How Not to Follow the Money
Posted 06-24-2006
MPG

Occasionally I guiltily peruse something from our ‘mass media’, I watch some T.V.,  read a newspaper, listen to the radio, it's sort of like eating junk food for the mind. I’ve always regretted doing so afterwards of course. Last night, while watching the Jim Lehrer News Hour, I got to see Stuart Levey, Undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, defend the Bush administration’s unprecedented monitoring of millions of bank transactions through a banking system known as S.W.I.F.T.

In a quote from the Washington Post, outgoing Treasury Secretary John W. Snow insisted "It is not 'data mining,' or trolling through the private financial records of Americans. It is not a 'fishing expedition,' but rather a sharp harpoon aimed at the heart of terrorist activity,"

The Washington Post further wrote that, “Levey declined to discuss instances in which the data gleaned from SWIFT had aided the crackdown on terrorism. He said that information is classified but added he could confirm that the information has been used to "confirm the identity of a major Iraqi terrorist facilitator."

Gee… what a surprise; I wonder what “major” means?

A spokeswoman for the Treasury Department Ms. Dana Perino stated "We are disappointed that once again the New York Times has chosen to expose a classified program that is working to protect Americans,"

That’s quite a statement by Ms. Perino, I’m not very fond of the New York Times but a statement like that, coming from a representative of this administration, is particularly grotesque.

To top it all off on the Jim Lerher News Hour Stuart Levey actually stated the program was designed to ‘follow the money’.

Who do these people think they’re kidding?

I don't believe anyone from this government, and specifically anyone working for this administration, has the right to use that particular phrase......ever.

To Ms. Perino, Mr. Snow and Mr. Levey, you obviously have the same terrible difficulty using the English langauge that Mr. Bush has experienced throughout his lifetime.  Perhaps you should seek professional help in learning how to speak it.  So you don't make any more errors in the future however I'll try to explain what the phrase really means. You see, you're not “following the money”, what you are simply doing is “following everyone else’s money”.

 The phrase “following the money” actually refers to the Saudis long history of supporting al Qaeda, it does not refer to someone wiring money to pay their gambaling debts at Monte Carlo.  It does refer to the U.S.’s long history of support for al Qaeda and the Pakistani’s I.S.I, but not to some European competitor of the General Dynamics Corporation bidding on a U.S. military contract. It should be used in regards to Pakistani I.S.I.’s support for the Taliban; however it does not refer to the Airbus Company bidding against Boeing to sell some airplanes.

The phrase “following the money” most certainly refers to the thirty year history of the Bush Clan’s business relationships with the bin Laden and Saudi families, and to the support the C.I.A. gave to the Taliban.  It does not refer to an investment by a U.S. mutual fund on some European exchange.  It does refer to the CIA’s connections to drugs, the poppy fields in Afghanistan, al Qaeda and to the recent massive arms shipments world wide. The phrase would not however justify an investigation of companies investing in the Iranian Oil Bourse or China's attempted bid for UNOCAL.

The phrase “following the money” should only be used in regards to the short sellers of the airline stocks on the Pacific Stock exchange prior to 911; it should never be used in the context of monitoring Iranian investments solely to freeze their assets.  The phrase could also be used for U.S. support of the majahideen in Bosnia after the first world trade center bombing, or it could be used in regards to members of the 911 commission who allowed Bush to redact dozens of pages detailing how members of the Saudi Royal Family supported some of the 911 terrorists, but it should never be used to justify your tracking the activities of peace movements, environmental movements or human rights organizations.

It’s a phrase one could use while trying to ascertain where billions of U.S. tax dollars have disappeared to in Iraq, or who got the oil contracts in Iraq, or which of “our” terrorist organizations the U.S. is currently funding in Iraq, or if any more Texas congressman are still helping the Taliban.

It can not however be used to justify your tearing up the U.S. constitution.

There are dozens and dozens of other uses for the term “following the money”, I simply don't have time to list them all, it really is such a wonderfull phrase and  it’s too bad that you've chosen activities that don't fall within its definition.

Anytime you care to change your activities however to something more useful, like investigaing the relationships I've listed above, instead of spying on U.S. economic competitors, human rights groups or your fellow Americans,  you just let everyone know……OK.

In the meantime please don’t use that phrase anymore. Coming from you guys it’s simply ludicrous.

ANNOTATIONS

End.  MPG