AP: Snow: (bank data) Program Vital to War on Terrorism

[Eugene]

Snow: Program Vital to War on Terrorism


Friday June 23, 2006 5:01 PM

By JEANNINE AVERSA

AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Treasury Secretary John Snow on Friday said a program tracking millions
of financial transactions was not invasion of privacy of Americans but "government at its
best" and vital to the war on terrorism.

Snow told a news conference the program, run by the CIA and overseen by the Treasury
Department, was "responsible government, it's effective government, it's government
that works."

"It's entirely consistent with democratic values, with our best legal traditions," Snow said.

The once-secret program, which has been going on since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001
terror attacks, has drawn protests from Democrats in Congress, who said it raises concerns
about intrusions on privacy and who saw it as the latest step in an aggressive Bush
administration expansion of executive-branch powers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5906835,00.html

Related LBN thread: NYT: Bank Data Secretly Reviewed by U.S. to Fight Terror

[Contrary1]

1. Here's a kick, and the excerpt I find most ironic.

"Vice President Dick Cheney, speaking at a political luncheon in Chicago, denounced the decision to reveal the existence of the financial monitoring program and the earlier-disclosed National Security Agency surveillance program.

"What I find most disturbing about these stories is that some of the news media take it upon themselves to disclose vital national security programs, thereby making it more difficult for us to prevent future attacks against the American people," Cheney said. "That offends me."

Well, anything that offends the Big Dick is alright by me. BTW, Cheney...Go fuck yourself.