By Andrew L. Jaffee

The Red Cross humanitarian movement has voted by a large majority to admit Israel, ending decades of isolation.

…states the BBC. The good news? The vote by Red Cross members to allow Israel to join was decidedly one-sided:

The issue was then put to a vote, in which 237 states and societies voted for the changes, with 54 voting against and 18 abstaining.

Is the world finally recognizing that Israel is here to stay? The bad news? The approved symbols to be flown by Red Cross aid units are rather selective. Christians get their cross, Muslims get their crescent, and Israel gets a… square? Again, the Beeb:

The new symbol, a red square at an angle on a white background, can be used by any relief teams in areas where there is sensitivity about Christian or Muslim symbols.

Israelis, including military medics, will be able to use the crystal by itself on a white flag. On their own territory - or with the agreement other states participating in UN operations abroad - they will be able to combine it with the star of David.

Isn’t that special. Jews will be able to display the Star of David only by approval. And, of course, there was the ever-present special treatment accorded to the Palestinians:

The same meeting of the international Red Cross and Red Crescent movement in Geneva approved membership for the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC).

It had been excluded because the statutes only allow relief societies from sovereign states to join, but the rule was specifically modified to include the PRC.

I find Israel’s situation similar to the old, endearing Charlie Brown character — Everyman, if you will — from Charles Schultz ’s Peanuts Halloween special (It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown):

As the kids go trick or treating, Charlie Brown’s is
found wearing his famous ghost costume, which has 18
holes instead of the traditional two.

As the kids count the “spoils” of their trick or treat
bags……..

Charlie Brown says: “I got a rock.”

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By Moshe Feiglin

Who is responsible for all of our troubles in the last decades? It’s not Peres or Clinton, or Rabin. This entire mess is because of …John Lennon!

You probably know his song, “Imagine.” It’s the type of song that sticks in your head. That is just what happened to me one day when “Imagine” came over my car radio. What a heavenly, relaxing melody. And the words? Simply magical:

Imagine there’s no heaven. It’s easy if you try.
No hell below us. Above us only sky.
Imagine all the people. Living for today…

Imagine there’s no countries. It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for. And no religion too.
Imagine all the people. Living life in peace…

You may say I’m a dreamer. But I’m not the only one.
I hope someday you’ll join us. And the world will be as one.

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By Randy A. Sprinkle

At the time I began writing this piece, though many news organizations and commentators have weighed in on several recent events that have caught the world’s attention lately, there is one commentator that has been quiet. His absence poses a question that is asked about him every now and then, but mostly every now: Just where is Osama bin Laden? No one can definitively answer that question - at least no one who is talking; but for me it is time to ask that question again.

One reason why I revisit the question is the recent revelation of a planned al Qeada attack on the New York City Subway system. A New York Times article citing author Ron Suskind, reported that in 2003, U.S. intelligence had discovered a design for a makeshift device that could produce deadly cyanide; furthermore, that there was a plan to use a series of such devices in a coordinated attack on the New York City subway system.

U.S. intelligence learned of the plot after an informant close to Al Qaeda leaders told U.S. officials that bin Laden Ayman al-Zawahiri (Osama’s #2) had canceled the plan in January 2003. (Hmmmm… Binny Boy out of the office at the time?)

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by Bill Levinson

The recent torture and murder of two American soldiers, along with a long litany of beheadings and other murders by Iraqi insurgents, makes it necessary to discuss a supposedly-unthinkable proposition: does the United States Army have any legal or moral responsibility to capture insurgents alive?

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

First, I wrote about “Three Tonnes of Canadian Muslim Denial.” Then I asked, “Is there no end to Muslim denial?” Apparently, there is no end in sight. CBS published an article entitled, “Friend Of Terror Suspects Talks - Muslim Convert Tells About Arrested Acquaintances Being ‘Blinded By Anger’.” Again, we hear rationalizations, explanations, and justifications for Muslim terrorism vis-à-vis “anger” and “desperation.” No regrets over the 100’s of people who may have been killed by the Canadian terror suspects. And no assuming responsibility for changing Muslim attitudes. From CBS:

How hard is it for Heft [the friend of the terror suspects] to see someone like Chand — who, like Heft, is a convert to Islam — in a position like this?

