The Vice President made this statement today (about the NY Slimes)

HughHewitt.com ^ | 6/26/06 | Dick Cheney

[pissant]

THE VICE PRESIDENT: "In the decade prior to 9/11, we spent more than $2 trillion on national security. Yet we lost nearly 3,000 Americans at the hands of 19 men armed with box cutters and airline tickets. In the case of al Qaeda we are not dealing with large armies that we can track, or uniforms we can see, or men with territory of their own to defend. Their preferred tactic, which they boldly proclaim, is to slip into countries, blend in among the innocent, and kill without mercy and without restraint. They have intelligence and counterintelligence operations of their own. They are using the most sophisticated communications technology they can get their hands on.

"In pursuit of their objectives, they have carried out a number of attacks since 9/11 – in Casablanca, Jakarta, Mombassa, Bali, Riyadh, Baghdad, Istanbul, Madrid, London, Sharm al-Sheikh, and elsewhere. Here in the U.S., we have not had another 9/11. Obviously, no one can guarantee that we won't be hit again. But the relative safety of these past nearly five years now did not come about by accident. We've been protected by sensible policy decisions by the President, by decisive action at home and abroad, and by round-the-clock efforts on the part of the people in our armed forces, law enforcement, intelligence, and homeland security.

"Some in the press, in particular The New York Times, have made the job of defending against further terrorist attacks more difficult by insisting on publishing detailed information about vital national security programs.

"The first was the terrorist surveillance program. Sometimes the press calls it domestic surveillance, it is not domestic surveillance. It's a program aimed at the communications that are international in nature – at least one end of the communication has to be outside the United States, and one end has to be affiliated with or associated with al Qaeda.

"The second program that The New York Times has now disclosed is the terrorist financial tracking program, just within about the last week or so. These are both good programs. They provide valuable intelligence. They are very carefully managed to safeguard the civil liberties of the American people. They have been successful in helping break up terrorist plots. They are done in accordance with the Constitution, and there has in both cases – both programs have been properly notified to the appropriate officials in the United States Congress.

"The New York Times has now twice – two separate occasions – disclosed programs; both times they had been asked not to publish those stories by senior administration officials. They went ahead anyway. The leaks to The New York Times and the publishing of those leaks is very damaging. The ability to intercept al Qaeda communications and to track their sources of financing are essential if we're going to successfully prosecute the global war on terror. Our capabilities in these areas help explain why we have been so successful in preventing further attacks like 9/11. The New York Times has now made it more difficult for us to prevent attacks in the future. Publishing this highly classified information about our sources and methods for collecting intelligence will enable the terrorists to look for ways to defeat our efforts. These kinds of stories also adversely affect our relationships with people who work with us against the terrorists. In the future, they will be less likely to cooperate if they think the United States is incapable of keeping a secret.

"What is doubly disturbing for me is that not only have they gone forward with these stories, but they've been rewarded for it, for example, in the case of the terrorist surveillance program, by being awarded the Pulitzer Prize for outstanding journalism. I think that is a disgrace."

[Non-Sequitur]

Not only a disgrace, but illegal as hell. We cannot let this man leak again...

Disgrace? Yes. Irresponsible? Definitely. But illegal? No, not according to the Supreme Court. The criminal act is committed by those who leak the information to the media. The only way things like this are going to be prevented is to find the leakers and throw them in prison.

[Firefox1]

I've been reading a book about Nazi Germany. It's funny how things don't change. Back in the 30's, after making a provocative move, Hitler would immediately call in the western press (namely the Times of London, the New York Times, and whatever the big paper in France is). Anyway, he would hold conference with them and just wax on and on about his love of peace and his distaste for war. Naturally, those publications drank this B.S. up went home and published it for an ignorant world to read. These big papers were efectively tying the hands of the west by rallying public sentiment against responding to Germany's provocations. Hitler used to sit back and laugh at how easy it was to manipulate the free press into doing his bidding. Do the Editors of our large news organizations realize that they are once again being used like whores?

[pissant]

Indeed

[pissant]

I think this has broken the camel's back. I see the AG stepping in this time.

[pissant]

Sounds like treason to me.

[Diogenesis]

Licorice: "Even us hamsters know that this is treason.
America's rodents and people would be much safer if you stupid dhimmis would hang
some of these seditious traitors who repeatedly violate 18 U.S.C. §798 over and over,
beginning with Bill Keller and my Mistress' competition for my savior, hottie Emma Gilbey, now Ms. Keller."

---

18 U.S.C. §798. Disclosure of Classified Information.
(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information—
(1) concerning the nature, preparation, or use of any code, cipher, or cryptographic system of the United States or any foreign government; or
(2) concerning the design, construction, use, maintenance, or repair of any device, apparatus, or appliance used or prepared or planned for use by the United States or any foreign government for cryptographic or communication intelligence purposes; or
(3) concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States or any foreign government; or
(4) obtained by the processes of communication intelligence from the communications of any foreign government, knowing the same to have been obtained by such processes—Shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. (b) As used in this subsection (a) of this section—
The term “classified information” means information which, at the time of a violation of this section, is, for reasons of national security, specifically designated by a United States Government Agency for limited or restricted dissemination or distribution; .........
The term “communication intelligence” means all procedures and methods used in the interception of communications and the obtaining of information from such communications by other than the intended recipients;
The term “unauthorized person” means any person who, or agency which, is not authorized to receive information of the categories set forth in subsection (a) of this section, by the President, or by the head of a department or agency of the United States Government which is expressly designated by the President to engage in communication intelligence activities for the United States.

---

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
George Santayana

[pissant]

Have you sent a letter to the administration yet? I believe there is already an investigation into the leaks for the WaPo's "secret prisons" story. We need to keep pressure on the administration and the congress to act and act strongly.

[pissant]

Tar, feathers?

[pissant]

The never like to talk about what happened in vietnam and cambodia after they defunded the war, do they?

[pissant]

I think that was a WaPo story. Same thing in my book though.

[RAldrich]

He didn't mention a leak by the NY Times in the late summer of 2004 which damaged one of our biggest breakthroughs. The US, UK, and Pakistan uncovered a Pakistani al Qaeda member who operated a computer that was a clearing-house, with names and locations, for al Qaeda members planning attacks. It was the information on this computer that led to the security alert at that time related to photographs that had been taken and plans to attack large financial institutions in New York, Newark, and Washington D.C. The information led (finally) to the arrest of Abu Hamza, the radical Islamist preacher at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London. The intelligence services didn't want this discovery disclosed because by keeping it secret they could discover who was communicating with that computer system.

The NY Times got wind of what was going on, and even though Condoleeza Rice begged them not to disclose the information, they did - on the front page. So the London police had to go crazy rounding up everyone they were aware of in a great hurry, instead of being able to watch them to see who further would turn up. The UK intelligence were furious with us.

[pissant]

Disgusting is an understatement.

[pissant]

Yep.

[Frwy]

Well then, I wasn't alone in my thoughts.

[TYVets]

The criminal act is committed by those who leak the information to the media.

When has the MSM shown any common sense or restraint about NOT publishing information detrimental to safety of citizens of The United States?

[pissant]

Write to the VP, please and urge him on.

Same with GWB and Hastert and Frist.

[Mr. Keys]

The real disgrace will be when the Slimes gets away with this crap again. Once the "It's a disgrace" talk dies down it will be over. It always is.