Bush's Baghdad Mouthpiece

"'What we've learned from not just the capture of Mashhadani, but from other al-Qaeda operatives, is that there is a flow of strategic direction, of prioritization, of messaging and other guidance that comes from al-Qaeda senior leadership to the al-Qaeda in Iraq leadership,' Bergner said.

"Officials in Washington said the announcement of Mashhadani's capture, two weeks after it occurred, was unrelated to White House efforts this week to emphasize tight links between al-Qaeda in Iraq and the organization headed by bin Laden."

Bergner also announced that Mashhadani had told interrogators that Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, described in insurgent statements as leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaeda front organization, was a fictional creation.

Tina Susman writes in Los Angeles Times: "There was no way to confirm the military's claim, which comes at a time of heightened pressure on the White House to justify keeping U.S. troops in Iraq. Critics of the Bush administration say the president has been trying to do so by linking Bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist network to the conflict in Iraq, even though the organization had no substantial presence here until after the U.S.-led invasion of March 2003. . . .

"Neither Bergner nor Smith offered specifics of what they said was foreign Al Qaeda leaders' involvement in Iraq's violence. . . .

"The announcement was the latest in a series of statements from U.S. officials here blaming foreign elements for Iraq's violence. They accuse Iran of providing weapons and training to Shiite militias and Sunni extremists, and say Al Qaeda-linked groups are pouring foreign fighters into the country. Earlier, the U.S. had said Iraq's Shiite militias were the biggest problem facing security forces."

As for Baghdadi, Susman writes: "[Iraqi] Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed Askari rejected the U.S. assertion, insisting that Baghdadi is real. 'Al-Baghdadi is wanted and pursued. We know many things about him, and we even have his picture,' Askari said. However, he said he could not release a photograph or additional information because it could jeopardize attempts to capture Baghdadi."

Leila Fadel writes for McClatchy Newspapers that Rear Adm. Greg Smith, another military spokesman, "said Mashhadani's comments hadn't been independently verified."

And, she writes: "Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst now at the Brookings Institution, said the U.S. military's announcement showed how little is known about al Qaida leadership in Iraq.

"'The U.S. and the (Iraq Prime Minister Nouri) Maliki government have not seemed to have a handle on this guy,' he said. 'At the beginning of May they said he was dead; they killed him. Two weeks ago he issues an ultimatum to the Iranians, and now he doesn't exist.'

"The man has always been elusive, and there were suspicions that he might not be real, Riedel said. But one man's statement that Baghdadi doesn't exist can't alone determine the figure is not real, he said.

"'If it's true that al Qaida in Iraq has been using a very effective nom de guerre,' he said, 'it seems to me it took an awful long time to figure that out, which doesn't say much about their handle on Al Qaida in Iraq.'"