North Star Writers Group

On Thursday, June 22, the New York Times ran a story about a previously classified anti-terrorism program, begun in the days after September 11, 2001, that tracks the financial movements of terrorist groups. Using its subpoena power, the federal government obtained information contained in a database kept by a company in Belgium, totalling 11 million daily transactions among 7,800 banks and financial institutions in over 200 countries. Counter-terrorism agents then scrutinized the data to attempt to determine which are really laundering operations for terrorists.

Sounds pretty straightforward to me. This enemy will not show itself, will not fight in the open and targets only innocent civilians. They know neither honor nor courage. It thus stands to reason that it's going to take some pretty extraordinary tactics on our part to anticipate and prevent their next attack. Since it costs money for a terrorist sleeper cell to live on and obtain needed materials prior to a suicidal slaughter, tracking where those funds are originating and to whom they are going is only logical. And given that Swiss bank accounts, among others (e.g. Cayman Islands), are renowned for their anonymity, it would take something on the aforementioned level to find what the terrorists are trying so hard to hide.

Nor is this anything the average citizen has to worry about, provided you're not phoning home to Afghanistan or wiring money to Fallujah. If we should be worried about anything, it's an enemy that forces us to use measures of these lengths for the sake of self-defense. One would think it might provide motivation to annihilate Al Qaeda as quickly as possible, so such a program would no longer be necessary. But instead, the Times saw this as a reason to think the Bush Administration a bigger threat than those who turned Boeing 767s into missiles. And in printing what someone saw fit to leak, both parties committed treason against the United States of America. As such, both should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

To quote Vice President Cheney today: "Some in the press, in particular the New York Times, have made the job of defending against further terrorist attacks more difficult by insisting on publishing detailed information about vital national security programs. The first was the terrorist surveillance program. The second ...is the terrorist financial tracking program, just within about the last week or so. The leaks to the New York Times and the publishing of those leaks are very damaging."

Or press secretary Tony Snow, at today's press briefing: "Certainly nobody is going to deny First Amendment rights. But the New York Times and other news organizations ought to think long and hard about whether a public's right to know in some cases might override somebody's right to live," Snow said. "And whether, in fact, the publication...could place in jeopardy the safety of fellow Americans."

While I agree wholeheartedly with both statements, talk, gentlemen, is cheap. Do you really think your outrage alone means anything to the Times? Do you really think that makes them think twice or lose a wink of sleep over what they've done? The Times' publisher and editorial board, as well as the scumbag who leaked this, (no doubt a Clinton holdover, still there only due to the Daschle/Reid senatorial filibuster stonewall on all Bush nominees to everything, which makes the Democrats complicit in my book) should be arrested, charged, and tried at the earliest opportunity. 18 U.S.C. § 798 reads, in part: "Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information . . . concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States . . . shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both."

Seems pretty clear to me. The publisher, editorial board, and reporter should be out 10 grand each, spend the next decade in the federal slammer and forced to divulge the source of the story or have contempt of court added to their sentences. Oh, I know, the Times will wrap itself in the First Amendment and continue its never-ending insane comparisons of Bush and his administration to Hitler and the Nazis. (Part of me thinks they actually want to be prosecuted, so they can eagerly be martyrs for the cause. What was that about patriotism being the last refuge of a scoundrel?) And while the First Amendment does give the Times the freedom to print this, it in no way absolves them from the consequences of and responsibility for having printed it. Simply put, the Times is not above the law and the First Amendment is not a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card. You danced the dance, Times and now you're going to pay the band. If you're big enough to do the (mis)deed, you're big enough to pay the price.

Oh, and one more thing, if you think the above is too harsh, we can always charge you with and try you straight-up for treason, as the leaker him or herself will get. I think prosecutors could demonstrate quite easily that printing the story was aiding and comforting the enemy. After all, what else could the Times have been hoping to accomplish by running this story other than to cripple or end the program? (Or both.) And would that not directly aid and comfort Al Qaeda? So you might want to think twice before thinking I'm over-reacting. If anything, I'm being exceedingly generous in offering you a lengthy, comfortable stay in prison rather than a short uncomfortable stay in front of a firing squad.

It's just lucky for you that those responsible for prosecuting treason appear to be more interested in paying lip service than doing their duty...

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