Trusted Lieutenant Watch....

The latest installment. What do efficient propagandists do after a particularly bad stretch of news in Iraq? They trot out another Trusted Lieutenant, Confidant, Courier, Gatekeeper, Right Hand Man, Executive Secretary, or Man Friday. As you'll note from my bolds, it appears even by-the-book wire reporters can't resist getting in a dig on this farce. From Reuters:

Iraqi Interior Ministry forces have captured a senior aide to al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraqi state television said on Monday.

Iraqiya named the man as Abu Farouq and said he was captured with five others in the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, west of the capital.

It said Abu Farouq al-Suri, previously unknown to the media, was captured by the Wolf Brigade, one of several counter-insurgency units operating within the Shi'ite-run Interior Ministry but accused by Sunnis of targeting civilians in their community.

The word Suri is Arabic for Syrian, indicating that the captured man may have come from Iraq's western neighbor.

U.S. military spokespeople were unaware of the capture.

U.S. and Iraqi forces often report the capture of senior al Qaeda operatives in Iraq.

And with this report, we get a new twist: consistent with Iraqization and standing up/standing down, the hometown team gets to take credit for one (note the "U.S. military unaware" touch). Something to watch going forward.