January 2010. The reform was passed by a wide margin after weeks of deadlock, which had raised fears that the parliamentary election might have to be delayed. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8349491.stm

Iraqis terrorised by child kidnaps
On 30 September, 11-year-old Muntadar was snatched off the streets of Baghdad. The family never saw him alive again. “Look at the place where they kept him,” his father Yussef says, pointing to a poor quality photograph sent to him by the kidnappers. “A child his age, kept in a place like this. Look how scared he looks.” The kidnappers contacted Yussef, by phone, and he agreed to pay a ransom of $25,000. “They called me to tell me that they got the money and that they would free my son in ab