“It’s hard. He’s my friend, and he’s somebody that I believe in,” Heft told CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers.

Heft runs an organization called Paradise 4 Ever. He works with Muslim converts who he says are vulnerable to extremist teaching and messages.

“What do you think is the root of the appeal that some of these extremist views have for young men?” Bowers asked Heft.

“Quick Answers. Quick slogans. Quick solutions,” Heft said.

And violence is not far behind, according to Heft, when young men like his old friends believe Muslims around the world are suffering.

“You sort of get blinded by anger, I guess,” he said. “You get blinded by desperation.”

And propelled toward violence by images like these downloaded from terrorist Web sites, burned onto DVDs that Heft says suspect Fahim Ahmad was handing out at area mosques.

“One of the DVDs was glorifying the alleged 19 hijackers from Sept. 11, saying that they were all dying as martyrs,” Heft said.

Heft says he confronted Ahmad when he thought his radical rhetoric was might lead to action.

Did he honestly believe that if he had more time to get to these young guys they wouldn’t have gotten to the point where they were arrested?

“None of them. Absolutely none of them would have been arrested,” Heft said.

He still prays his friends are innocent — while he works on other young Muslims he fears may be on the same path.

“He’s somebody that I believe in.” “Absolutely none of them would have been arrested.” “He still prays his friends are innocent.” “Other young Muslims he fears may be on the same path.”

No concern for the survival of civilization, just worries about other Muslims. Narcissistic neurosis.

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by Roberto Menotti
Middle East Quarterly*
Summer 2006
http://www.meforum.org/article/943
* Cross-posted with permission

European policymakers resent the insinuation that they are less committed to Middle East democratization than their U.S. counterparts. European officials take a more cautious approach both because of philosophical qualms about top-down democratization and also real concerns about the side-effects of democratization—instability and migration—in their region. While some European officials argue—rightly—that the U.S. government could learn from Europe’s more cautious approach, juxtaposition with U.S. policies also highlights areas in which European policy could improve.

The White House response to the 9-11 attacks was three-pronged: first, it struck known terrorist cells and infrastructure based in Afghanistan; second, it put countries such as Iran and Syria on notice that collusion with terrorist networks would no longer be tolerated; and third, it launched a campaign of democracy promotion that many in both the West and the region interpreted as sugarcoated efforts at regime change. All three elements assumed that fighting the global war on terror overseas would best protect the United States from further attacks on its soil.

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by Daniel Pipes
New York Sun*
June 20, 2006
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3676
* Cross-posted with permission

Historically, the religious standing of Jerusalem for Muslims waxed and waned with political circumstances. In a consistent and predictable cycle repeated six times through 14 centuries, Muslims focused on the city when it served their needs and ignored it when it did not.

This contrast was especially obvious during the past century. British rule over the city, in 1917-48, galvanized a passion for Jerusalem that had been absent during the 400 years of Ottoman control. Throughout the Jordanian control of the walled city, in 1948-67, however, Arabs largely ignored it. For example, Jordanian radio broadcast Friday prayers not from Al-Aqsa mosque but from a minor mosque in Amman. The Palestine Liberation Organization’s founding document, the Palestinian National Covenant, which dates from 1964, contains no mention of Jerusalem.

Muslim interest in the city revived only with the Israeli conquest of Jerusalem in 1967. Jerusalem then became the focal point of Arab politics, serving to unify fractious elements. In 1968, the PLO amended its covenant to call Jerusalem “the seat of the Palestine Liberation Organization.” The king of Saudi Arabia himself declared the city religiously “just like” Mecca – a novel, if not a blasphemous idea.

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From M.Sliwa Public Relations

Three ex-terrorists will present exclusive film footage of well known terrorists and their indoctrination activities in America on Tuesday, June 20, 7:30 p.m. at the Seaport Museum at Penns Landing in Philadelphia.

The three ex-terrorists, Walid Shoebat, Ibrahim Abdallah and Zachariah Anani, will discuss the film (acquired by The Investigative Project), the prolific activities of these terrorists today, and their own personal experiences as terrorists operating in the U.S. and abroad. Former Green Beret lieutenant colonel Gordon Cucullu, a frequent media guest and terrorism expert, will moderate the event.

