Posted on 06/26/2006 8:23:26 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Bush slams leak of terror finance story
10 minutes ago
President Bush on Monday sharply condemned the disclosure of a secret anti-terrorism program that taps into an immense international database of confidential financial records. "The disclosure of this program is disgraceful," he said.
"For people to leak that program and for a newspaper to publish it does great harm to the United States of America," Bush said. He said the disclosure of the program "makes it harder to win this war on terror."
The program has been going on since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. It was disclosed last week by several news organizations.
Using broad government subpoenas, the program allows U.S. counterterrorism analysts to obtain financial information from a vast database maintained by a company based in Belgium. It routes about 11 million financial transactions daily among 7,800 banks and other financial institutions in 200 countries.
"Congress was briefed and what we did was fully authorized under the law," Bush said, talking with reporters in the Roosevelt Room after meeting with groups that support U.S. troops in Iraq.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Well, and I was beginning to think you might've been on to something.
:^)
"If another attack happens...or as many say WHEN and not IF...the administration has a built-in accomplice in the NYT, LAT, and WASHPOST."
lets be fair now. the story went up on the LAT, WSJ and NYT websites Thurday night. Gonna burn them, should probably burn them all.
And to go along with your comment here's what was said at the morning White House gaggle: :)
Q What about -- Peter King went further, he was talking about investigating and prosecution. Is that going too far?
MR. SNOW: Well, again, there is a process for doing this. The agency in charge has to make a criminal referral. You may remember that former CIA Director Tenet made a criminal referral. It is highly unusual for somebody to announce that they've done so. But there are very strict processes for doing this. And beyond that, I'm not going to extend the brief.
Good point upchuck! Thanks
Thank God he doesn't come out swinging on every issue as so many on FR call for or else he would be perceived as the boy who cried wolf.
Any comment he makes on this important issue will carry weight because he rarely gets really angry.
Good for Pres. Bush. He's a disciplined man. A great CIC.
Picture of a man more who thinks "scoops" are more important than his country.
It's also time to find out who is leaking TO the pressholes, and charge them with treason. Anybody got a guess who the leaker to the press is?
"Excellent. It is time to do something about the treasonous liberal media and make a lesson to all of them by going after the head of Hate and Treason, the New York Times."
I'd love to see "Pinch" Sulzberger do a perp walk. Probably as much as he was looking forward to seeing Karl Rove do one
Translation: Arrests are coming.
This is what happens when people like Sandy Burglar and the Clintons aren't charged with obvious felonies.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have just had a remarkable discussion with some of my fellow citizens who have dedicated their lives to making sure our troops know that this country supports them as they help secure our country and spread freedom.
And one of the amazing things about America is that people are desirous of coming together to support a neighbor in need. And we've got kids who are overseas defending this country, and we got people at this table who are supporting their families, their loved ones and, most importantly, the troops who are in harm's way.
There is an organization called America Supports You. I would hope my fellow citizens would look on the Web page, AmericaSupportsYou.mil, to determine how you can help support our troops, if you so desire. I would urge Americans to do that.
And around the table are leaders of the different organizations that make up this umbrella group. We've heard from people that are helping families of the wounded. We're talking to people who are using their position in different fields, like the entertainment field, to go over and provide hope for our troops. We're talking to moms and wives of those who have volunteered to serve our country.
But I want to thank you all for joining us, and thank you for serving your country.
I told the folks here that the politics in Washington can be rough. But make no mistake about it: I am determined to succeed, and we will implement a plan to achieve victory, which is necessary, and that they need to tell the troops that no matter how tough it looks here in the nation's capital, that I know we're doing the right thing and I know we will win.
I'll take a couple of questions.
QUESTION: Mr. President, General Casey saw you on Friday, and it's been reported that he's talked about withdrawing two brigades from Iraq by this year. Can you tell us what he recommended to you?
BUSH: First of all, I did meet with General Casey. And I met with him because it's very important for me, as well as Secretary Rumsfeld, to meet with our commander on the ground.
I've told the American people our commanders will be making the decisions as to how to achieve victory. And General Casey, of course, is the lead person. So we had a good visit with him, and we talked about a lot of things.
The first thing we talked about was the joint operation with the Iraqi forces to secure Baghdad and how that's going.
We talked about the actions we're taking in Ramadi. The coalition is in the lead in Ramadi and we're trying to make sure Ramadi does not become a safe haven for Al Qaida. And so he explained to me the tactics on the ground, what we're doing to secure that city and to run the Al Qaida types out.
And we talked about the Iraqi training mission. And as you well know, our standards are the Iraqis stand up, the coalition will be able to stand down. And he talked about that kind of progress.
But in terms of our troop presence there, that decision will be made by General Casey as well as the sovereign government of Iraq, based upon conditions on the ground.
And one of the things that General Casey assured me of was that whatever recommendation he makes, it'll be aimed toward achieving victory. And that's what we want.
And victory means a free government that is able to sustain itself, defend itself. And it's a government that will be an ally in the war on terror. It's a government that will be able to fight off Al Qaida and its desires to have a safe haven.
