Iraq criticizes U.S. commander for bribe comments

The Iraqi government criticized the top U.S. commander in Iraq on Wednesday for accusing Iran of trying to bribe Iraqi politicians. "The Iraqi government expressed its concern about comments attributed to General Raymond Odierno, leader of coalition forces, which include an inappropriate reference toward elected members of parliament," the government said in a statement. "This type of comment harms healthy relations with coalition forces." Earlier this week, Odierno said in a newspaper interview that Washington believed Iranian agents were trying to bribe Iraqi lawmakers to oppose a security pact governing the U.S. troop presence in Iraq after the end of this year. Odierno told the Washington Post he thought Iran was using contacts with Iraqi politicians "to attempt to influence the outcome of the potential vote in the council of representatives." "We get reports of people coming in to pay off people to vote against it. Whether it's true or not I have no specific proof, but there are many intelligence reports that say that activity is going on," he said.