Money-tracking leak angers Cheney
BBC NEWS
Money-tracking leak angers Cheney
US Vice-President Dick Cheney has condemned as “offensive” US media disclosures of a secret programme that probes global financial transactions.
The government has covertly tracked thousands of international money transactions for nearly five years as part of its so-called war on terror.
Mr Cheney said leaking the programme played into the enemy’s hands.
The New York Times defended its coverage, saying the information was in the public’s interest.
‘Solid and sound’
Speaking in Chicago, Mr Cheney said the disclosures, which went ahead despite appeals from the White House, would make it more difficult for the administration to prevent future attacks.
The operation uses a huge financial database in Belgium, known as Swift, to track private money transfers around the world.
But civil liberty groups have raised concerns that the programme, which began soon after the 9/11 attacks in the US, may infringe individual rights to privacy.
This programme is making a real difference. It works
John Snow,
treasury secretary
Mr Cheney said: “These are good, solid sound programmes. They are conducted in accordance with the laws of the land.”
He added: “What I find most disturbing is the fact that some in the media take it upon themselves to disclose vital national security programmes, thereby making it more difficult for us to prevent future attacks against the American people.”
The programme had earlier also been defended by Treasury Secretary John Snow.
He called it an “effective weapon in the larger war on terror.”
The treasury says the programme is strictly confined to the records of suspected foreign terrorists.
The government had compelled Swift, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, which links about 7,800 financial institutions around the world, to open its records, using subpoenas.
The New York Times, which revealed the programme, defended its coverage.
Executive editor Bill Keller said: “We remain convinced that the administration’s extraordinary access to this vast repository of international financial data, however carefully targeted use of it may be, is a matter of public interest.”
Although there is no direct connection, the scheme has echoes of a recently revealed US surveillance programme in which millions of international and domestic phone calls and e-mails were monitored, correspondents say.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/5112484.stm
Published: 2006/06/24 08:14:48 GMT
© BBC MMVI
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I have sent the following letter to the Times:
To The Editor:
Re the media’s disclosure that our government has been engaged in a secret program that has been examining the banking records of Americans, Vice President Dick Cheney says, “What I find most disturbing…is the fact that some of the news media take it upon themselves to disclose vital national security programs, thereby making it more difficult for us to prevent further attacks against the American people” (“Cheney Assails Press on Report on Data Bank,” June 24).
The problem with this statement is that it has been used by various members of the Bush Administration to rationalize and excuse any and all anti-terror activities, regardless of their moral, ethical or legal legitimacy. Indeed, the phrases “vital national security” and “prevent further attacks” have become catch-all justifications for the undertaking of an increasing number of programs of dubious legality – and unproven effectiveness.
Many Americans seem all too willing to forego the privacy of their medical, telephone, bank and other infomation in the name of an illusory “security.” In this regard, it is sadly ironic that they are willing to sacrifice the freedoms and civil liberties that our armed forces have spent decades defending with their lives – the very freedoms and civil liberties that we are hoping to “export” to Iraq and elsewhere.
Rev. Ian Alterman
Posted on 24-Jun-06 at 5:53 pm | PermalinkNew York City