A few of the many prominent terrorists featured in the film are:

• Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi: A leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood, who issues fatwas supporting suicide bombing. According to Azzam Tamimi of the Institute of Islamic Political Thought in London: “If Sheik Qaradawi gives a fatwa, that fatwa will be heeded tomorrow in hundreds of places around the world.”
• Sheikh Muhammad Sayyam: On March 26, 2006, Muhammad Sayyam, a senior Hamas figure, met with Sayyid Salah al-Din, leader of the Kashmiri terror organization, Hezb ul-Mujahidin, in Peshawar, Pakistan. Hezb ul-Mujahidin functioned as an al-Qaeda affiliate and had training camps in Afghanistan until the Taliban’s fall from power. Sayyam now heads the Yemeni branch of the Palestine Scholars Association, which advocates uncompromising jihad against unbelievers and legally sanctioned suicide bombings against civilians. He sees the role of Muslim religious sages as spiritual guides whose task is to motivate the masses to struggle against Islam’s enemies and attack them with suicide bombings.
• Fayez Azzam: One of the right hand men to bin Laden and the younger brother of Abdullah Azzam, bin Laden’s mentor. “Allah’s religion be praised must offer martyrs. Blood must flow. There must be widows and there must be orphans. Hands and limbs must be cut and the limbs and flood must be spread everywhere in order that Allah’s religion stand on its feet,” Fayez Azzam said.

For Information and Interviews Contact: Maria Sliwa, M.Sliwa Public Relations, 973-272-2861 or msliwa@msliwa.com

Also see: http://3xterrorists.com

by Daniel Pipes
Evening Bulletin*
June 14, 2006
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3669
* Cross-posted with permission

I was not the only one to be dismayed by the comments of U.S. Senate hopeful Robert P. Casey Jr., soon after his return from Israel a few months back.

The Pennsylvania state treasurer had visited Israel in November for five days. There he met many people, visited many sites; and said the trip “had a profound impact” on him emotionally and spiritually. Despite this, the Democratic candidate found himself tongue-tied when it came to the issue of Jerusalem’s diplomatic status. Should the U.S. government finally recognize it for what it has been for nearly sixty years, Israel’s administrative and emotional capital? “Casey would not say whether he favors recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on December 7.

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16:02 Jun 18, ‘06 / 22 Sivan 5766
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz - Arutz Sheva (IsraelNationalNews.com)*
* Cross-posted with permission

The Manhigut Yehudit faction of the Likud released a statement calling anyone involved in last week’s transfer of weapons to the Palestinian Authority an “accessory to murder.”

Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) “sees the prime minister, the defense minister, the justices of the High Court of Justice, and any officer and soldier involved in the transfer of weapons to the murderer Abu Mazen and his gang as accessories to the murder of Jews,” the movement’s statement said. Furthermore, Manhigut Yehudit, headed by Moshe Feiglin, declared that it would work towards trying the aforementioned before a court of law when the movement takes over the reigns of power.

The Israeli government, through the IDF, transferred 1,050 automatic rifles and one million bullets to the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday and Wednesday. The weapons reached the Allenby Crossing, on the Jordan-Israel border, as a gift to PA head Mahmoud Abbas [Abu Mazen] from the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan. Other reports state that the guns are a gift of the United States. IDF forces then transported the weapons from the Jordanians across Israel and handed them over to PA forces at the Erez and Karni crossings into the Gaza Strip.

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Statement by David Harris
Senior Fellow for National Security
Canadian Coalition for Democracies
Ottawa - 19 June 2006

A statement made by Canadian Ambassador Michael Wilson in Washington, DC on 15 June 2006 regarding my service with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) was factually incorrect, and serves only to distract from the serious national security issues faced by Canada and the United States. I am taking this opportunity as a first step in correcting the record both with regard to Ambassador Wilson’s assessment of Canada’s security situation, and my own service and involvement with CSIS.

