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From AP:
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's national security adviser [Mouwafak al-Rubaie] said Thursday a "huge treasure" of documents and computer records was seized after the raid on terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's hideout, giving the Iraqi government the upper hand in its fight against al-Qaida in Iraq.
..."We believe that this is the beginning of the end of al-Qaida in Iraq," al-Rubaie said, adding that the documents showed al-Qaida is in "pretty bad shape," politically and in terms of training, weapons and media.
"Now we have the upper hand," he said at a news conference in Baghdad. "We feel that we know their locations, the names of their leaders, their whereabouts, their movements, through the documents we found during the last few days."
From a letter found in Zarqawi's safe-house:
The situation and conditions of the resistance in Iraq have reached a point that requires a review of the events and of the work being done inside Iraq. Such a study is needed in order to show the best means to accomplish the required goals, especially that the forces of the National Guard have succeeded in forming an enormous shield protecting the American forces and have reduced substantially the losses that were solely suffered by the American forces. This is in addition to the role, played by the Shi'a (the leadership and masses) by supporting the occupation, working to defeat the resistance and by informing on its elements.
As an overall picture, time has been an element in affecting negatively the forces of the occupying countries, due to the losses they sustain economically in human lives, which are increasing with time. However, here in Iraq, time is now beginning to be of service to the American forces and harmful to the resistance for the following reasons:
1. By allowing the American forces to form the forces of the National Guard, to reinforce them and enable them to undertake military operations against the resistance.
2. By undertaking massive arrest operations, invading regions that have an impact on the resistance, and hence causing the resistance to lose many of its elements.
3. By undertaking a media campaign against the resistance resulting in weakening its influence inside the country and presenting its work as harmful to the population rather than being beneficial to the population.
4. By tightening the resistance's financial outlets, restricting its moral options and by confiscating its ammunition and weapons.
5. By creating a big division among the ranks of the resistance and jeopardizing its attack operations, it has weakened its influence and internal support of its elements, thus resulting in a decline of the resistance's assaults.
6. By allowing an increase in the number of countries and elements supporting the occupation or at least allowing to become neutral in their stand toward us in contrast to their previous stand or refusal of the occupation.
7. By taking advantage of the resistance's mistakes and magnifying them in order to misinform.
Next time someone says we're not succeeding in fighting Al Qaeda -- just refer them to this official Al Qaeda letter, documenting the reverse.
From a letter found in Zaraqawi's safe-house:
...here in Iraq, time is now beginning to be of service to the American forces and harmful to the resistance for the following reasons:
...3. By undertaking a media campaign against the resistance resulting in weakening its influence inside the country and presenting its work as harmful to the population rather than being beneficial to the population.
...Based on the above points, it became necessary that these matters should be treated one by one:
1. To improve the image of the resistance in society, increase the number of supporters who are refusing occupation and show the clash of interest between society and the occupation and its collaborators. To use the media for spreading an effective and creative image of the resistance.
Here we see Al Qaeda discussing in detail the importance of media war to accomplishing the goals of the terrorists. The letter places our media war efforts as #3 in a list of 7 strategies that are harming Al Qaeda, and places Al Qaeda media war efforts at #1 in a list of 7 Al Qaeda strategies for harming the U.S.
Given the great importance terrorists place on using media to support them, it is of extreme importance that we do not grant terrorist mouthpiece Al Jazeera a right to broadcast in English to the West. In a media war, doing that would be like letting the terrorists build a fortress right on our shores and shoot at us from it. Click here to find out what you can do to stop Al Jazeera's English-language broadcasts.
(This posts elaborates on an Instapundit article.)
