Bank Leak

[Dr. Shane]

Bush assails program's disclosure

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President George W. Bush on Monday condemned as "disgraceful" the disclosure last week of a secret program to investigate and track terrorists that relied on a vast international database containing Americans' banking transactions.

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"Congress was briefed," Bush said in his first public comments on the program. "And what we did was fully authorized under the law. And the disclosure of this program is disgraceful."

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"We're at war with a bunch of people who want to hurt the United States of America, and for people to leak that program, and for a newspaper to publish it does great harm to the United States of America," the president said.

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[Dr. Shane]

That was then

Interesting Editorial in the New York Times Sept. 24, 2001

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Washington and its allies must also disable the financial networks used by terrorists.

The Bush administration is preparing new laws to help track terrorists through their money-laundering activity and is readying an executive order freezing the assets of known terrorists. Much more is needed, including stricter regulations, the recruitment of specialized investigators and greater cooperation with foreign banking authorities. There must also must be closer coordination among America's law enforcement, national security and financial regulatory agencies.

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