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Perhaps the most important words in the description of the tentative withdrawal agreement are "unless Iraq asks them to stay longer." On its face, this sounds quite consensual. But consent is a tricky thing with an imbalance of power as acute as that between the United States and Iraq.

The 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, based in Saudi Arabia, has publicly condemned the attacks that have driven thousands of Iraq Christians from the city of Mosul. Here's an excerpt from the AFP report.

Here's Al Jazeera on the recent violence against Christians in Mosul, Iraq's third largest city. At least 10,000 Iraqi Christians have fled the area since the war. New violence has added to the displaced.

We've heard a lot about Iraq's $79 billion budget surplus--which always seems to raise eyebrows but never the question: how exactly has Iraq found itself with a surplus? Iraq's Finance Minister explains.

McClatchy has a blog called Inside Iraq where Iraqi staff members of Baghdad bureau post about their experiences. Here's a very simple snapshot. It's the kind of scene that captures the small tensions and humiliations of occupation.

Stories like this one, where Iraqis say in interviews that they'd take a murderous dictator over murderous chaos used to be common. This one is particularly striking.

The Times of London has published the transcript of their long interview with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Here's what he said about the "Status of Forces Agreement" between Iraq and the United States:

First cholera, now anthrax. The last time Iraq registered the anthrax infection in Iraq was during the Iran-Iraq war in the '80s. Now the health minister of the autonomous Kurdish region is reporting 37 infected Iraqis.

During the 2005 elections, Abdullah and his brothers hung posters supporting the Shia-led United Iraqi Alliance in his grocery store in Baghdad's al-Mansur district. This year, as Iraq prepares for its provincial council elections - which are expected to be held by early next year - Abdullah's dream of a better life has crumbled and he has little interest in voting or politics. Abdullah once thought that politicians could bolster security and improve living conditions in Iraq. Now he said he remains sorely disappointed and feels unprotected.

Nearly 750 Christian families, about 3,750 individuals, have fled their homes in Mosul, a city about 400km north of Baghdad, as Sunni Muslim extremists have increased attacks against this religious minority since October 4, a local official said on October 11.

The New York Times has a complicated story of hope and fear on its front page today. On its face, the story about the disassembling of security barriers in neighborhoods hit hard by the sectarian violence of recent years would seem to serve the "surge" evangelists. Which would be fine if it meant that Baghdad was finally safe for its residents.

Iraqi cameraman Jehad Ali survived a 2005 assassination attempt, but his right leg was shattered and his career threatened. Since then, colleagues have raised money for medical care, surgeons in California have offered to reconstruct the limb, and, now, Ali has cleared another big hurdle: He's gained permission to enter the United States.

Jabbar Salman, 47, lives with his four family members in a small house in the al-Rashad neighborhood close to the largely Shia Sadr City, an east Baghdad suburb. They have been there since they were forced to flee their spacious home in Anbar province, in western Iraq, in February 2006. While Salman is upset that he has to live in cramped conditions, he said he cannot go back to Anbar.

The number of confirmed cholera cases has risen to 418 in central and southern Iraq, with six dead since an outbreak began on August 20. The Iraqi Health Ministry and the World Health Organization have blamed the country's rundown water and sanitation infrastructure for the outbreak. Cholera is a gastro-intestinal disease typically spread by contaminated water. It can cause severe diarrhea, which in extreme cases can lead to fatal dehydration. Treating drinking water with chlorine and improving hygiene conditions can prevent the disease.

"The Dalfiyah family mourns the deceased, Mohammed Nafil Akseer al Dalfi, father of Jassim, Qassim, Hashim and Bassim. The funeral will be held at his house in Habibiya in front of the power supply station." This announcement, scrawled in white and yellow Arabic on a black cloth banner, hangs at a busy intersection in a popular shopping district in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood. Reporter Corinne Reilly, with the help of two Iraqi journalists, presents a vivid picture of a city drowning in violence--and funerals.

There have been frequent reports of Iraqis returning home by the busload after fleeing the violence in recent years. Some say security is better. Others say they are as afraid as they ever were but ran out of money in Syria or Jordan or wherever they fled to. Los Angeles Times reporter Tina Susman, working with five Iraqi colleagues, looks at the state of Iraqi displacement in numbing detail. Here's some of the information they gathered...

"Life is a circle," says Baghdad innkeeper Osama Johara. "Iraq is still open for everyone, and the Iraqis still welcome anyone who comes here. Now I'm just like a farmer waiting for my crops to sprout." The Christian Science Monitor today looks at the cycles of security in post-invasion Iraq through the logs of the Johara Hotel.

On 29 September, the Iraqi government decided to allow every doctor to carry a gun for personal protection, and approved the construction of secure residential compounds inside and around hospitals to ensure security for doctors and their families. Dozens of doctors have been killed and thousands of others have fled the country since the US-led invasion in 2003.

There are more Iraqi voices in the papers today than most days--many of them witnesses to the Eid bombings or reacting to them. This one stood out. It's from the end of the New York Times roundup of the violence yesterday.

About two dozen Iraqis celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramadan were killed in yesterday's suicide attacks in two predominantly Shi'ite neighborhoods. Here are a handful of witness accounts.