The message from Ambassador Wilson’s entourage in Washington on June 15 when pressed by reporters to comment on the state of Canada’s security was, “We’re secure”. This optimistic assessment would seem to contradict Senator Colin Kenny, chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence. In an article on the same day in the National Post entitled “So many threats. So few officers”, below, Senator Kenny demonstrated his respect for the ability of Canadians to handle the truth about Canada’s serious terrorism problem when he said, “The public doesn’t need calming. The public needs the truth”. He went on to assert that CSIS faces particular challenges, that the “RCMP is … vastly understaffed”, and that “[w]hoever is responsible for the current mess, it is this government’s job to repair it”. These are strong words, especially from a respected Liberal senator criticizing the national security legacy of the recently-ousted Liberal government.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

While visiting Cleveland this weekend, I picked up a copy of The Plain Dealer, and found an article in the Arts section entitled, “Scholars make study of bin Laden.” On the surface, the group’s research into bin Laden’s philosophy and published treatises seems bona fide and innocuous, but given the track record of academia on the subject of terrorism, this “scholarly study” deserves closer scrutiny. I am not advocating a knee-jerk dismissal and suspicion, but I am cautious. Is it possible for academia in its current, advanced state of political correctness to study the world’s greatest terrorist without whitewashing his sentiments? Maybe. Maybe not.

First, some background on the group examining bin Laden’s belief system (if one can consider his hateful ramblings a system):

At Vanderbilt University, one group of professors chose Osama bin Laden as their focus.

For nearly a year, these professors of religion, politics, history and law have gathered as a critical audience to bin Laden, a man who looms larger than perhaps any other in our country and yet who remains a mystery to many Americans.

They emphasize they do not sympathize with the al-Qaida leader, nor do they want to add academic weight to his teachings or beliefs. They merely want to understand the man, his purpose and the source of his influence and hatred.

“They merely want to understand the man…” Have anger and a desire for justice been “casualties” of war, or is the loss of these emotions endemic to an academia that has become too soft and complacent in its opulence, comfort, and security?

There may be some truth in the challenges mentioned by the group’s participants in finding materials to be used in understanding bin Laden’s rhetoric, but their statements belie the ostensible, cold, and clinical hallmark of an academia that is selective in its “science” — e.g., anger is acceptable when criticizing countries like Israel:

“It’s not like you can turn on the television and hear a 10-minute press release from al- Qaida,” said Richard McGregor, an assistant professor of Islamic studies who helped start the group. “Our media is not going to give air time to these people. They’re not going to give air time to Osama bin Laden, they say, for strategic reasons. So what it means for the average person - you don’t know. You don’t know who is this person.”

Bin Laden’s statements are under study at other colleges and universities, too. At Emory University in Atlanta, students will examine his statements this fall as part of a course on religion, violence and terrorism titled simply “Osama bin Laden.”

Vanderbilt’s reading group comprises about a dozen members who meet about once a month. They are on hiatus this summer but plan a panel discussion for the public to share what they’ve learned. The group studies bin Laden’s statements, old interviews with journalists and other materials carrying his voice. After its November release, the group began studying “Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden,” edited by Bruce Lawrence, a Duke University religion professor.

The biggest challenge has been finding suitable materials, McGregor said.

“There is no official Osama bin Laden Web page. You can’t just go to the library and pick out ‘Osama bin Laden: My Ideas and My Life,’ by Osama bin Laden,” he said. “On the Web, it’s not standardized. No one is editing. There is stuff that is questionable.”

But this, I believe, is an overstatement. Have they forgotten the video tape of bin Laden admitting that he ordered 911? There are scads of video tapes and statements posted on websites authenticated as being straight from bin Laden.

And the following diatribe gives more credit to bin Laden than credit is due:

The readings reveal a man who believes he is fighting for the world’s salvation on two fronts, both inside the Islamic world and beyond. He targets Middle East governments - virtually all of them - that he feels are too secular or too sympathetic to Israel and the West, and he targets non-Islamic governments including, of course, the United States.

His ambition is an idyllic society that lives out the principles of Islam. His rhetoric appeals to the poor and middle-class masses of the Middle East who feel alienated and repressed by their dictatorship governments, the social elite and the West.

The rhetoric is reasoned and well-informed, not irrational. In addition to Scripture, he draws from current events and even respected scholars and war theory to justify his belligerence. But the rhetoric is weak theologically, McGregor said.

“It does not have deep roots in the Koran or deep roots in Islamic law,” he said. “Yes, he quotes the Koran once in a while. But within the Islamic religion itself, this is very extreme. This is really on the edge.”

