What’s all this rubbish about the Times revealing state secrets?!

To hear President Bush and members of his Administration wailing indignantly this week because the New York Times reported on the U.S. (war-on-terror) strategy of tracking terrorists through bank records, one would have thought its reporters burglarized the White House war room and stole the information that appeared in the report. But nothing could be further from the truth. After all, Bush himself revealed this SWIFT “state secret” years ago, when he was boasting about his success in breaking up al-Qaeda cells (and foiling attacks) all over the world.

NOTE: Anyone who has transferred more than $10,000.00 into any U.S. Bank account (especially from Latin America and the Caribbean) since 1970 knows well that Big Brother has been monitoring such transactions for illicit (laundering drug money) ties pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) 1970, which states, inter alia:

Each financial institution . . . shall file a report [Currency Transaction Report] of each deposit, withdrawal, exchange of currency or other payment or transfer, by, through, or to such financial institution, which involves a transaction in currency of more than $10,000.” 31 C.F.R. § 103.22(a); see 31 U.S.C.A. § 5313(a).

ENDNOTE: Moreover, since many al-Qaeda terrorists are unreformed drug (opium) peddlers, chances are that they have relied on hawalas – ancient, unregulated, and little-known systems of exchanging money – to transfer illicit funds under the SWIFT radar.

So, please spare us this rubbish-talk about charging the Times with treason for tipping-off terrorists to stop doing business with the Bank of America….

SWIFT bank transfers, New York Times treason