A Secret the Terrorists Already Knew - New York Times

I don't think anyone has a problem with the administration monitoring international money transfers, or Interpol doing the same thing, if they are. I doubt anyone would be surprised, especially various terrorist groups.

We are far more alarmed about the domestic spying and data mining that has been going on since shortly after 9/11 and the possible nefarious uses all of that data, by this administration and their corporate puppetmeisters, or any other administration, for that matter.

But, here is the thing with the banking and money monitoring thing; how do we know that the program in place protects people who are not terrorists, not to mention business interests that might be competitors for the Bushite financiers?

I would probably not have thought about that, except for the absolute furor over this particular spying program. The Rethugs condemning tte NYT, accusing various reporters of treason; a damn serious charge for an official to make during a "time of war." Treason, during a time of war can result in one way a trip before the firing squad.

Hell, this is the only spy progran we already knew about.

I still don't see what all the fuss is about? Unless all the name-calling and threats are purely political, or the program is not what we think it is.

A Secret the Terrorists Already Knew - New York Times:

"COUNTERTERRORISM has become a source of continuing domestic and international political controversy. Much of it, like the role of the Iraq war in inspiring new terrorists, deserves analysis and debate. Increasingly, however, many of the political issues surrounding counterterrorism are formulaic, knee-jerk, disingenuous and purely partisan. The current debate about United States monitoring of transfers over the Swift international financial system strikes us as a case of over-reaction by both the Bush administration and its critics.

Going after terrorists' money is a necessary element of any counterterrorism program, as President Bill Clinton pointed out in presidential directives in 1995 and 1998. Individual terrorist attacks do not typically cost very much, but running terrorist cells, networks and organizations can be extremely expensive.

Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups have had significant fund-raising operations involving solicitation of wealthy Muslims, distribution of narcotics and even sales of black market cigarettes in New York. As part of a 'follow the money' strategy, monitoring international bank transfers is worthwhile (even if, given the immense number of transactions and the relatively few made by terrorists, it is not highly productive) because it makes operations more difficult for our enemies. It forces them to use more cumbersome means of moving money. "