The New York Times (among others) reveals details of administration surveillance of financial transactions among suspected terrorists. Ed Morrissey has an excellent analysis, as always.
I'll pick one small part of the article:
The program is limited, government officials say, to tracing transactions of people suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda by reviewing records from the nerve center of the global banking industry, a Belgian cooperative that routes about $6 trillion daily between banks, brokerages, stock exchanges and other institutions. The records mostly involve wire transfers and other methods of moving money overseas and into and out of the United States. Most routine financial transactions confined to this country are not in the database.
When the New York Times and other revealed that the United States was rendering terrorist captives to a number of EU members, there was huge pressure within the European Community to publicize as much about the program as possible, and to stop it. I know nothing about 'the nerve center of the global banking industry, a Belgian cooperative that routes about $6 trillion daily between banks, brokerages, stock exchanges and other institutions,' but I bet that institution - SWIFT - has already started calling European governments and EU officials to let them know that as of this morning, they are no longer cooperating in the US program.
Another hit to our national security, thanks to the New York Times.
Back to the top.
2 comments:
I actually read about this in the Wall Street Journal. I fail to see how this impacts our national security...unless, of course, you are prone to secrecy and fear-mongering.
Because the enemy will move it's financing.
Because they'll be more likely to move funding as cash.
Because they're more aware of our ability to track them.
Should I go on?!?
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