The U.S. military said Thursday that it had killed an Al Qaeda in Iraq commander and his driver in a precision air strike in Ramadi. In a brief statement, the U.S. military said Rafa al-Ithawi, also known as Abu Taha, was killed on Wednesday in a laser-guided attack on his vehicle. The U.S. military said al-Ithawi had been named an Al Qaeda in Iraq emir, giving him the rank of local level commander in Anbar province, the heart of the Sunni insurgency that has stubbornly battled U.S. troops and their Iraqi allies.