20060626 KDDC A letter to the New York Times from an American soldier

A letter to the New York Times from an American soldier in Iraq
Posted June 26th, 2006

The focus of my Tentacle column this Wednesday will be on the article which appeared in the New York Times last Friday which exposed yet another national security, anti-terrorism initiative.

If you will recall my post the other day:

"The New York Times, the favorite daily newspaper of al Qaeda, and quite possibly a satellite version of Aljazeera, has once again chosen to sell out our country’s national security interests in the furtherance of selling newspapers and supporting the media war on the war in Iraq."

"In an article published last Friday, titled, “Bank Data Sifted in Secret by U.S. to Block Terror,” written by Eric Lichtblau and James Risen, the Old Grey Lady acts out on senile dementia and details a top secret classified program in which bank transactions which may involve the transfer of funds for the purpose of promoting or supporting terrorist acts, are tracked and investigated."

Apparently the ourtage over the New York Times revealing yet another national security initiative is growing and many web sites are competing to see who can post the most expressions of disgust.

However, Powerline posted one I found quite compelling:

June 26, 2006

A word from Lt. Cotton

Lt. Tom Cotton writes this morning from Baghdad with a word for the New York Times:

Dear Messrs. Keller, Lichtblau & Risen:

Congratulations on disclosing our government's highly classified anti-terrorist-financing program (June 23). I apologize for not writing sooner. But I am a lieutenant in the United States Army and I spent the last four days patrolling one of the more dangerous areas in Iraq. (Alas, operational security and common sense prevent me from even revealing this unclassified location in a private medium like email.)

Unfortunately, as I supervised my soldiers late one night, I heard a booming explosion several miles away. I learned a few hours later that a powerful roadside bomb killed one soldier and severely injured another from my 130-man company. I deeply hope that we can find and kill or capture the terrorists responsible for that bomb. But, of course, these terrorists do not spring from the soil like Plato's guardians. No, they require financing to obtain mortars and artillery shells, priming explosives, wiring and circuitry, not to mention for training and payments to locals willing to emplace bombs in exchange for a few months' salary. As your story states, the program was legal, briefed to Congress, supported in the government and financial industry, and very successful.

Not anymore. You may think you have done a public service, but you have gravely endangered the lives of my soldiers and all other soldiers and innocent Iraqis here. Next time I hear that familiar explosion -- or next time I feel it -- I will wonder whether we could have stopped that bomb had you not instructed terrorists how to evade our financial surveillance.

And, by the way, having graduated from Harvard Law and practiced with a federal appellate judge and two Washington law firms before becoming an infantry officer, I am well-versed in the espionage laws relevant to this story and others -- laws you have plainly violated. I hope that my colleagues at the Department of Justice match the courage of my soldiers here and prosecute you and your newspaper to the fullest extent of the law. By the time we return home, maybe you will be in your rightful place: not at the Pulitzer announcements, but behind bars.

Very truly yours,

Tom Cotton
Baghdad, Iraq

Posted by Scott at 06:54 AM

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