U.S. Obtains Treatise By Bin Laden Deputy

This letter may be authentic. If it is, it further corroborates the extent to which Iraq has become the cockpit of the U.S. battle with al-Qaeda. The letter will be used by the U.S. to underline that it must stay the course in Iraq and that any premature withdrawal will be viewed by al-Qaeda as a victory. Even so, it is plausible to argue that the most productive outcome for al-Qaeda, short of a massive and virtually impossible defeat of the U.S. in Iraq, is for the occupation to simply continue. Iraq has become the most important recruitment arguement for al-Qaeda, as the stream of young jihadis bent on becoming martyrs emphasizes daily.
U.S. Obtains Treatise By Bin Laden Deputy: "The United States has obtained a letter from Osama bin Laden's deputy to the leader of Iraq's insurgency that outlines a long-term strategic vision for a global jihad, with the next phase of the war to be taken into Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, according to U.S. officials."