“The rhetoric is reasoned and well-informed, not irrational.” It is? Casually boasting about murdering civilians, warning of future atrocities, and spouting hatred is not reasonable, well-informed, nor rational. The word “evil” never appears in the article. And the idea that the “poor and middle-class masses” are bin Laden’s audience has been proved wrong time and time again. Remember that most of the 911 hijackers were from wealthy families, and most had college degrees. Several of the Canadian Muslims whose plans included blowing up Toronto with 3 tons of explosives were similarly college-educated. Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, who drove an SUV into a crowded pedestrian zone was a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ergo, my concerns about academia.

A Jewish observer of the study group summarizes my concerns:

“I look at the artfulness of these texts, the way Osama bin Laden crafts the language to make claims that are outrageous and hateful,” said Rose, who as a Jew has found the anti-Semitic rhetoric especially troubling. He said he has been an observer of the group, not a participant. “Fascination is what the snake does before it bites its victim.”

So the fact that these “scholars” are being scrutinized by American security authorities is reasoned and well-informed, not irrational, and well worth the effort as a sensible precaution:

The studies haven’t been easy, either. The group makes light of concerns about public perceptions of their work and government surveillance of their Internet activities and phone calls.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

I have long criticized Europe for placating terrorists, taking U.S. military protection for granted, and its generally predictable, politically-correct behavior. But when it comes to immigration policy, the Europeans have taken the lead. Perhaps this is because necessity is the mother of invention. Or, to make the wording at little less PC, Europe’s back is up against a wall. With the 3/11 bombing in Madrid, the subway bombings in London, the French Muslim riots, the murder of Theo Van Gogh in downtown Amsterdam, etc., etc., Europeans are starting to rethink their open-door immigration policies. Case in point: France’s upper house today passed a “tough new immigration bill;” the country’s lower house approved the same bill weeks ago. From the BBC:

The bill makes it harder for unskilled migrants to settle in France and abolishes the rights of illegal immigrants to remain after 10 years. …

The proposed law also requires immigrants from outside the European Union to sign a contract agreeing to learn French and to respect the principles of the French Republic, and makes it more difficult for them to bring their families over to join them.

Most of France’s immigrants come from poor North African countries, and reaction to the new bill has been typical, and reminiscent of Mexican President Fox’s critique of U.S. attempts at immigration reform:

Critics say it is racist and accuse [French Interior Minister] Mr Sarkozy of pandering to the far-right. …

The proposed law has been criticised by many in the region, including President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal.

Of course, the poorer countries’ governments are eager to dump their economic problems on wealthier neighbors instead of dealing with their own corrupt, inefficient economies. And when they don’t get their way, they scream “racism.”

But France is not alone in Europe. In fact, Europeans seem to be waking up en masse, and may be deserving of losing the colloquial appellation, “Eurabians.” From the Boston Globe:

A naked woman frolics in the surf. Gay men nuzzle in a park.

These images are featured on a video, ”Coming to the Netherlands,” that the government shows to prospective immigrants, part of the country’s stringent new screening measures to determine whether newcomers can accept Western ”values.” Anyone offended by such images, Dutch official reasoning goes, will probably be unhappy living in the country and should not be admitted.

Across Europe, countries that for decades have provided a generous reception for immigrants and refugees are now pulling away the welcome mat. …

New laws are raising the hurdles for newcomers, especially Muslims, and winning cheers from many Europeans. Polls indicate that strong majorities in almost every European country favor not just tightening restrictions on ordinary immigrants but also casting a colder eye on the hard-luck tales of refugees seeking asylum.

The alarms sounding over immigration have some economic basis, such as perennial worry that newcomers are taking jobs from locals. But analysts say Europeans are mainly fearful of terrorism and the fast spread of Islamic culture. …

The Dutch immigration minister, Rita Verdonk, seemed to express the prevailing view in recent public comments: ”It is important to make clear demands of people. They need to subscribe to our European values, respect our laws, and learn our language[s].”

