The fresh intelligence which gave rise to doubts in the Foreign Office, shown to Tony Blair in the weeks before the war, painted a much less dramatic picture than the government's disputed weapons dossier published the previous September.
Some intelligence officials said they were uncertain that the link between the fresh intelligence and the likelihood of another attack was as apparent as Mr. Ashcroft made it out to be.
On the military side, however, he said, there has been a big improvement in the coordination of ground and air forces, in clearer instructions to military units and in the way fresh intelligence is communicated to soldiers.
"I saw him grit his teeth, and he said something like, 'Well, that's it.' Then he left the room". Jenkins learned later that the note relayed fresh intelligence linking the bombing to the Libyan government.
The faster the messages could be broken, the fresher the intelligence that they contained, and on at least one occasion an intercepted Enigma message's English translation was being read at the British Admiralty less than 15 minutes after the Germans had transmitted it.
According to the Press Trust of India, fresh intelligence from a captured militant recently deported to India from a Gulf nation indicates that Lashkar-e-Taiba is targeting G. Madhavan Nair, chair of the Indian Space Research Organisation, and six other prominent space scientists.
For months, the Pentagon and the C.I.A. have sought fresh intelligence on hideouts used by Al Qaeda and the Taliban's military leadership from Afghanistan's neighbors, especially Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
Pentagon and intelligence officials said the Ethiopian offensive had unearthed fresh intelligence about the location of Qaeda operatives whose trail had long gone cold.
The United States has little leverage with the Taliban, and little fresh intelligence on how to capture bin Laden.
The recent airstrikes were planned for two or three months, Mr. Qirbi said, but could not take place until there was fresh intelligence about the location of the Qaeda operatives who were the targets.
Air Force officials are seeking to speed the process of providing fresh intelligence on fleeting terrorist targets to bomber pilots or commandos on the ground, said a retired senior military officer.
