re: #381 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

See, since that affects ordinary citizens, I think that’s a fine thing to whistleblow on. It’s not the least bit the same as revealing that we’re directly manipulating enemy propaganda.

Ordinary citizens?

The program is limited, government officials say, to tracing transactions of people suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda by reviewing records from the nerve center of the global banking industry, a Belgian cooperative that routes about $6 trillion daily between banks, brokerages, stock exchanges and other institutions. The records mostly involve wire transfers and other methods of moving money overseas and into and out of the United States. Most routine financial transactions confined to this country are not in the database.

Viewed by the Bush administration as a vital tool, the program has played a hidden role in domestic and foreign terrorism investigations since 2001 and helped in the capture of the most wanted Qaeda figure in Southeast Asia, the officials said.

Hugely damaging leak, and horrible decision by the NYT to run the story.