The justification given for the measures is better assimilation of immigrants. That’s a new tack for Europe, which has long hoisted the banner of different-strokes-for-different-folks multiculturalism. But today, promoting American-style integration tops national agendas after deadly bombings by home-grown Islamic radicals in Britain, rioting in Muslim ghettoes in France, the killings of Dutch public figures by religious extremists, and the global furor that ensued after a Danish newspaper ran cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

Yes, call me Westernized, modern, assimilated, conservative, liberal — whatever. But I’ll pick naked women, gay men nuzzling, and tougher immigration laws over Islamic law (Shar’ia) and seeing the Western world turn into some kind of Third World sewer, any day.

But despite the fact that most Americans support tighter immigration controls, many of our Republican representatives in the Senate and White House seem hell-bent on betraying us.

Bush’s immigration policies would open the floodgates to illegals, and many Senate Republicans agree — but most Americans do not approve. A poll shows support for the House’s tough and very sensible immigration legislation, HR 4437:

…69 percent said it was a good or very good idea when told it tries to make illegals go home by fortifying the border, forcing employer verification, and encouraging greater cooperation with local law enforcement while not increasing legal immigration; 27 percent said it was a bad or very bad idea.

In an attempt to assuage American concerns about the unfettered illegal immigration tidal wave, Bush has proposed using the National Guard to patrol our borders:

President Bush, trying to build momentum for an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws, is considering plans to shore up the Mexican border with National Guard troops paid for by the federal government, according to senior administration officials.

One defense official said military leaders believe the number of troops required could range from 3,500 to 10,000, depending on the final plan.

That’s a great idea, except that Bush wants to provide amnesty to the millions of illegals already present in the U.S., and he wants to allow 400,000 “guest workers” to enter the U.S. every year. This is a recipe for disaster.

There are at least 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., and 10,000 pouring into our nation every day. One study predicts there will be 5 million more Latin American immigrants in the U.S. by 2015, while another prognosticates that illegals will push the American population to 1/2 billion people by 2050. Since the U.S. government is failing dismally at stemming this unfettered tidal wave, a group of concerned citizens, the Minuteman, has tried to prevent illegal immigration, but it appears that Bush has betrayed them.

The Republican-controlled Senate has betrayed the American people by pushing through legislation which will implement Bush’s disastrous proposals. If the Republicans are looking to retain the Senate in the 2006 elections, they may just be shooting themselves in their collective feet.

The problem with Bush and many Republicans is that they are looking at immigration solely in 2 modalities: 1) trying to court the Latino vote, and 2) looking at immigration solely in near-term economic terms.

If the Europeans can tackle immigration, why can’t we?

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by Bill Levinson

While the entire world knows how the United States saved the civilized world from Nazism, it is past time to recognize a similar achievement by a country that should, by virtue of its history and values, be one of our country’s closest friends. On 12 September 1683, a small army of Poles under the command of King Jan Sobieski III held the line between Civilization and Chaos by lifting the siege of Vienna, which had held out against a barbaric onslaught much as courageous Britons held out against Nazism.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

It wasn’t just that we killed Zarqawi. U.S. and Iraqi forces have taken the Zarqawi killing much further, in terms of intelligence, killing terrorists, and capturing them:

The US says coalition forces in Iraq have carried out more than 450 raids since the death last week of al-Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The US said 104 insurgents were killed and 759 “anti-Iraqi elements” captured.

Iraq says documents seized after the killing of Zarqawi yielded vital leads and that this may be the “beginning of the end” of al-Qaeda in Iraq. …

A US military spokesman in Baghdad, Major General William Caldwell, said raids following Zarqawi’s killing in an air strike near Baquba, north of Baghdad, had taken place across Iraq.

In addition to Iraqi insurgents killed or captured, Gen Caldwell said 28 significant arms caches had been found by US and Iraqi forces. …

…documents seized after the raid that killed Zarqawi had given coalition forces “the upper hand”.

[Iraq's national security adviser] Mr Rubaie said a pocket hard-drive, a laptop and documents were found in the debris after the strike.

The documents and records revealed the names and whereabouts of other al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders, he said, and that the subsequent raids had yielded more information.

“The government is on the attack now,” Mr Rubaie said.

One of the documents showed that Zarqawi was planning to try to start a war between the US and Iran by carrying out attacks - falsely attributed to Iran - on US interests, the prime minister’s office said.

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