According to Bergner, Mashadani helped create Islamic State of Iraq as a "virtual organization" that is essentially a pseudonym for al-Qaida in Iraq, another group that claims ties to al-Qaida. The front organization was aimed at making Iraqis believe that al-Qaida in Iraq is a nationalistic group, even though it is led by an Egyptian and has few Iraqis among its leaders, Bergner told a news conference.

"The Islamic State of Iraq is the latest effort by al-Qaida to market itself and its goal of imposing a Taliban-like state on the Iraqi people," he said.

Islamic State of Iraq had been widely described as an umbrella organization made up of several insurgent groups, including al-Qaida in Iraq.

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 he has been trying to provide that justification by linking the broader-based al-Qaida to the conflict in Iraq, even though Bin Laden's organization had no substantial presence here until after the U.S. invasion of March 2003.

"The same people that attacked us on September the 11th is the crowd that is now bombing people" in Iraq, President Bush said Tuesday.

Swanny Note : Is that a confession George?

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

• Marine convicted: A military jury in Camp Pendleton, Calif., Wednesday convicted a Marine of kidnapping and conspiring to murder an Iraqi man in a bungled attempt to abduct and kill a suspected insurgent in Hamandiya. Cpl. Trent Thomas was acquitted of premeditated murder, making a false official statement and housebreaking. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Thomas, 25, was the first of seven Marines and a Navy corpsman to go to trial in the killing, which squad members tried to cover up by planting a gun near the victim.

• 12 killed: At least 12 people were killed Wednesday in a series of bombings in mostly Shiite areas of eastern Baghdad. Seven of them died in two back-to-back bombings near a gas station in the Amin district.

• Civilian casualties: Eight civilians were killed when gunmen opened fire in the city of Khalis, a Shiite enclave in a mostly Sunni area 50 miles north of Baghdad.

• American deaths: The U.S. military today announced that four U.S. soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing in east Baghdad. The military also said on Wednesday that three American soldiers were killed the day before in separate bombings in the capital. Two were killed in west Baghdad and another died in east Baghdad. Four other Americans were wounded in the east Baghdad blast. Two insurgents responsible for the attack were identified, engaged and killed.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/world/4980195.html