On Sunday, Smith revealed to reporters in Baghdad excerpts of the document from Abu Maysara, saying the "analytical" document was written in the summer of 2007 by a mid- to high-level leader and intended for the circle of leadership as a critical assessment of the organization.
He said the document was undated and unsigned, leaving doubt as to whether it was authored by Abu Maysara, who according to Mustafa al-Ani of the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center, is an Iraqi known previously to be AQI's spokesman.
The document speaks of "disillusioned" foreign fighters stuck in the vast Anbar Province desert with diminished funds – unable to carry out attacks or suicide bombings because of US-supported and largely tribal groups of anti-Al Qaeda fighters known as Sahwa (Awakening).
The Samarra document recommends relocating the foreign fighters to other provinces, according to Smith. Earlier this year, the US military posted on the Internet extensive documents found last fall in the northwestern Iraqi town of Sinjar, detailing AQI's recruitment and transport of foreign fighters.
A second document released Sunday by Smith was described as a "diary" that belonged to an Al Qaeda "sector leader" in the villages of Mashahda and Layin captured during a Nov. 3 raid last year.
But Abu Tariq says this is his will, according to segments of the handwritten 16-page document posted online by the military.
The most striking revelation in the document is that it provides further evidence that many of the current members of the mostly Sunni US-backed anti-Al Qaeda militias, known as Sahwa and Concerned Local Citizens (CLCs), were in fact Al Qaeda foot soldiers previously.
In the document, Abu Tariq, who remains at large, laments the death and capture of the commanders of his five battalions and the defection of scores of his soldiers to the CLCs.
