John Snow’s Remarkable Open Letter To Bill Keller
The Treasury Secretary says it all, really:
| Mr. Bill Keller, Managing Editor The New York Times 229 West 43rd Street New York, NY 10036 Dear Mr. Keller: The New York Times’ decision to disclose the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, a robust and classified effort to map terrorist networks through the use of financial data, was irresponsible and harmful to the security of Americans and freedom-loving people worldwide. In choosing to expose this program, despite repeated pleas from high-level officials on both sides of the aisle, including myself, the Times undermined a highly successful counter-terrorism program and alerted terrorists to the methods and sources used to track their money trails. Your charge that our efforts to convince The New York Times not to publish were “half-hearted” is incorrect and offensive. Nothing could be further from the truth. Over the past two months, Treasury has engaged in a vigorous dialogue with the Times – from the reporters writing the story to the D.C. Bureau Chief and all the way up to you. It should also be noted that the co-chairmen of the bipartisan 9-11 Commission, Governor Tom Kean and Congressman Lee Hamilton, met in person or placed calls to the very highest levels of the Times urging the paper not to publish the story. Members of Congress, senior U.S. Government officials and well-respected legal authorities from both sides of the aisle also asked the paper not to publish or supported the legality and validity of the program. Indeed, I invited you to my office for the explicit purpose of talking you out of publishing this story. And there was nothing “half-hearted” about that effort. I told you about the true value of the program in defeating terrorism and sought to impress upon you the harm that would occur from its disclosure. I stressed that the program is grounded on solid legal footing, had many built-in safeguards, and has been extremely valuable in the war against terror. Additionally, Treasury Under Secretary Stuart Levey met with the reporters and your senior editors to answer countless questions, laying out the legal framework and diligently outlining the multiple safeguards and protections that are in place. You have defended your decision to compromise this program by asserting that “terror financiers know” our methods for tracking their funds and have already moved to other methods to send money. The fact that your editors believe themselves to be qualified to assess how terrorists are moving money betrays a breathtaking arrogance and a deep misunderstanding of this program and how it works. While terrorists are relying more heavily than before on cumbersome methods to move money, such as cash couriers, we have continued to see them using the formal financial system, which has made this particular program incredibly valuable. Lastly, justifying this disclosure by citing the “public interest” in knowing information about this program means the paper has given itself free license to expose any covert activity that it happens to learn of – even those that are legally grounded, responsibly administered, independently overseen, and highly effective. Indeed, you have done so here. What you’ve seemed to overlook is that it is also a matter of public interest that we use all means available – lawfully and responsibly – to help protect the American people from the deadly threats of terrorists. I am deeply disappointed in the New York Times. Sincerely, [signed] John W. Snow, Secretary |
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The more you find out about this, the more infuriated you get…
Now I find myself sorry that Snow is leaving.
After having time to digest the implications, three scenarios come to mind that would fit the bill of why America is less safe because of the NYT’s publication:
1. SWIFT has offices and reps throughout the world. If I work in a branch office, in a muslim country, I don’t go to work for a while, my offices have become targets because the organization has been portrayed as working directly with the US to spy on muslims.
2. If I were a covert agent, trying to broker a fake deal, I would steer the target into using the SWIFT bank-the local office may not even be aware, but the money could still be traced. Every agent who has used SWIFT in the past is now in jeapordy, their operations lost. (Didn’t the left stink it up about Brewster Jennings losing its cover?)
3. I sincerely doubt that SWIFT is the only banking group that is working with us. They are now the most known, but those groups that we have been working with covertly have lost their faith in the US ability to keep it a secret. Help will be less forthcoming.
I will not rush to call this treason, because for the very same reason the Rove/Plame deal was clearly not meeting any statute that would could stick and was pointless, the NYT will not meet any statute of offense.
David Rivkin said something to the extent-If the NYT had just told Al-Queda it would have been espionage. In printing it publicly for everyone to read, they fail to meet the charge.
(Big paraphrasing there)
I accept it but-
those who leaked this, apparently seeking safety in numbers, are not immune. My anger is focused on they alone, and criminal prosecution is needed now.
Fred Barnes had the best suggestion-call hearings now and get Keller to appear before a committee. His arogance is a wonder to behold and the amercian public ‘has a right to know’ who Keller really is.
Well Snow really has the upper hand here…i.e. don’t play poker…Keller just looks like KNOB re-responding to this…
The NYT has converted its centuries old logo, from ‘All the News that are Fit to Print’ to All the News that are Fit to Betray America.
The more I find out about this the more infuriated I get because it is ever more obvious that Keller and the Times, despite arguing freedom of the press and the public’s right to know, are behaving in what they believe to be a grossly self-serving manner. Ironically, their craven attempts to bolster their image and business prospects (circulation) seem to be having the opposite effect. In that I shall take comfort.
Congressman Curt Weldon really ripped up Lichtblau on the Newshour last night. He also mentioned how the NYT printed a diagram of a US soldier’s body armor, pointing out the weak spots. Obviously, US deaths went up afterwards. I think it’s pretty clear at this point that the NYT wants the US to lose not only the war in Iraq but the War on Terror in general, and the only reason I can think of for this is that they want to embarrass President Bush.
Aaron:
Got links to support that contention?
Yes: http://townhall.com/opinion/columns/WThomasSmithJr/2006/03/13/189391.html
I know that that’s just an opinion column, but specifically cites the date of the article. I’m assuming that the publication of weak spots in body armor is the contention to which you refer.