" almost nothing left of al Qaeda in Iraq."

Coalition and Iraqi special operations forces continue to target al Qaeda's propaganda capabilities. Over the summer, US forces scored a major victory with the capture of Khalid Abdul Fatah Da’ud Mahmud al Mashadani, also known as Abu Shahed. Mashadani was al Qaeda's minister of information and served as the go between for al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al Masri and Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri. The capture of Mashadani has shed light on al Qaeda's media operations, and has allowed Multinational Forces Iraq to roll up al Qaeda's media cells throughout Iraq.

US targets al Qaeda's al Furqan media wing in Iraq

By Bill RoggioOctober 28, 2007 11:25 PM

Al Qaeda in Iraq's media cells and organization. Click to view.

Coalition and Iraqi special operations forces continue to target al Qaeda's propaganda capabilities. Over the summer, US forces scored a major victory with the capture of Khalid Abdul Fatah Da’ud Mahmud al Mashadani, also known as Abu Shahed. Mashadani was al Qaeda's minister of information and served as the go between for al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al Masri and Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri. The capture of Mashadani has shed light on al Qaeda's media operations, and has allowed Multinational Forces Iraq to roll up al Qaeda's media cells throughout Iraq.

"Since the surge began, we’ve uncovered eight separate al Qaeda media offices and cells, have captured or killed 24 al Qaeda propaganda cell members and have discovered 23 terabytes of information," said Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, the chief Public Affairs Officer for Multinational Forces Iraq in a press briefing. Most recently, four members of al Qaeda's al Furqan media cell in Mosul were captured, "including the media emir of Mosul, the former head of Mosul’s media cell who had established the al Qaeda communications hub in Baghdad, a foreign terrorist from Saudi Arabia who is proficient in video editing and special effects, and a computer graphics specialist," the Armed Forces Press Service reported. Cells have also been broken up in Baghdad, Diyala, Tarmiyah, Samarra, and Karma.

Cells have also been broken up in Baghdad, Diyala, Tarmiyah, Samarra, and Karma.

The Mosul cell members echoed recent statements made by Osama bin Laden on the dire situation in Iraq. "(They) have indicated that al Qaeda propaganda efforts have been degraded in recent months,” Smith said. "There is almost nothing left of (al Qaeda in Iraq).".....

Brigadier General Kevin Bergner, a spokesman for Multinational Forces Iraq during a briefing in July. "The building contained 65 hard drives, 18 thumb drives, over 500 CDs and 12 stand-alone computers. ... In all, this media center had the capacity of reproducing 156 CDs in an eight-hour period and had a fully functioning film studio."

Excerpted from: Longwarjournal:

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Frozen assets: US has crimped Al Qaeda funds

The CIA estimates that prior to Sept. 11, Al Qaeda was spending about $30 million per year. Since then, the US has seized some $265 million in assets linked to the group. SOURCE:

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Those thumb drives will be very interesting, they would be carried by Media field agents,
to up and down load vids and assignments. The notebooks were out time of raids.?

G