And so I did visit with General Casey, and I came away, once again, with my trust in that man. I told the people here around the table that the decisions that I will make will be based upon the recommendations of people like General George Casey.
QUESTION: Mr. President, how much closer do you believe North Korea is to launching the long-range missile? And how concerned are you about this? What if they just launch a satellite on it?
BUSH: I have said that the North Koreans should notify the world of their intentions -- what they have on top of that vehicle and what are their intentions.
We have not heard from the North Koreans, so I can't tell you what their intentions are.
I have made clear to our partners on this issue -- that would be Japan and South Korea and China and Russia -- that we need to send a focused message to the North Koreans and that this launch, you know, is provocative.
And I was pleased to hear that the Chinese have delivered that message to the North Koreans. And we would hope that the leader in North Korea listen to the Chinese.
So we don't know. We don't know. That's part of the problem. It's a nontransparent society that ought to be sharing its intentions with the rest of the world. QUESTION: I know that you are not planning to see Al Gore's new movie, but do you agree with the premise that global warming is a real and significant threat to the planet?
BUSH: I have said consistently that global warming is a serious problem. There's a debate over whether it's manmade or naturally caused. We ought to get beyond that debate and start implementing the technologies necessary to enable us to achieve a couple of big objectives: one, be good stewards of the environment; two, become less dependent on foreign sources of oil, for economic reasons as for national security reasons.
That's why we're pressing for clean-coal technology.
That's why the hydrogen initiative is robust. In other words, we want our children being able to drive cars not fueled by gasoline but by hydrogen.
That's why I've been a strong advocate of ethanol as an alternative source of fuel to run our cars.
I strongly believe that we ought to be developing, you know, safe nuclear power. The truth of the matter is, if this country was interested -- wants to get rid of its greenhouse gases, we've got to have the nuclear power industry be vibrant and viable.
And so I believe in -- and I've got a plan to be able to deal with greenhouse gasses.
QUESTION: Mr. President, what are you doing to ensure that the Voting Rights Act is reauthorized by the midterm elections? As you're saying, that's one of your top priorities.
And also, do you support foreign ballots (ph)?
BUSH: I am working very carefully...
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
BUSH: I am working very carefully with members of Congress to implement that which I said when I signed the proclamation for Rosa Parks, is, "I want this Voting Rights Act extended." And so we're working with members of the United States Congress to see if we can't get it done.
QUESTION: Sir, several news organizations have reported about a program that allows the administration to look into the bank records of certain suspected terrorists.
My questions are twofold. One, why have you not gone to Congress to ask for authorization for this program five years after it started? And two, with respect, if neither the courts nor the legislature is allowed to know about these programs, how can you feel confident the checks-and-balances system works?
BUSH: Congress was briefed. And what we did was fully authorized under the law.
And the disclosure of this program is disgraceful. We're at war with a bunch of people who want to hurt the United States of America, and for people to leak that program and for a newspaper to publish it does great harm to the United States of America.
What we were doing was the right thing. Congress was aware of it, and we were within the law to do so.
The American people expect this government to protect our constitutional liberties, and at the same time make sure we understand what the terrorists are trying to do.
The 9/11 Commission recommended that the government be robust in tracing money. If you want to figure out what the terrorists are doing, you try to follow their money. And that's exactly what we're doing.
And the fact that a newspaper disclosed it makes it harder to win this war on terror.
Thank you.
These leftist traitors aren't bright enough to realistically expect that there would be serious consequences from their actions. They've lived their lives for so long now, without having to suffer consequences or take responsbility for their own actions, that they're deaf, dumb and blind to any 'consequences'.
I think it's about damned time we 'wake' them up and forceably extract their heads from their rear ends.
"And that's exactly why they disclosed it. Deeds such as these should be proof that editors from papers such as the NYT must be either loony or perhaps demon-possessed. I don't understand how hyper-liberals perceive they would fare better under Sharia law than they do now. Truly, these folks are sick in the head. Do they have half a clue on what would happen to their rather fast-and-loose lifestyle and worldview should they succede in handing America over to it's enemies? Are they seriously expecting they'll be continuing to be attending their "Diversity Days" parades? Do they seriously expect that our would-be new overlords will contribute to the ACLU? What on earth do they expect or want as the outcome of their treasonous actions?"
Amen!
I agree and I believe it is time for the president to go nationwide with a televised address to the citizens of America and the world to explain precisely what this program did, the authority behind it, the safeguards in place, the oversight provided and all its successes.
He needs to clearly relate to the public that this enormously successful weapon in the ongoing fight against terrorists has AGAIN lost a valuable weapon and this loss has increased the danger to all of us.
Then it's time to do some wet work.
There's got to be an organization that can handle a little messy midnight assignment.
If we NEED the President to TELL us to STOP reading the newspapers that leak, we are too stupid to save our country. That is very scary.
Among other things, individuals who support the War on Terror such as security moms should complain directly and loudly to the New York Times.
My point is that the MSM will damage themselves...driving more Americans to the internet for their news.
Bill:
It's worse than that. It's a picture of a man who thinks "defeating the Bush Administration" is more important than his country.
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