Larry Johnson: Is President Bush SWIFT?

Outrage voiced today by President Bush, whether feigned or genuine, over recent news that the U.S. Government is using bank data to track terrorists, is disturbing because it reveals how little the President knows about tracking terrorist financing. President Bush called:

the New York Times story revealing the administration’s monitoring of bank records “disgraceful,” and said the decision to publish details of the program “does great harm to the United States of America.”


(snip)
What has the President's shorts in a knot is that this latest revelation may create a political problem for the Administration and could lead SWIFT to stop "sharing" the information with the CIA. But, to paraphrase Shakespeare, methinks the President doth protest too much. If his outrage was directed at all three media outlets and he announced a search for the leakers, I would give him the benefit of the doubt. But, I have learned from one of the reporters from the three outlets who published the story that the White House did not make a serious effort to get the story stopped (and no I was not a source for any of them and learned about the story the way the rest of America did). We have to entertain the possibility that this was deliberately leaked so the President and his Republican allies could try to refocus public attention on the evil "liberal" media.

The only "secret" I can see, based solely on my understanding of how financial investigations work, is the fact that the CIA has access to this data without any judicial oversight. This is the classic FBI vs. CIA connundrum. If you use a law enforcement approach you are subject to judicial oversight. If you are doing "international" intelligence you have no effective oversight; the key is not to get caught.

more
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/jun/26/is_president_bush_swift

swift
http://www.swift.com/index.cfm?item_id=1008

I tells ya, just wrong! You should be saying nice things about me."

that is true...But Terrorists? No..

Potential disinterested campaign donors?

A worthwhile endeavor for a 28% approval rating or

better yet; a 72% disapproval rating!

The Christian Base has abandoned him. In a face

saving effort they will openly support him but not a penny

will be spent because he couldn't deliver.

The terrorists do not use our conventional banking system anyway..

So, Who's Zooming Who?

but this is key:

"We have to entertain the possibility that this was deliberately leaked so the President and his Republican allies could try to refocus public attention on the evil "liberal" media."

I mentioned the media attack in my thread, but don't think I came right out and said they did the leak on purpose, which I thought would be going tin hat a little early in the game

silly me

"If you use a law enforcement approach you are subject to judicial oversight. If you are doing "international" intelligence you have no effective oversight; the key is not to get caught."

If 911 would have been declared a crime, then someone would always be looking over the BFEEs shoulder (in theory the FBI, but we know how that works). Instead, 911 is declared an act of war, from a foreign 'entity' called the Taliban/Al-Quada. At this point, Dick Cheney is free to do whatever the hell he wants with CIA intelligence, and yes he got caught (MORE than once).

Will anyone care enough to stop the BFEE?

http://www.ftlcomm.com:16080/ensign/desantisArticles/2003_800/desantis850/cover.jpg